On today’s episode, we share a conversation between Whitnie Goins (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Professional) and Devi Brown, from the Molson Coors Beverage Company’s annual Month of Inclusion. Within the Month of Inclusion theme of ‘intersectionality,’ Molson Coors held unfiltered discussions on the intersectionality within mental health. Whitnie Goins leads the conversation with questions on generational trauma, ancestorial healing, and the impacts on personality from various traumatic experiences.
Connect: @DeviBrown Whitnie Goins
Visit: MolsonCoors.com
M from grandmothers who whispered in their baby girl ill two fathers on dimly lit street corners, instructing young soldiers to always keep their eyes open. You be queen, you were fired. You will pass through centuries on the hands of your daughters. They called you wisdom. Proverbs on the backs of diamond eyed school children who grew into hymnals recited by amethyst holding urban philosophers who recited neighborhood commandments out of the windows of restored Alchemedo chariots. To keep the warmth of their blood. Be wise, be smart, being black, opal brown courts, bloodstone, and prayer. Be every form of jim see King told, scribe, scribe, told son, son, told wife, wife told her daughter, and daughter told the as this is. Told me that you would come to give wisdom. They said you would come. Dropping Hey, Welcome back to the Dropping Gym's podcasts, your soft place to land for conversations on higher consciousness and making all of our healing applicable to our day to day lives. This is a place of self discovery, This is a place of honest, non judgmental communication, and this is the place to expand. This week. I am very excited to share this conversation with you. One of our amazing sponsors here at the Black Effect Network and I Heart Radio is the most in group, and they invited me into their offices to have a fireside chat with the very dynamic woman who runs and heads their diversity and inclusion, Whitney Goins, And it was such a privilege to be in conversation with her. It was really cool finding out that she is an avid listener of The Dropping Gym's podcast. And when I tell you, we went so deep, We went so deep that this conversation honestly really moved me, and I was thinking about it for days afterwards. Especially, I was thinking about Whitney, the amazing woman who's doing such powerful work at that company, and had just the absolutely most beautiful, expansive, divine conversation with her. It was such a pleasure to answer these questions and to hear her thoughts and to connect with those in the audience. And so they did me the honor of allowing me to share this very private speaking that I did for them, very private private speaking that I did for them with my Dropping Gem's audience. So huge, huge, thank you, so much gratitude to Molson. So much gratitude to Whitney. You are incredible. Love speaking with you and so happy to share this conversation with you. Some of the things we i'ved into with structural oppression, we dove into wellness in the workplace, and we also talked at a very high level about what it is to really expand diversity and inclusion, especially in the wellness space. So these are the conversations I love having. This is some of the corporate side work that I do, and I'm excited to share it with you here. So please take a listen to all of the beautiful gems, to all of the incredible questions UM, and and considerations that Whitney shared, And here we go. Oh my goodness, it's such a pleasure to be here, UM, and thank you for being here with us today. Thank you so much for joining. I cannot tell you how many messages UM, the d e I team has received expressing the pure excitement to have you joined us today. So I really just want to reiterate the undeniable impact, UM, that you are having on the lives of so so many and we're just so grateful that you've created, as you like to say on your podcast as a soft place for us to land. So thank you, thank you so much. Wow. So, Debbie in our conversation today talking about mental health in the bipoch community, UM, first, I would really love to just start by talking a bit about your journey. Um So. You you've mentioned, you know how oftentimes you would walk into these spaces and maybe the only person that looks like um you, so he tell us what was the catalyst for your journey or exploration into the mental health and healing space? Wow, what a beautiful question, you know when they I think when I look back at like some of the early trappings of my life, I think we all kind of have this undercurrent of a knowing that there's more available to us, or that maybe experiences we've had in our lives maybe there's something more, Maybe there's something better, or maybe there's something we need to explore. Whether we tune into it or not is completely up to our spirits and the timing in our life. But you know, my initial my initial career in broadcasting, UM, I started to get really burned out and I started really feel like ego was leading my life in a way that was not sustainable or healthy and terminology then, But when I started having anxiety before I walked into the building at work, because it seemed so against who I was, I knew something had to shift. And that's when I started my my mental health, emotional health, spiritual health journey. This is roughly around somewhere in between ten and twelve years ago when I went to my very first retreat, and initially I walked in that space and I was experiencing just a profound upgrade in my consciousness and the way that I was able to see myself in the world. And while I was having that experience, I was also having the dual experience of being the only per sin of color in every room and the youngest person at the time in all of those rooms. And so it was this experience that was also very similar to what it is to be a person of color in this country, this dual existence of having a challenge that not everyone is aware of and still having a life that is filled with all the things that life is filled with. Um that's when I really started to look not only at my own journey, but why some of this work did it always feel so accessible or organic in other non white communities, so touching on that. Um, I'm really interested to hear your perspective on you know, why do you think that people of color are behind or maybe even hesitant in a mental health space? You know, what are what are those barriers? So this is gonna be a pretty full answer because it's not just one thing. You know, we have to think of historical context any time we have conversation about people of color, specifically in this country. And you know there it's interesting right when we think of wellness, when we think of the ability to tap into well being, even though it's been put under the capitalistic filter, it is free, being quiet, sitting still, connecting with nature. It is something we can kind of naturally do. But if you think of some of the barriers we have in place our own mental health, like centuries of having experiences that were deeply harmful, uh, not just physically but emotionally and spiritually, and never being able to talk about them, or if you talked about them, nothing ever changed. We saw advancement and immense suppression at every turn. We've witnessed immense violence, um harm to women, to children, to our men, And so that as the undercurrent of an experience of of seeking more for yourself. It's always going to limit you in a subconscious way. We and think about things like going out and connecting with nature, right going camping or taking a hike. That feels natural in our day to day culture. But if you look historically, black and brown people were segregated and not allowed to visit national parks, state parks, the beaches were segregated. Some things that seem natural and easy in the year of two, there could be potentially subconscious experiences at play that just make you think you can't access those things. And then there's a lot of cultural programming, and I think all of us, no matter the cultural background, we're awakening into a new time where you can speak freely about your own lived experience. And it was just a couple of decades ago that I think it was really commonplace in most households to say, don't show your dirty laundry, don't talk about it. We're fine over it, you know. So there there are so many structures at play that keep us from ourselves, and I think it's really important to reflect on that because it helps us have the courage to stand up for ourselves, to come more and to cast aside maybe behaviors or thought processes that don't nourish our mental health, right and you mentioned, um, you know, don't air dirty laundry and things like that. They go one thing you forgot about two was oh, just go pray about it, right, Um. So there was always that, um, you know, and I think having religion, as you know, such a cornerstone is beautiful, but sometimes I think we would use it to almost cover up the mental health journey that probably should be embarked upon. Right. So I feel like that was also another barrier, um as far as education understanding that you know, just because I am seeking out this particular um, I'm trying to learn about mental health in other ways of healing, does not me I'm necessarily going against the religion. But I was raised with as well. That is so beautifully said. And if I can add, you know, sometimes in the systems of our deep belief culturally, in the systems of the churches and how they really held us up in communities when there weren't spaces for that. There is so much beauty in that and so much necessity in that, and very often it lacks process for real change. You know, something about sometimes going into a church setting and that being the only place that you look for more is it bypasses the actual experience and process of what it is to change oneself and it goes directly to the have faith and more. But if we're biblically, you know what is found in the Bible is space with faith without works is dead. And so it's so much more sometimes than just coming in and kind of putting on that performative everything will be okay. I have faith there are real things that we experience in this life that are deeply complex and layer that I have to have additional processes and care to be able to work through and transcend. Absolutely, thank you for adding that on That was beautifully said, UM. And in your previous answer you also talked about just like UM, we started talking about barriers the centuries um of things that Bipop communities have had to experience. And on your podcast Dropping Gems, I've also heard you speak about generational imprinting. UM. For those who are maybe not familiar with the term, would you mind explaining what generational imprinting is for the audience. Audience, Absolutely, and the way that I conveyed on my show, it's in ourier, generational trauma or what we're kind of more loosely referring to as generational trauma, and that is really um it's the impact of every generation that preceded us on not only our mental and emotional health, but also the cells of our physical body. And the Box is having a lot of research around this, but there is you know, a beautiful example would be when you think about things that maybe went on in your grandmother's history for those of us that are able to be connected to knowledge and stories of previous generations, if your grandmother went through a trauma, which let's be kind of um real about this, if you are a person of color in this country, almost every single generation, including those living have experience not just trauma, but complex trauma, which means things that are stacked upon you every single day, which is a little bit more intricate than the experience of PTSD, which is also a piece of that, but c PTSD means it's not just one thing. It is the fibers of everything in your life regularly, consistently. And so if someone in your family system experience a trauma, uh or several traumas, that would impact the way they were able to parent you based on what they had access to for their own healing. Something that we almost i would say universally, though nothing is a monolith, something that we almost universally know is that no generation before this one really had access to therapy, had access to meditation, had access to all the books or the Instagram memes or the things that are now motivating us. You internalize it, right, And a lot of previous generations also had a lot of disease in their body that was manifesting from this emotional mental pain. And so if your ancestor your elder did not get a chance to work through these things, to heal themselves, to find another way of being, the way they parented, you was impacted by that, which could mean many things. Could potentially mean some emotional neglect, it could mean physical experiences of abuse um or it could just mean continuing living a really challenging life and not having opportunities for your mental health. That then it's passed down to you, and until someone stops it or shifts the experiences, it continues down. It continues down. So we are generation of healing. This is the first time in human history that we know of that we have collectively, in a mainstream way, begun speaking to these bigger elements and beginning to attempt to work through them. So if that's the case right now, in that means for the last let's say, five hundred years or three thousand, all of that was happening, All of that was happening until it met you in this moment. So that's pretty much a simplistic way of sharing how that process can work in our lives and in our families. Thank you when you said, UM, you know, just think about like your grandmother, Like, I like instantly felt myself getting emotional, like just thinking about you know what the generations before us have gone through. UM, And I feel like, I mean you you made some really amazing points UM as far as us being the generation of healing and just the additional resources that we have. But also you talked about UM, you know, parenting and understanding that you know, a lot of times our parents are merely giving us what they were given, right, So sometimes you just don't have those resources and UM, you're doing the best that you can with what you were given. And I know you talk a lot about healed parenting on UM your podcasts and in many interviews, but I think that we have to also understand Um, It's like a lot of the getting over generational trauma and starting our healing starts with forgiveness as well. So I really wanted to transition into more about that generational trauma and ancestral healing. I'm starting, particularly UM with generational trauma. So staying on that path of UM trauma and grief. I heard you quote one time and you said, grief never leaves you, it just changes forms. And I thought that was such an amazing and powerful quote as we think about it, going back to the conversation of you know, generations again, so that past being passed down, the changing forms. Right. So I mentioned forgiveness, but what are some other ways that you suggest, UM on how we can deal with grief that has become so generational, so familiar, that it almost feels like you can't escape, Like it's it's become a part of the DNA. Yeah, absolutely, and it and it absolutely has. It has become a part of our DNA. It has been, you know, become trapped in ourselves. And I think as science continues to explore and substantiate the very real things that so many people have known and spoken to over the centuries, you know, it's in There's a There's a really amazing book, and I think this example might might really fit. Um. Many books are out now gratefully on helping to unpack some of this understanding of the way things get stored in our bodies. The Body Keeps Or is a really beautiful book. I also love Resuma Manicans My Grandmother's Hands. One of the things Resuma speaks to in that book is he shares a powerful example of how trauma manifests as personality. And you may not even know it, and you may spend your entire life behaving as you and it's not really the truth of who you are. It's just the layers and layers of trauma that have developed as the way you show up in the world. So, for instance, if your mother experienced a kind of trauma or had an upbringing where she was forced to be quiet, or experience things that made her go inside and be very quiet or be very um minimized, she may pass down that pattern of behavior to you, and you take it on because that to what was role modeled for you. And so you may be as someone who has social anxiety or is very shy, or is not able to really stand up for yourself and you don't know why, because maybe your life experiences haven't added up for you to actually be behaving that way. But somehow this is who you are in the world. What's so important is that was just that was your rearing right, so that was the imprint of personality on you that you're now living. What is so powerful and important is when we come into a space of wanting more, wanting to investigate and really support our mental health and our emotional health, you have to stop and look at what makes you you and be willing to challenge it a little bit, be willing to get self aware enough to where you say, is this actually the truth of who I am? Is there an opportunity to change my behavior, to test out some new things? And then you just have to get your practice going, get your support going, you know, seek out assistance to explore your mental health, perhaps with the therapist if that feels right, or through meditation, um through different somatic practice. But creating systems and structures that allow you to explore yourself with support are incredibly important, and that is how we begin to dismantle some of that programming. We have to first figure out that it exists, see where it's living inside of us, and then begin the process of greeting it with awareness in order to release it. But we have to be willing to see ourselves. We have to, and I want to say that knowing that for some people that is a lot more challenging than others. Some of our stories are really deep, some of our stories are really painful, and so I just want to acknowledge that that sometimes the journey is more challenging than other people. And that's why it feels like people may be outpacing you or being able to, you know, get their healing or their breakthrough faster. We have complex individual experiences. Wow, if you all did not realize or understand why her podcast was called dropping Gym's before because she just dropped so many Oh my goodness, that was so beautifully, said Debbie Um. And I think a lot of times, especially I mean when I first tuned into your podcast, the things that you kind of introduced this to it's our first time hearing that. So too for someone to say, you know, your personality actually may not be who you are, and it's something that was imprinting and past. It's so powerful and and almost earth shaking to hear UM and you mentioned resma menicum and amazing for those of you who are not familiar with resthma UM and author and psychotherapists. But in your episode with him, Debbie, UM, he actually talked about and I think it goes back to making how hard it is to make sure that we're not becoming numb to seeing this so often on TV or in the media. But he he mentioned, you know, when we watch black bodies being destroyed, UM, it creates a collective anguish in our community, UM, and then a lot of times we turn that collective anguish into personal anguish and then UM it has such an effect on our body that we don't realize. But on top of that, we are then left trying to heal UM communal horrors with individual healing strategies and it just simply doesn't work. UM. So we kind of talked about the generational UM imprinting and and the pain that that can cause. But where do we start with attempting to heal those generational traumas? I know you mentioned UM it starts with that awareness and kind of confronting that head on, But any other thoughts on just where to start because I know, like, after people leave this conversation again, they're probably hearing things for the first time. You're like, Okay, she just racked my whole world. Where now where do I? Oh? Yes, you know? And I want to say this with as much gravity as possible because one thing, um, just in my years of teaching and speaking to this, that you know, I've begun to recognize as a norm is that very often the response is shared seems so simplistic that people can hear them, and they can hear them repeatedly and still say, but where do I start? Where's the beginning space? Because we think that those things could never actually match the depths and the vastness of what we've gone through. So if I were to offer something and say, you know, first begin by connecting to your breath, get centered in your body, that sounds so simple that if you are a survivor of complex trauma, or if your life experiences have just been complex, you reject it because you say, what is breathing gonna do? What is two minutes or thirty seconds of Okay, everyone wants to tell me to close my eyes and no, you know, and it seems um so unhelpful that you don't attempt. And the truth is, some of those things that I'm gonna go through a couple more in a moment, those are the exact things that dismantle it and make this work possible. To live your healing, to live in the things that you're seeking for yourself and the growth that you're seeking for yourself. It is the detailed, tiny still moments that allow the grief to be met and released. And so when we when I speak to meditation, when I speak to getting centered, one of the things that comes up for a lot of people, and this is I believe the starting point is learning how to slow your body down. Because one half of the spectrum um society has just taught us to go, go, go, hustle, culture, grind, girl, boss yep, kill it. So we're fast, fast, fast, fast, fast fast. Right. Also, you may have had a parent that had a very challenging experience raising you because of all the other things happening in their life. So everything might have had to feel come on, let's go, we gotta do this, Go do do do do right. We're used to moving, walking back for no reason, and even when you don't have somewhere to go and We're used to avoiding ourselves with our own thoughts, and sometimes it feels like a rumination, like maybe they are intrusive thoughts of experiences you've had that run on a loop in your mind and that brings a lot of pain. Would also just be thinking about everything but yourself all day, calling that care, concern, and worry, but it being your tool of avoiding yourself. These are not judgments. It's just important to see how do we individually respond to things. When you take a moment to begin a meditation practice, even if it's two minutes a day, five minutes a day, eventually building up to the recommended twenty five minutes two times a day, you're able to connect to a part of yourself where everything you've experienced is able to be processed, either released, or it's able to find a new home. And so when we begin a meditation practice, getting still in silent sometimes feels really scary at first, because all of a sudden, you're feeling everything you have been trying not to feel your whole life that passes. In order to be free of it, you have to feel it and it has to be expressed. Meditation allows you to come into a space where you're able to learn how to come back into your body so that you can be present with yourself and not constantly moving so fast, thinking so much that before you know what, you look up and your life is past and you don't really know how you lived it. So those practice this is to begin find time to be with yourself in a new way. If you're not yet ready to sit down and close your eyes and connect to the present moment, considering every day taking a walk and being silent on that walk, if it's around your block, if it's your lunch break, but learn how to hold silence for yourself. Learn how to not to choose the path of small talk first or having conversation, so that you can control not being asked questions or not speaking about yourself. It's important to notice how we're responding to ourselves and then trying to slow down, to look around, to be present while being quiet, to be in the company of other people while being quiet. Um, that would be a powerful first step. True. You also mentioned you know, the hustle culture and and just constantly grinding and we can go, go, go, yeah, and what popped into my head? I wonder how much of that is a response to feeling like we need to prove our productivity or like a trauma or survival response. So going back to again just generational, generationally feeling like we have to do that we are a productive element of society. UM. Yeah, that that popped into my head. And then you also mentioned UM. Sometimes people you'll offer, you know, simple advice and people will reject it. And I talked, UM, I heard you talk about UM in a previous interview. How sometimes if we don't know something, will reject it. In in the example you actually use, sometimes we simply reject joy because we haven't known that or felt that, or maybe even seeing that UM within our household or within our families. And again it's because we're constantly moving in that survival UM survival mode. So going back to families, UM, because I feel like, you know, not saying that within the bipop communities UM, that we have stronger family ties, but I will say that in bipot communities UM, family is truly the cornerstone. Right, So when dealing with you step out into the world and you're dealing with racism and systemic oppression, coming home to your family has has been that cornerstone that has helped you continue moving. But Debbie, what do you do or what advice do you have to offer for people who I feel like sometimes coming home to their family also isn't safe. So, in this era of hashtag protect your peace, um, how is it possible to protect your peace but also um, not necessarily desert your family when you feel like your family isn't on that same healing path or maybe even awareness about mental health. Ye, beautiful, beautiful question. We have to connect to our peace first before we can ever consider or manage or respond to another person's lack of peace. So it's really important that you know, especially in service to this question, if you are on a path of wanting to have a different experience in your life or in your family structure, making a commitment to that saying I will do whatever is necessary to have the experiences I know I want to have, to have the ability to expand to do something differently. You know, UM, when you connect to a higher consciousness, when you connect to a deeper awareness about yourself, your impact on yourself, your impact in the world. There are layers and levels to how you will reintegrate to the rest of your life with people who not be doing the work. And it's so important to feed yourself to such an excess on this spiritual journey that you are able to greet others from your overflow and not from your So you're not taking from you to be able to stand in that you are experiencing that with an overflow and with compassion, because the fact is, not everyone is going to change in this lifetime. Not everyone is going to have the opportunity or the ability to heal through things that have happened to them. And something that has been powerful for me is shifting into such a deep witnessing and compassion of that right because if I have the ability to meet myself with that courage and the practical, disciplined behavior that's necessary for change, and someone else isn't. Something I'm for sure is even if they don't say it, how much that hurts, right, how much living like that is actually very challenging. Even if this is the person that is the antagonist of your life, that's a challenging life to be in, and so one recognizing that, so you can make it not personal. Because as you establish boundaries, people will climb them, people will want to bypass them, and coming into a space of recognizing that that is their trained, learned behavior is not personal and looking through the lens of how challenging it is for you to change and knowing is that person doing the same work as I am? Are they doing all of these things that I'm doing that are very challenging for me? Mostly the answer is no. And if it's no, you know, being realistic and saying, well, how could I expect a different response? It's not about them changing, It's about me changing, changing the way I relate to their trauma and or choosing to distance myself from it, because that is a very real choice that can be made by each of us. You don't have to stay in something because you've always been in it. Mm hmm. And I feel like a lot of times when we embark on these these journeys, um, whether it's mental health or just overall improvement, a lot of times you want to kind of drag people along with us, um or like put on that superhero cape and like when we talk about some of our our closest family members or our friends. UM, So I understand what you mean as far as accepting where they are and understanding and recognizing I mean, gosh, if I'm if I'm doing all this work and it's this hard for me, I can only imagine you know, um, you know, are they putting in that same amount of work? But how do you? And I feel like I'm asking a question within the question, how do you accept someone for or maybe it's more so, how do you resist the urge not to want to you know, pull them along and and just help them and show them. I mean, your your life could be so much better. Let me help you. Um, how do you and how have you manage I guess personally um with close friends or family members and kind of recognizing, gosh, I love you, but I have to dis to myself, you know. As honorable as that sounds and feels, it's actually very very um sometimes deceptive self sabotage. This idea that we're someone else's savior, right, this idea that we're charged with being a superhero and carrying someone on our back, or that we are meant to fix them. Very often that is an extra layer of our own trauma, our own coping mechanisms, and our tools of avoidance. You know, I for the first few years on this journey, especially as someone who was kind of on this journey before UM mental health was really coined or like this training or it became mainstream, and before uh, you know, everyone had access to the books and the memes and the things. It can mean doubly isolating. It can be very lonely. Make no mistake, you know. It is frustrating because you're understanding the depth of UM, the extreme polarities about being alive, joy, grief, hardship, happiness, Like we are always in between two extremes. So one kind of really challenging yourself. What is my obsession with making someone else change or getting them to get it? Can I turn my gaze inward? You know? Is that actually called to come back to self and to stop looking at someone through my judgments Because even though they are quote unquote good judgments, right like you to want more for yourself, I want you to have more, it's also a judgment because we're saying I don't have faith or belief that that person can do it for themselves. I don't make your belief that their life is perfectly disign for them and that they will connect with the tools if it is on their path and supposed to be possible. UM. So I think always turning the gays in word and choosing to not be filled with frustration for another's life choices and behaviors, but turning that gaze towards If I don't like that, what's another choice I can make? Right? I mean, that's like that was like an indirect read, like, oh my god, that thank you for that? And every I feel like every time you say something, every time you drop a gym girl, I'm like, I just have to receive it. It's like a deep inhale. Um. So thank you. I do want to acknowledge. We got a few questions from the audience, So someone said, you know, I loved hearing your perspective on compassion. How do you shift your default from personal anger, bitterness, pain, et cetera um to a place of more empathy and compassion and thoughts on that. Oh yes, thank you for that and whoever shared it. You have to get in your practice. You know something that I feel is a true responsibility of mine to share when I speak. Is that growth, real change, an ability to be a version of yourself you haven't been yet. It is not done in a weekend of vision boarding. It is not done by just listening to my conversation today. It is by listening to this conversation and reflecting on it over time, and then taking things you heard and putting them an active process with you in every single day. Coming into a space, especially if your intention is to be in a space where you hold more empathy and compassion for yourself and others, you have to build a structure that supports that intention. You have to be clear and say out loud that that is your intention, and create some processes UM, whether that is at home, personal meditation, opportunities to have nourishing experiences for yourself, reading books, journaling your thoughts, having expression about the things in your life, and or experiencing you know, UM therapy whatever type that is needed, whether that is cognitive, somatic, DPT for some, there's so many different kinds of therapy, or group therapy, or or seeking outside council. You know, you have to actually make all of those things daily choices and part of the new ways you'll be experiencing yourself and your life regularly to be able to live from that space. And it does not take as long as you'd imagine, but it does take thought and intention and I think you um when you say thought and intention and you. You've touched on this many times to just being alone with ourselves, and when we think about how often we truly avoid being alone with ourselves, and I think a lot of times even now, we we think about, um, you know, listening to music as therapeutic and just always kind of having some sort of background noise, But how often are we truly sitting alone with our own thoughts? And I feel like that truly is kind of the first key and really understanding who you are, your desires, your wants, and like you said, uncovering that true personality and unpacking maybe what was imprinted in diving into who you truly are. Yes, another question that came in so someone said, Um, Debbie, I'm an impact and can feel that your message is resonating with so many people watching. But can you also touch on living and acting in vibrational alignment with what you are looking for? So I eat the law of attraction. I found when talking to many there's about their own awakening journey, that this is a piece that many people miss. Yeah, absolutely, it is. So my response to this, and I think I experience it um similarly but slightly different to the law of attraction. I believe in aligned choice making. And so if you are clear that you want your life to be different, if there has been awarenesses that have come through, and if there have been real consideration and thought about how you make this happen day today, awareness and alignment in your choices and in your daily behavior and action are what really support that vibrational alignment that allow you to become a magnetic presence in this world, that allow you to have experiences that, um, the words I used for myself are shrouded in a lot of grace and ease. When you've admitted to wanting change and there is an intention set and you are being very intentional about your personal behavior always matching your intention. We cannot control others. So I am not saying that people are not going to try you right like I'm not saying that people aren't gonna still become ring up running up to you with the exact things that I've been doing. But we notice is that when you stay in your integrity, when you stay in your aligned choices, very quickly, that shifts very eally. You start really connecting to a higher version of even the people that you know, and you start calling in and making space for people that are much more of a vibrational fit for your life, more connected to the level of consciousness that you wish to be living in. And so those day to day choices of really staying in personal integrity, making a higher choice, not a codependent choice, right, not a nice voice, and I know something because I think I'll be perceived by another in this way, I'm making the choice that is the best fit for my intention, and I am not causing harm to others. That vibrational alignment ushers in everything. So I have recognized in myself and in clients and in many people that I've worked with over the years. It leads to an ease in your healing process. It leads to a rapid amount of breakthrough thoughts, which enhances your creativity and enhances your own ability to experience yourself. And you begin to notice that the types of experiences that you kept repeating with people, whether that was maybe um having a consistent menu of betrayals in your life, having to consist any of maybe friends that don't have the emotional intelligence that you do or the heart that you do, You start to notice that that is naturally being cast aside, and that um, how your choices and how your versions of experiences begin to come in effortlessly really through no um, no extreme seeking of yours. You are drawing these things to you. But it all happens because of who you're choosing to be consistently. M wow, and I think podcast episode I need this audio. This is you are so incredible with me. Thank you. I would be honor Debbie. UM. But you talked about, you know a lot of times how we find ourselves kind of repeating cycles, UM. And it reminds you, honestly of one of my favorite UM gospel songs about cycles. UM. And in the song it states, you know, the devil learns from your mistakes even if you don't. And within this conversation, okay, now I started thinking about, like what the devil watching like generations of us, right and repeating those same cycles and giving us those same lessons, but even within ourselves, UM, consciously trying to break those cycles and learn. You talked about, you know, repeated betrayals and understanding you know, why am I being presented with the same lessons and how can I break that cycle? UM? That's really powerful? Thank you. Uh. Maybe I did also want to ask, do you have any tangible resources or like favorite books are and go free to drop. You know the title of your book and your cards and all that, UM, but any tangible UM items that people can build UM can use to build their own toolbox of daily practices for our own mental health. And also did want to UM let the audience know we have about ten minutes left for questions or Debbie leads it into meditation, so if you want to submit those, but yeah, any tangible resources that you that you have for us. Absolutely, I think first I would UM shameless not shameless plug, but I would definitely recommend my podcast and what I really love about my podcast. So some of the background is I am a meditation teacher, i am a trauma informed healer, I'm an energy healer some other things as well. But everything we talk about on that show is from that very very practical lens of how can I connect to this information and live it? How can you make this useful and of service to myself and others right now? And on the show UM, sometimes it's just me talking and I'm answering questions or doing meditations, but I really seek out all of the emerging and often unknown thought leaders in this space of wellness across a really multidimensional view. So, you know, when I think of wellness the way that we speak to it publicly now, it's very centered on mental health. But I believe in the pillars of well being. I believe that we have to have a holistic lens for everything that we want to manifest in our life with which means meeting it mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually and so on that show we touch on, we talked about psychedelics and leading information in the psychedelic field with experts in that space of how that extends itself to healing. I have spoken with somatic therapists, with psychotherapists, with shamans, with medicine, women, with elders who have been doing this work in indigenous spaces for decades. We talk about intimacy, we talk about you know, so many different layers of how complex sometimes our experiences show up in our lives. So that is something that I really love about being able to do that show in that way with the Black Effect Network. I would also recommend you know, there's so many gorgeous books that can kind of really begin to your consciousness. I believe in looking for books that are about a higher awakening, that are specifically about conscious us and so UM. Dr Deepak Chobra is a phenomenal, phenomenal resource for that. His life's work has been a blessing to myself and so many and he you know, he's written nearly a hundred books in the course of his life. Some things that people don't know is that you know, in a lot of his books he explores consciousness through not just wisdom traditions, but you know a book that he has a few books on Christ, on Jesus and Christ consciousness and your Veda and you know Vedic philosophy, quantum physics. Those books are so powerful. I think start with UM the seven spiritual Laws of Success, because I think those laws really begin to expand us in a way UM that has a lot of ease to it. To understand um our ability as creators in our own life too create new pathways for ourselves. UM. I also really recommend my dear friend Resumminicum's books. He has uh my Grandmother's Hands that I mentioned, and he also has his latest book, The Quaking of America, which is really exploring this intersection of spirituality and social and racial justice. Another book that I really love right now, especially from more of a feminine point of view, would be Elizabeth Lesser's book Cassandra Speaks and exploring the intersectionality of spirituality, awakening to consciousness, and feminism. So there's there's so many different ways to approach this work, but those books I think are really powerful. One more by Elizabeth Lesser, a book that I love is called Broken Open. I think it's a really gorgeous way to shift your understanding of pain you have experience in your life and how to really use that as a fuel for more. Thank you, And I'm gonna sprinkle one in there too, UM from an amazing conversation that you had with Dr Rita Walker. Um. So Dr Rita Walker, psychologist, researcher, um, but the author of a book that I will recommend UM on, an Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health. True. So, Debvie, I just want to thank you. Someone says, you know, I have tears in my eyes, UM, just listening to you, so thank you so much for being here. And before we get into the meditation, just want to reiterate the importance of UM this session and why I asked you to join us. Today. So UM, going back to the conversation that you had with Dr Rita Walker, you all talked about UM, this element of forced resilience UM and MYOP communities. I think you've done such a phenomenal job of talking us through UM just how much that can impact and really imprints on us UM, but also recognizing the importance of awareness forgiveness UM and how to embark on our mental health journey. So thank you so so much for sharing UM sharing that, and then you also talked about, you know, the complex post traumatic stress UM. So thank you for being here with us today and before we go into the meditation, is there anything else that you would like to I guess leave the leave the guests with before we get into our zone. Yes, I would share, you know, just really spend time thinking where in my life can I slow down if I get present enough, you know, is there opportunity to walk slower sometimes? Is there opportunity as I'm rushing through my house or for those that have children, as I'm getting you know, my children ready to not have to feel so frantic about it, to heat a little bit of different language in the way that I speak to myself and the way that I speak to my children or others, you know, is their way to slow down in the present moment. Sometimes that's not possible, and I want to honor that, But in some moments it really is, and we don't recognize it possible to do that, just start thinking that thought, seeing where it leads you day to day in your day choices, your daily interactions, the small moments, how quickly you may be making your coffee, the energy you are giving off if you're somewhere ordering a coffee, you're walking as their opportunity to put my back a little bit straighter as I do, is there own to connect to my breath and to slow down, especially when it's just me by myself. Those moments give you the powerful ability to start shifting your bigger life choices and the bigger ability to play with time, to be really present in the things that matter to you. Because one of the hardships of um sometimes feeling like you're in a battle with your mental or emotional health. That robs you of the good moments too, Because we are ourselves to move so quickly through moments of discomfort that our bodies and brains and hearts now move really quickly through the good stuff too through the joy, and so we don't even get to feel that, and we deserved to feel that when it's present. Absolutely, thank you, thank you, thank you. And I think this session has done a really great job of UM putting answer perspective. So at most imports, we really like to approach to diversity, equity and inclusion UM from a lens of empathy. And so I think today with you sharing again just the impact that UM some communities have had to face for centuries, and how that has impacted mental health and the barriers for generations to come, and how we're dealing with that generational trauma and grief and UM now I'm barking on these different healing practices. I think that does a great job of just setting perspective so people can understand, UM, you know why there are certain barriers for certain communities when it comes to mental health and in those journeys. So thank you so much, Debbie, and I am now going to go backstage while you lead us through UM a meditation for let's say, a session to over about nine minutes, maybe five to six minutes or so beautiful. Okay, everyone that can connect to the sound of my voice right now that is joining us. And want to invite you to notice your body before we close your eyes. So wherever you happen to be sitting, you may be in more of an upright chair similar to myself. You may have found a little comfort on the ground. I want to just invite you to get a little more comfortable. So it just here the mean, if that feels good, notice your body. Allow your spine to come into a space that feels upright, strong and supportive, and allow your belly in front of you to be soft. So it really just let your stomach go a little and let your spine be as straight and supportive as it can be. And I want to invite you now to gently close your eyes. And as you gently close your eyes, connect to that body. And now come into your body and connect to your breath. And as you're sitting now, it might feel comfortable to bring one hand forward and connect the palm of that hand to your heart's ace, or it might feel comfortable to have both of your hands poems up resting on your thighs in a state of receiving. And here we're going to connect to a very simple but powerful box breath. This is a system of four seconds four times. So when I begin this breath process, we will inhale through our nose for four seconds. Well, then hold that breath at the top for four seconds. Well then slowly release the breath through our nose for four seconds. And then we'll hold our breath again at the bottom for four seconds. And we will do that together three times in a row. I'll keep the count for us. Allow yourself to begin the inhale in through your nose, now why and two three four hold the breath two three four release through your nose two three four, hold up the bottom two three four. Begin you're next inhale here two three four hold it out the top two three four and release through your nose two three four and hold at the bottom two three four. Begin your next in hell here, counting silently in your own mind, hold it release m hm, hold and I gently returned to a breath that feels nourishing in your body at your own pace. I still gently closed m And from this space, let's bring your awareness to the very top of your head, your crown, and slowly begin to scan from the inside out, slowly moving from the top of your head down own noticing your ears, your jaw, Is there opportunity to relax your jaw here, release your face down your neck now noticing your shoulders, is there opportunity to release and relax your shoulders. Spine still straight and supportive, belly still soft, Breath gently flowing in and out from your chest, moving down now your chest, noticing your heart, greeting it, moving down to your elbows, to your waist, noticing and releasing your hips, the tops of your legs, your knees, mhmm, your calves, your ankles, your feet, your toes. Taking a nice deep breath in here, nourishing all of your organs and releasing and connecting to your breath, bringing your awareness to the center of your chest, the very center of your heart and your heart space. And now I'm going to bring forward the four soul questions. And as I say each question, allowed allow yourself to ask the question silently internally to yourself, without trying to fill it with an answer. Who am I? Who am I? What do I really want? What do I really want? What is my purpose? What is my purpose? How can I serve? How can I serve? And releasing the questions, taking it deep in hell, here in through your nose. Try for six seconds one, two, three, four, five six, releasing through your mouth with a sigh. We'll do that breath one more time together, keeping your own count here. M hm mh. Coming back into the present moment, waking your body up, wiggling your toes, wiggling your fingers, shaking out your shoulders, coming into the present moment. The light in me recognizes and honors the light in you. Taking a brief bow for myself and others generally, opening your eyes and not mistake m M. I love that conversation. Thank you once again to Molson, to Whitney for this dynamic conversation that you also courageously had within your workspace, within your corporation, very impactful corporation in the world. Thank you for letting me have a space to expand on thoughts and ideas that are incredibly important to me and to my work in the world. It's a big love to you, Molson, grow, big love to you Whitney. You enjoyed this conversation and especially if it really resonated as something you think should be heard in your work space, I want to go ahead and encourage you and give you that permission maybe drop this conversation in the Slack channel. Drop this conversation at the next meeting and really begin to explore and dissect and unpack some of things that we have the opportunity to talk about. Leave a comment and if I've started rating, if you feel so, calls and if you have the band with today and we will be back next week. Your soul work for this week is suggest think of three things that you found interesting in this conversation or that resonated or that led you to another place of yourself, and write down the thoughts that you're experiencing right now. Catch you next week, Big Love. Hey, find me on social Let's connect at Debbie Brown. That's Twitter and Instagram, or go to my website Debbie Brown dot com. And if you're listening to the show on Apple Podcasts, please please please don't forget to rate, review and subscribe and send this episode to a friend. Drop James is the production of I Heart Radio and The Black Effect Network. It's produced by Jackie's and me, Debbie Brown. For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.