Wellness Inspired Podcast
Real conversations. Real-life wellness.
Hosted by Sheri Davidson, a licensed acupuncturist and certified wellness coach, the Wellness Inspired Podcast explores the messy, meaningful, and often unexpected path to feeling well—and staying well—in a world that constantly demands more.
Wellness Inspired Podcast
From Covert Agent to Spiritual Mentor: The Real Work of Integration
What does it take to move from inspiration to true integration? In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Sylvie Filteau, a former covert agent with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police turned spiritual mentor, priestess, and psycho-spiritual counselor. Together, we explore how real transformation doesn’t come from the spark of insight alone, but from weaving those insights into the fabric of daily life.
In this episode, you’ll discover:
- How Sylvie went from years in high-pressure covert operations to a spiritual awakening rooted in nature and inner authority.
- Why integration—not just inspiration—is where the real work begins.
- The link between integrity, authenticity, and wholeness in personal growth.
- Practical integration tools you can use to turn insights into embodied change.
🎧 Whether you’re chasing wellness goals, navigating burnout, or seeking deeper alignment, this episode is a reminder that the body is where spirit chooses to live—and integration is how we honor that truth.
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Hello wellness friends. Welcome back to another episode of the wellness inspired podcast, a place where you can find inspiration, motivation and empowerment in the pursuit of a wellness lifestyle. I'm your host, Sherri Davidson. I'm a wellness coach, acupuncturist, trail runner and former interior designer in Houston, Texas, and I am deeply passionate about health and well-being. And, as always, I'm here with my co-host, Finn. If you're new to the podcast, Finn is my Terrier, Mix, Rescue dog, trail runner and loyal companion. He is also a therapy dog and greeter at Element 5 Acupuncture and Wellness, and today I have an exciting episode for you.
Speaker 1:We are talking about the space between inspiration and integration. It's easy to get inspired we listen to podcasts, read books, scroll wellness trends or follow influencers who light us up. Those sparks feel good and they matter, but the truth is they don't last unless we find a way to bring them into our everyday lives, and that's where integration comes in. To explore this idea, I am joined by my friend and amazing human being, Sylvia Filto. After 17 years working in covert operations with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Special Forces, Sylvia now serves as a spiritual mentor, priestess and psycho-spiritual counselor. She brings a unique lens to integration, emphasizing that real change doesn't come from the spark of inspiration alone, but from the practices that follow. In our conversation, we'll talk about what integration is, why integration is where the real work begins, how to embody the insights we receive, and practical ways that you can bridge the gap between motivation and meaningful change. So settle in, because you're going to really love this one. Hi, Sylvia, Welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2:I am so happy that you're here, Thank you for having me Like really thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I always say to just use my voice and, yeah, dig into some really important, beautiful topics. So thank you yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, you're in Canada. Where do you live in Canada?
Speaker 2:I am currently right on the border of Ontario and Quebec, the provinces, so I'm just outside of Montreal. Okay, do you speak French? I do, I do speak French.
Speaker 1:Yes, I saw the name of your retreat. What is it? Where is it? Is it the recent one, the Awakened?
Speaker 2:Warrior. No, eluxura, eluxura recent one, the Awakened Warrior. No, eluxura, eluxura, I speak. Yeah, I'm a. So yeah, just for some context. I mean, quebec is a French Canadian province, so I was born and raised in Montreal, so speaking French came second nature. And my dad is also, you know, french Canadian descendant of, like French, from France the whole thing. But my mom is Sicilian, born in Sicily. So I grew up with all three languages and eluxura is more of like it does have a bit of that Latin flavor if you will.
Speaker 1:So it's more of a. Is it Italian?
Speaker 2:It's actually a word I made up. To be honest, oh my God, to be honest. Yeah, I made up this word from two words.
Speaker 2:The first word was eluxurama, which is an actual word, sort of like being the light at a time of chaos you know, and then the other word was luxus, which is, you know, the light really, and so I made up this word essentially, as you know, I don't want to use the word like brand, but really that is the flavor and the essence of the retreats and pilgrimages that I do, so they're all under that umbrella.
Speaker 1:That's beautiful, well done. Well, we met, we met. We met in March, is that when we met? Yeah, so not a year, but we're working on a year, and I find you and your path that you have taken very interesting and I know everybody else will too, because you went from a covert agent to a spiritual mentor. Yes, I did a covert agent to a spiritual mentor. Yes, I did. You spent 17 years in high-pressured covert operations with the Canadian military or police the police.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, tell us a little bit about that. Yeah, I can. Yeah, so for Canada, because it's a bit different. So I worked for 17 years in an organization called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. So this is a federal police organization very similar to the United States FBI, right, and I did many different types of work and service within those 17 years, but more towards the end of my career. So I want to say probably about the last seven years were really given to covert operations, surveillance, you know, human intelligence, undercover operations under the umbrella of national security, and I was lent to our military special forces for some particular operations overseas and in conflict-rich environments and things like this. That was towards the end of my career.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so interesting. How did you get into that? I wanted to help people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, simple, yeah, simple and easy. For some reason, being a police officer was always something. It was like you know this little calling that I had always had. And coming out of high school and going right into college, my parents were like, no, you are not going into police technologies, you're too young. You know, go into something else. Cause at that time I was only 18, right 17 or 18. And they were probably right Cause I didn't have the same life experience. So I kind of floated for a couple of years, but I still had that innate thread of wanting to be of service to humanity in some way and for some reason, policing was the thing. I was like yeah, this is really what I want to do. And so I got into it later on and I joined when I was about 25.
Speaker 1:Okay, wow, and you spent 17 years doing that, 17 golden years, and then it sounds like you had a lot of success in that, and then you experienced what you call two dark nights of the soul and burnout. Yes, I did. Yeah, totally. And so then you embarked on this spiritual awakening that made connection to the natural world and inner authority central to your life.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I love that. I really love authority, that inner authority. You know what does that?
Speaker 2:mean to you. It's a great question and why I also love it so much, especially, in particular, to my experience with authority, having, you know, been through the realm of policing and you know this other kind of like authority. Right, you know, that kind of authority was obviously very systemic. Right, it was very power over and again, and I'm saying all this, this is my experience. This is not I'm not trying to paint the organization or like the really good human beings that go into these organizations with like really good intention, with like the same brush. That's not what I'm doing. But there is a very different kind of authority that takes place within the system versus the kind of authority that we have the ability to reclaim when we come back to the very deepest, authentic parts of ourself, right, so, you know, we decide we get to be sovereign in a different way and it's like the sovereignty that leads us into a different kind of authority.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I really love that, it's really beautiful. Kind of authority yeah, no, I really love that, it's really beautiful. There's some words and some phrases that I just really gravitate to. When we met a couple of weeks ago, you said something and can't remember what it was now, but I just remember going yeah, that's, I know what it was. We were talking about the integration and you were like integration is the real work, isn't that what you said? It's where the work starts, I think is what you said. And I was like yeah, that is so true. Yeah, what we're going to talk about today. So now you're a legally ordained priestess? Yeah, so tell me and the listeners, what exactly is an ordained priestess?
Speaker 2:Well, that too is a very loaded question. So, yeah, okay. So let's get into the legal ordination part first. So this is essentially a ministry, right? And when we say that this is like a legal ordination or a ministry priestess being woman, spiritual guide, spiritual mentor this is like spiritual ministry. This is also coming from a place that is non-religious, non-dogmatic, so it's like it's not has nothing to do with religion itself. It is a spiritual, devotional path of spirit. You know, we are in service to spirit, to many things beyond simply spirit, right, and that is really just the kind of scratching the surface of what priestess actually is. And that's by way of legal ordination.
Speaker 2:If you go into, some people are like I'm also an initiated priestess, right. These are two very different things which I believe to begin refining your actual path of service and get into actual mastery requires both. Well, actually that's a lie, I really. You know, some people enjoy having the ordination piece. It's almost like a certificate, you know what I mean. Like I've completed the certification, right. And then initiation right, because we're going to be talking about integration. For me, initiation really is more of the embodiment of the role Right really is more of the embodiment of the role Right. We've actually done the real raw walk and descent into the self and the healing required to then be the thing right In order to serve the thing right. So I don't know if that makes any sense, but so it sounds like it's an evolution.
Speaker 1:Is that? Is that correct? Like you, you start with the foundation and then you evolve into the practice of this. You've done the work and you're embodying this. Now, that embodiment.
Speaker 2:No, it is a role for sure. I don't like, and I like to. You know, we're going to, we're going to talk about a lot of things today and, at the end of the day, you know who I am and what I am isn't fully like identified by this role. Like I play many roles, I wear many hats, at the end of the day, I am a human, I am a woman, I am a, you know, spirit in this vessel, in this body, and these are just all the roles I get to play out in this life, right and priestess, really it's, you know. In this life, right and priestess, really it's, you know, there is a very shamanic layer to it as well. There is a lot of ceremonial and the ceremonial and sacred arts, temple arts, that are associated to how we are of service and how we teach and how we guide others into their own unraveling of the spiritual path.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's really beautiful because I also have here that you're a certified psycho-spiritual counselor, death work facilitator and you let's see, your training spans ancient Egyptian hermetic arts, Babylonian traditions, shamanic practices, somatic and womb healing and quantum mechanics. It all sounds so big. It does it sounds way too much.
Speaker 2:I'm like Sherry, that sounds like a lot there.
Speaker 1:Just trying to get the big picture of what you do. So before we get into the integration piece, it sounds beautiful. I do have a question about the Egyptian hermetic arts. Why Egyptian you?
Speaker 2:know that is oh gosh, that's a really deep question too, because so here's the thing. For some reason, you know, and I mean I can get into all the sort of esoteric concepts and and you know, I also don't want to like lose your audience if people like have never heard of these terms and I'm like, what does that mean? You know, but really, like from, I can give you a quick little story, like from the time I was, I want to say, maybe six or seven years old. I remember my dad bringing me to an ancient Egyptian exhibition at, like, the museum of civilization in Montreal or something Right, and my dad will even tell you the story Like I. We walked in, we did the thing and I was in awe.
Speaker 2:I had always been really drawn to the good old National Geographics in the 80s. I was always really into all of the archaeology, anthropology, signs and symbols. It was just something that really always sparked something within me. It was like, you know, a soul thing. And I went to this museum with my dad, he took me there, and at one point I go up to this exhibit and well, egyptians would call it the manat, which is like this beautiful sort of like neck piece, it's a necklace piece and I put my hands on the glass window and I looked at it and looked at my dad and I said that's mine. I was said that's mine. I was like that's mine. And he was just like, okay, that's yours, that's yours.
Speaker 2:And that was sort of like the first time that there was like a code, like something sparked within me that I literally have in my core memory and it just began to unfold throughout my whole life and truly, the ancient Egyptian mysteries, which you know also a big part of like a lot of the Greek, the ancient Greek mysteries, because the ancient Greeks I don't want to say took, but they did take in many ways a lot of the Egyptian teachings at that time and you know they've been spread out through different cultures and lineages throughout time. And then, even before ancient Egypt, we can go back to like Sumeria, we can go back to Babylon, like all of these things. But essentially there's a core, foundational, like very shamanic, elemental style teaching to a lot of these mysteries and it was really just these activations that my soul kept guiding me back to and understanding. Oh, there's some deep remembrance here and so it's just been this real deep exploration in a plethora of different ways. That really brought me back to those mysteries and how they are so pertinent and and vital to the process of our like, co-creation and evolution as human beings, especially at this time on the planet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, well, I have a question for you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, how are those pyramids built?
Speaker 2:I love it. How are they built? You know, I'm going to tell you when you spend time inside them, as I have done many times, and I will be doing it again in October very soon. There is absolutely no doubt that it is not of this earth.
Speaker 1:There's no doubt.
Speaker 2:I can you know, and there's so much that we are reclaiming and that is being rediscovered nowadays, right, and coming up from what I call the shadows and like things that have been like hidden from us and right. So this is very cosmic, it really is, and I'm like challenge me on it. It's all good, I know it is.
Speaker 1:I've never been. I would like challenge me on it. It's all good, just like I know it is. I've never been. I would like to go. I have never been. But I just can only imagine what it feels like to stand next to them. Yeah, very, very cosmic, well, fantastic, okay. Well, let's jump in. Yeah, let's do it Just to kind of set us up a little bit. Yeah, let's do it Just to kind of set us up a little bit.
Speaker 1:I know we were talking before and what I like to help people, with my clients with is to bridge the gap between wellness, inspiration and integration, because I feel like it's easy to get inspired, it's easy to get motivated. We start with a lot of momentum, a lot of excitement and, before you know it, life gets messy and we stop, we fall off, we stop and we're like we'll start again next Monday, right? So maybe it's starting a new weight loss routine or going to the gym or starting a goal of you. Maybe you want to run a half marathon or whatever that goal is that you set for yourself. It doesn't last.
Speaker 1:You end up quitting way, way sooner than what you should, and most people see this as failure, which I think is a cost of our self-trust, and we start setting these patterns up where we're failing before we even start. So I want to help people understand that you're smart, you're disciplined, right, you know what to do, but you're missing this integration piece, right? It's not that you're a failure. You need to look at it differently, and that is really my mission is to help people with that integration piece, and that's what I'd like to talk to you about today. And I think what I'd like to hear is your definition of what integration means.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, thank you, I can go really deep with that particular definition, but where I want to really keep it, integrity, right. It really comes from being in integrity, right, and what are we in integrity with? Right? Are we going to make a commitment to be in integrity with ourself? You know, and there's many parts of the self, right when we start getting into parts work and understanding the different aspects of the self. Right when we start getting into parts work and understanding the different aspects of the self that either keep us stagnant or unmotivated and the parts that really are still motivated, right. So it does become a dance.
Speaker 2:But really, integrity. I feel truly, at least for my experience and the experience with a lot of my clients, is that integrity is at the root of that right. And then we can go like, yeah, we get real deep on that, because integrity is also really tethered into authenticity, and I'm going to get in later, if we can, into the fallacy of the trends of authenticity that is being sold to us right From a very synthetic culture and the more we perpetuate this like synthetic culture, right, which is an intricate part of our own beliefs, values and programming bestowed upon us since the time we were little right.
Speaker 2:The point here is, you know, if we're going to remain in integrity, first we need to understand well, wait a minute. What are the differences between the programs, beliefs and values that were imprinted on me versus the ones that, like, are really coded in my soul? Yeah, okay, there's a very big difference there. And if I'm going to remain in integrity with the ones that are really coded in my soul, that's where I get to refine in my alignment. But if I'm going to continue to perpetuate the identity traps because this is the piece is, like, most people skim the surface and it's. I'm not blaming anybody because, like, most people just don't know what kind of depth we must descend into in order to unravel the identity pieces that are associated to the beliefs and programs because, like, we just don't want to dissolve that identity, hence why we don't want to integrate.
Speaker 1:Right, so would you say that integration is becoming whole?
Speaker 2:100%. Well, how's this? I like this, I like this, this is great, we are whole. It's remembering that we are whole, so it's not more. It's, you know, because we've got. You know, there's this whole like piece that it's like let's heal. Like you know, there's the push on healing, especially in the wellness industry and the spiritual communities. Oh, they're like let's heal, let's heal, let's heal. But that also becomes, you know, a product of the system. When it's not done with um, like when it's done like discipline versus devotion, okay, and so what I like to say, what I, how I like to work, is like no, no, no, wait, hang on, you're not broken, right, we just need to remember, we need to remember the parts of the self, the authentic parts of the self, and when we remember, we need to learn how to build the capacity to feel safe, to be those parts of ourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, yeah, when you say to feel safe, to feel those parts of us, my brain went straight to the nervous system. Yeah, that was my first thought the nervous system and how so many of us are just living in this fight or flight and don't even know it. Right, I like that a lot. You know, listening to you and I'm sure if I'm feeling this way, and I know cause I I'm very into doing the work for myself, right, and it it does suck sometimes. It just sucks sometimes.
Speaker 1:But on the other side of that, there is and I don't know if I could articulate it, but there is a release and there is this like, oh my gosh, like there's this almost new way of being. You know, when you get to the other side of that, this awareness that you have. But when I listen to you, it feels like a lot of work, like a lot of work, like it might it could possibly terrify somebody. So what do you tell people when you work with them? To ease them into thinking? I mean, obviously you want to set them up that this is going to be a lot of work, but how do you ease them into this kind of work? Is there even a way?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, it's through titration, right? So I'm going to say a couple of pieces around this. So most people, if not everyone, in their own way carry some form of you know trauma, whether that's you know, little T, big T, small T, big T, or like compounded complex, we get it. Now, if we were to look at you know trauma from a different perspective and understand it, look at it like an opportunity, right, here's an opportunity that this experience, or all of these multiple experiences, have led me to be disconnected from the self, because that's essentially what trauma is. It's a form of disconnect, right? And that puts you in a perpetual state of fear. And whatever mechanism that you're in, fight, flight, freeze, fawn, whatever mechanism that you're in, fight, flight freeze fawn whatever these are.
Speaker 2:You know the expressions of the fear, okay, so we cannot even begin to remember or quote unquote heal in the same way that we were traumatized. Sometimes it's, it happens too fast, too quick. We can't offer people that same type of modality. So, you know, it has to be done in a way that is titrated. Now, you know there's, so there's, there's a, there's a big richness to this particular topic that we're going on, because integration, essentially, is also learning how to build capacity in the nervous system, right, and, and this fear, or this you know, when you mentioned, well, like the work can really suck, yeah, yeah, because that's another, another piece I find, culturally, culturally, people have been sold on this like quick fix thing, right.
Speaker 2:So we, we have to understand that these things take time, they take investment, energy investment, they take investment and, and you know, coming back to the self, coming back to wholeness, right, it's simply about really learning how to open to the sensations in the body that send off the red flags, right, as a result of, you know, whatever happened, right? So it's, it is sensory work and this is like it is psycho, spiritual, psycho, emotional, it's not just cognitive, and I feel like that's where a lot of people get stuck because they're just stuck in the mind and what gets really scary is because obviously the mind is there to protect us. Again, it's a bit illusionary, but we get stuck up here and we're not willing to descend into the sensations of the body where the actual energetics are being held around those core wounds that all we need to do sometimes is just take the time to be really present with them and meet them consistently, gently, allowing ourselves to finally open, and when it opens, it releases. So it's a very different way versus what we're being sold being sold.
Speaker 1:Your work is so deep. I do acupuncture and the wellness coaching. When I start working with people on an energetic level, I can't tell you. I've been doing it for over 18 years acupuncture and how many people will push me out and resist me, just without even a conversation. It's incredible. And I'm not trained like you and I don't. I'm not trained like like you, so I don't go into that kind of deep work with them. I just, you know, use my needles, um, and then the. The wellness coaching will is pretty new to my practice, but um it just there is just a lot of resistance around the work. And how do you encourage people to do that work? You know is like to help people, right, if you know that this is what somebody needs, what kind of conversation do you have to encourage them to do the work you know is yeah?
Speaker 2:Well, this kind of especially in okay. So first of all, sherry, I want to say that I've done acupuncture for years and I think it's very, a very vital process to number one, to my personal healing, a hundred percent. So so you're like you know, I just do this. No, you're, you are like like you know, I just do this.
Speaker 1:No, you're, you are like. Thank you, no, angelic Okay.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that Cause it's it's really important work and most people obviously don't understand the depth of like how acupuncture really works and of course, it's been around for thousands of years. So it's like, yeah, but how do we get people ready? Here's the thing.
Speaker 2:Like there is a you know, and I always say and I'm very honest about this, not everybody is ready for the work and not everybody's going to be ready for this kind of work. And I personally, as a guide, as a mentor, as a practitioner, I'm not for everybody, I'm really not. And it can be scary, and I do scare people. I'm just going to be honest, but not in the best of ways, because here's how this happens. Okay, I have, I'm always evolving and I'm always a student of the mystery, a great mystery. I'm always, always, always okay, student of the mystery, a great mystery. I'm always, always, always Okay. And as a result of that, I am consistently in my own practices. I am, you know, consistently evolving my awareness and evolving my consciousness. And what does that mean? That means that I too get to integrate, I too get to embody and become, you know, the more evolved version of self, like the more evolved version of my soul, and the more I do that, the more my authenticity begins to. You know, I'm going to use for lack of better word vibrate. You know, at a particular frequency and some people, I don't even need to say a word, I'll walk in a room and people are like, oh my God, like I can't even go near that person, you know, it's like it just doesn't mesh because I'm to them. I might be too much, I might be whatever, right, and that's, that's fine.
Speaker 2:Usually what happens is those that come into my world, um, who are very like, inquisitive, like what do we do? Like, what kind of work do we do? And it's like there is a deeper inquiry that goes on in terms of what work have you done before? What are you prepared to dissolve? Like, what are you prepared to actually invest energetically? What kind of threshold are you at in your life where you might be stagnant and kind of stuck in this place, but you want to get here, and this is what getting here requires. Are you ready for that? Yeah, you know. So there is a big conversation. That happens because the, especially in the work I do, is very bespoke, very tailored. It's not cookie cutter. It can't be, because we're all very unique, right In our own way. So, yeah, no, I love that.
Speaker 1:Well, let's get back to the integration. So we talked a little bit about what integration means. What else would someone need to know about integration? Let me give you an example, or let me give you a scenario.
Speaker 1:Let's say someone I hear this all the time. I know what to do, I just don't do it. Right, I know I got to get up, I got to go to the gym. If I want to lose that extra 15 pounds, right? So I know what to do, but I'm not getting up. You know, I'm okay, so I'm just not going to do it. This just isn't for me, right? Yeah, what I normally will tell people is okay, well, there are more than one ways to lose 15 pounds. You know, maybe you don't have to get up at 4am and go to the gym every day. So I like that authentic piece. There's some, you know, exploration and discovery about what might work for them other than getting up at 4am and going to a gym. Take somebody like that and walk us through a scenario of like how to approach integration with this person. This person really wants to lose those 15 pounds. They really want to find, like they're devoted to finding that thing that works for them, right. What would you tell them? What would you say to?
Speaker 2:them. Well, you know what I love this question. I have gone through that myself in many ways, coming off of, you know, severe PTSD and complex trauma myself through, like the policing worlds. And then, you know, having come back to remembrance and other things, and I've had to find all the different avenues on how to get healthy right Mind, body, spirit, all three.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so what I would say you know is, again, it goes back to you know, what do you, number one, what do you truly desire and why? Right, why do you desire to lose these 15 pounds? There needs to be a real deep self-inquiry and I'm just we're using this example, right, like, okay, but like there needs to be a really deep inquiry around what is your why? Because if your why is simply based on something that is synthetic, materialistic or, you know, it's just for the look, right, it's not going to last. But if your why is based on the understanding that, oh, okay, because I'm carrying this extra weight, it's actually doing X, y and Z to my body, it's impeding on my ability to evolve in all these different ways, we need to get clear understanding on number one, the grief that is held around the parts that you have abandoned, because a lot of people really are addicted to shame and I'm gonna say this and it's probably gonna trigger a lot of people but shame is the core addiction that that literally drives all other addictions Interesting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I want to come back to that but go ahead, yeah, and it's.
Speaker 2:And what happens is that, well, literally, even even from, um, uh, you know, like, when we're, when we're literally sitting in shame, the actual chemicals that we create in our brain, it literally can feel like a dopamine hit inquiry. And then, once we get to some awareness on those aspects of inquiry, then we begin to create a path forward and say, okay, well, you know it's, it's not about, like, necessarily, you know, going to the gym, you know, and doing X routine, I mean, that's part of it. But then you know, what is your relationship to food, what is your relationship to stress? But then you know, what is your relationship to food, what is your relationship to stress? Like is your body essentially consistently like upping the cortisol, because your reaction to daily endeavors is a certain way, and so that's perpetuating your weight gain as well, like, I mean, it's a full spectrum review, right, it's not just about the one avenue. And so when we really want to talk wellness and holistic healing, right, we have to do the deep dive inquiries around how all three aspects of being and like, where I feel a lot of people, you know, with the integration piece, a lot of people do miss the spiritual piece because, you know, spirituality has gotten such a bad name in many ways around many different things.
Speaker 2:You know, some people are like, oh, it's either woo woo or it's too dogmatic, or it's religious, or it's all these things. But that's because, like, systemically, it's all been so inverted that we've come so far from the truth of understanding what it actually is right, that literally feeling our emotions is actually spiritual, right. So there's all of those pieces. I don't know if that answers your question.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, it's really important in my work too, to figure out what is the why behind the goal, right, I really like that. I'm still thinking about the integration piece and I'm curious, you know, when I say integration and I am talking about helping people integrate their wants and desires into their daily life, right, and talking to you, and also as a wellness coach, I know the work that comes with that and I'm wondering if, like, when you talk to clients, do you talk about the integration piece or is that something you do, so it's something that you bring up front and you talk about it and you explain to people, like, what it's about, what's happening, and that it's an important part of the process, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2:So I mean, and again, depending on the work we're doing when I say that like, if it's, if it's, um, like a mentorship process, like a three or six month mentorship process with like one or two private retreats, that's, that's completely different. It's a, it's a bespoke process and there is preparation and integration in the process, right? So, whether that, whether it's completely different, it's a bespoke process and there is preparation and integration in the process, right? So, whether it's that we're doing like a breath work or we're doing, you know, like plant medicine and ceremonial, the ceremonial arts and all these types of things, which, again, is not for everyone, I can get into that whole thing, but what I'm trying to say is that it is imperative that integration is a part of the process. So, really, it's about the embodiment. So, you know and I think this is where where everybody gets so confused, if you will like well, what is embodiment? I mean, it's very simple. I can either let me see, let me just give you an example. Well, you know, okay, I'll give you the example of of, like policing, like you know, I'll just like, I can go in and study criminal law for three years, or I can, you know, be in bootcamp for a year and I can do all like the actual learning and academia aspects of policing, but, believe me, I am not an embodied police officer. Until I'm I've been boots on the ground and I've got some like time under my belt and have, like really learned the job and understood the dynamics and learned how to actually talk to people and learned how to like. I mean, you know, this is the difference between sort of like, a sort of like an intellectualized cognitive process, versus like embodiment. It's like be the thing, understand what embodiment is.
Speaker 2:Because we live in a culture that is extremely disconnected from literally just being human. Okay, like what does it even mean to be human? What does it mean to be a woman without inversion or oppression or shame? What does it? What does that even mean? What does it mean to be a woman? You know who's working in a system that has been like very inverted and like and I'm not just saying this is for women, but for men too Like I can go into the whole, you know aspect of systemic illusion and like all the inversions and distortions that are literally programmed into us. And so, you know, before we even get into integration, people need to come into deeper awareness of where they too, you know, are living out inversions in their daily life, where they too are really disconnected. And I feel like that's where it gets really scary for people, because there's a lot of people that really just don't want to face that. Yeah, because it really does hit on the grief and self-abandonment and, essentially, integration, like the antidote of self-abandonment is self-care.
Speaker 1:And that's another term that's just been Diluted, diluted and marketed and marketed, yeah, and marketed and marketed, yeah. And wellness, you know, wellness too, like I'm on this um, on this mission to you know, promote real wellness, which I think is the work you're doing in um. That individuality that you I say individuality, I think is the same as you saying, remembering, right, that we're all different, we're not mass produced, and you have to get in there and and just explore and discover what that is right For yourself. Yeah, you were also talking about authenticity as well, and I think that's another piece of that that I think has been diluted. And so when you talk about these systems that you know we've been programmed to think and to feel, explain to people. I know what you're saying. Yeah, someone else might not know what you're saying when you talk about that if you're not used to hearing that kind of talk.
Speaker 2:This is another one that goes really deep, you know. I know that we may not be able to unravel all of it, so I will definitely refer to people. I write a lot about it, so there's a piece that I could refer everybody to to actually listen to it. It could be a little triggering for people. But hey, this is just who I am. But no, when I talk about systemic discipline or systemic illusion, you know I I'm.
Speaker 2:What I'm speaking to are the very um aspects of you know I use the word empire. You know versus like temple and, of course, as a priestess, what do we do? We steward a temple. You know, many of us, um, who have been on the path of evolution or you know spiritual path or self-development, really do understand particular principles. I say universal laws around. You know, as within and so without and I say this all the time and I will say it till I'm blue in the face but like, everything that is within us is also reflected outside of us, okay, in many ways. And so you know our body is temple. You know our body can be considered temple, and empire is pretty much a completely different blueprint.
Speaker 2:Empire is very much something that is built for the purpose of having power over, for having control, for perpetuating fear and the what I like to say, the dis-ease of many threads of scarcity. So what happens when we are in a perpetual loop of scarcity? We are always in lack, we're always consuming, consuming. We're never enough. We're constantly outsourcing ourselves. Right, these are all deep-seated programs that actually are generational, okay, and so this is just scratching the surface.
Speaker 2:On the deeper work, it's like, well, what was actually, what were those beliefs and programs that were systemically passed on to you? And it's not I'm not saying this to point the finger, right that? Oh, it's the government's fault. Point the finger, sure, right that, oh, government's fault, it's their fault. It's, like, you know, or whatever, my boss's fault. No, when we begin to get awareness on all the ways that we consent to outsourcing, we then begin to empower ourselves out of the consciousness of victim, out of the consciousness of perpetrator and out of the consciousness of victim, out of the consciousness of perpetrator and out of the consciousness of rescuer, and we get to make sovereign decisions for ourself and come back to temple, versus perpetuating the cycle of empire, which is the like, I say, the illusion of the system, the system that keeps us in that perpetual state of disconnect. Yeah, does that make sense? Makes sense to me.
Speaker 1:Okay, I don't know, maybe somebody else might say something. I mean, I get it Because I've been. You know, this has been coming up for me and I, you know, I've been watching a lot of YouTube lately and you start watching one thing and it just starts recommending, and so it's been popping up a lot. And I think I told you about Chase Hughes and he was kind of the first one that was started really talking about all of this and it was like I knew it. I mean, I've watched the matrix, right.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, that's a whole other we can go.
Speaker 1:And you just have, you know, people living in this very programmed unaware space, right, and then you have the others that are trying to make change and save everybody.
Speaker 2:But this and I want to say this as an important piece, because you asked me that question before is like well, what do you do to prepare people? And so you know. What I'm going to say is that I do have a role to play in certain aspects of preparation, but my role is also not to force. Awaken you. Right, my embodiment, the way I live in my version of truth. Right, we'll do that all on its own. It will either attract you or it will repel you.
Speaker 2:And if it attracts you into the field, then let's dance. But if it rep you into the field, then let's dance. But if it repels you, you're not ready.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Right so yeah, yeah, and I guess that goes back to you know, whether you're talking about what we're talking about the spiritual awakening or whether you're talking about somebody losing, you know, 515 pounds. You can give people the information and they can take it or they don't, just depending on where they are in their life. It's that whole. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't force him to drink, right?
Speaker 2:Exactly, and that's been. My motto is like with or without you, I'm going to stay on this train and I'm going to keep going, with or without you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, when you say embodiment, I did look up um. You recommended a book. Uh, I got it.
Speaker 2:Uh, I've recommended many books, so I'm like which one was it? Was it the? Uh, the, the, the coach? Let me see yeah, the, um. My God, why am I losing my yeah?
Speaker 1:Cause you're like you should read this and I got the ultimate coach. Let me see, yeah, the um. My God, why am I losing my yeah? Cause you're like you should read this and I got the ultimate coach. Yes, the ultimate coach. And um, I've started it, but I haven't gotten very far. I actually got the audio, uh, the audio book, but I did watch some of his stuff and he talks a lot about embodiment, and so I'm wondering if embodiment and identity are the same thing, is that? Are those two different things?
Speaker 2:I feel that embodiment and identity are very parallel to a certain degree of your evolution and then, once you kind of cross a certain threshold, you understand that you're not attached to anything and that really truly is an expanded spiritual path, like where we're just. We can be in the world, but not of it. Right, we can be in the matrix, but not of it. We can understand and come into deeper union with all the parts of ourself, in deeper union with and come into deeper union with all the parts of ourself, in deeper union with, you know, um, the aspects of our environment or the world. And when I'm saying this, I mean like this it's very different. If it's a toxic thing, okay, that's very different. But you know, we can. We need to learn how to sit with discomfort, right, the more we can, and people don't like to be uncomfortable, hence why people don't like to be fully embodied.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know I I started. I've been an athlete pretty much all my life but in the past probably 10 years, 15 years I started doing a lot of endurance sports and it was about getting really uncomfortable and it was about who I was in that moment. And I always love, love these events because it's it's not so much about completing and crossing the finish line, but it's about who you become and the process of doing something like that. And you know, I feel like all of these endurance sports because I used to do Ironman. Now I'm ultra running and it's just. I feel like it has really changed me as a person because I've had to sit through that discomfort and people don't get it, but I really, I really love it for that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely it is. It is definitely an amplifier in so many ways and it, you know, again I want to say that too, is part of a spiritual path. Yeah, running, getting in the body, learning how to move the body, really allowing the body to be an instrument of how your spirit desires to be expressed, right, all of it. And this is why I'm saying, like, people omit that understanding based on, like, particular beliefs right, but we can remain open-minded to the understanding that, like it's really not woo-woo Okay, I mean, there are some people who can be, I'm not going to say that but really, like, what you're speaking to is part of actual, not only self-development but spiritual development as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, there's a um. There's a book called uh running with the mind of meditation, uh, and it's by a Tibetan Buddhist. There is a sinner in Colorado. That is about his teachings and I did it and so I went and I meditated all day long and then went for runs. It was great, it's amazing. Yeah, it was amazing, it was amazing. Some people will ask me what I listen to when I do some of these events and I'm like nothing. They're like what do you mean? You don't listen to anything. I love hearing my feet hit the ground, like there's just something very spiritual. And there is a um. I don't know if you would be interested, but it's called the 3100. There's actually a movie called 3100 run and become. It's a documentary, it's about a race and I can't remember the? The's name, but he puts it on in New York City once a year and it's usually in June, and it's around a New York City block for 3,100 miles and it's about the spiritual piece of running.
Speaker 2:You see, this is so key, like there's so much richness in this particular piece Because, like, what I see right is this you know, there's a consistent devotion, like it's not just, I mean, there's an aspect of discipline, but I feel like when we become over-disciplined is when we actually lose the holistic intention behind it. When it becomes devotional, right, it's about a greater mission, right. And so what I love about this part is that, you know, I also, you know, integration leads to titrated embodiment, which then leads to mastery, right, and so this is another part of where I feel, anyways, we are seeing um so much distortion, you know, in, in, you know the wellness world or the you know all the things, when it comes to a lack of mastery, because there's a lack of actual embodiment and people are going too quick, they're like, oh, I just, you know it's. I always kind of give the example of the person who does their very first ayahuasca ceremony, right.
Speaker 2:I'm going to get into that, the person who does their very first ayahuasca ceremony. It's like, oh my God, I had this huge awakening, beautiful, amazing. Everybody needs this, everybody has to do the medicine. Ayahuasca asked me to become a facilitator, and so it's like this thing where it's like sometimes the sacred is not safeguarded and it becomes immediately diluted. You know, because people are like I got to share this, I got to do this, I got to teach this, but I haven't actually embodied the thing. Yeah Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and that only seems like it's going to get worse with AI and all kinds. I know that's a whole other conversation. It's harder and harder. Things are just moving way too fast to take that time to do that.
Speaker 2:This is key right here again on the topic of yeah, because as a human being, as an organic, natural technology, we are not designed. Actually, let me say this Let me talk about what we are designed for. We are designed to feel, we are designed to move at a very seasonal pace. Okay, and this is essentially, you know, what we call the, the, the feminine path. And when I say the feminine path for those who may not understand, I'm not only talking about women. I'm talking about the energetic and the essence of feminine energy, which is in both men and women. Okay, it's yin, right, and one part of yin is this very like natural rhythm, and we are nature, nature is essence of feminine, right.
Speaker 2:Again, I don't want to go too off the rails with this, but what I'm trying to say here is when, like, we are designed to slowly integrate, like it is like a slow drip of titration in order to evolve, right, this is because it is a co-creation, a consistent co-creation of our natural experience, of our, you know, the way we commune with each other, humanity, right, but when we kind of implant and I'm going to use that word but when we begin to implant with technology and we're not in right relationship, meaning we do not have technology like a very particular intentions, or our intentions are not coming from a place of actual love and they're coming from, like, again, empire consciousness, which is control, power over. You know, scale, scale, scale, uh, power, power, power, like all of these things which we're seeing happening in the world. Right, we're not, we're not meant to evolve that way. Yeah, that's, that's forced evolution and that's that's actually the eradication of creation. So that's, yeah, it's, it's a very big conversation, very big one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I I want to ask I know it's opening a door for a very big and long conversation I feel like there's this momentum going that is really hard to stop, and there can be people like you, there can be people like me and there's other people out there doing the work, but it doesn't seem like there's enough people doing the work. Like am I right in saying that there's this, there's a lot of momentum built up, and like, how do you stop that? Like, how do you reverse that? How do you pull it back in and try and start to go the other way? Like what? Because I, I also feel, um and I made a note to say something that part of the beginning of all of this work is awareness and being mindful. Right, would you say that? Yeah, and I just feel like there are so many people that are just in that program and and, in a way, been brainwashed, like it absolutely.
Speaker 2:It's, it's brainwashing, it's cognitive dissonance, it's, there's a lot of that, there's a lot of that you know, it's, there's a lot of that, there's a lot of that you know. And again, it's yeah, we are. We are definitely in some very, very tumultuous time in this world, in this work in service of this way. I, you know, I, I'm very human, obviously, and I have my moments as well of like, exactly what you're saying is like, oh my god, is it too late? Have we freaking lost humanity? Because, like the things that I see, like literally as a seer, okay, truly, um, it's it. It can be very scary and it's not to perpetuate the fear, but it's also to say, hey, we do really need to begin to look what we're doing, right and like.
Speaker 2:But the problem is is that most people can't really see past their nose, right, and that's okay, because they don't have the gift of sight, they can't take the eagle eye view, because they can only see like two, three steps ahead. Why? Because of the amount of disconnect, right, so they don't have the capacity to even go there because otherwise it'll break them entirely. So it's like, okay, on one hand, trying to have compassion, right, knowing that we're not here, know we're not here at you, know we're doing the work.
Speaker 2:All we can do is do the work on ourselves, because the more we dissolve the empire within all the ways that we outsource ourselves, right. Then we get to come into remembrance and we get to be the example, right, and then it's, you know, it's having deep faith, and I don't again mean that in a religious way, it's faith in the fact that we do live in the mystery. And that's another big part of, I believe, why people have a lot of issue being with the unknown and being uncomfortable with the unknown and the unseen and in my world, in the esoteric world and the spiritual world, this is called the underworld like really walking, like the unseen worlds and understanding that, hey, we have to access those worlds in order to pull the light. Right, we really do. There's many mythos around all of this, but essentially this is really what it is it's about going into the subconscious yeah making the unconscious, subconscious, conscious, because until it's conscious, there's nothing you can do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, patterns will continue to drive those subconscious patterns will continue to, to perpetuate and drive you in a different direction. Yeah, yeah, that's so good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm fascinated by all of that stuff. It's the world of possibilities, right? The world of? I always think. Wouldn't I want to live in a world of infinite possibilities? Wouldn't I want to be there?
Speaker 2:That's quantum and you live in it.
Speaker 2:So I love this.
Speaker 2:See, like we were sold on the lie that we don't have access to all potential and infinite possibility, like that's a quantum concept, right, and as both men and women have access to this, but women in particular which, again, I we, this is probably a whole other thing, but just to kind of scratch the surface, women in particular have access to this through our actual body because we have a womb and when we get into feminine energetics and the feminine path and the feminine mysteries, feminine path and the feminine mysteries, right, we begin to discover the deeper aspects of the truths of, like our womb, as this divine technology and this access to a you know very how would I say, like the void, right, and what, what, what's in the void. Again, remember when I said as within, so without, and as above, so below, and all the things. Well, it's like, you know, the cosmic field. It's like this's like the cosmic field. It's like this is where the Oracle lives, this is where she gets to pull from all potential and birth it into matter. I love that.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, this is a much deeper, more expanded, and I get that and I probably confused a lot of people.
Speaker 1:but that's okay. I'm sorry I went there, but I just find it so fascinating and it just it makes me want to understand and learn more. Right, because I don't know if this is a good example, but sometimes people come in, and especially women who I do a lot of fertility acupuncture and they'll come in with there's absolutely no reason. They've done all the tests, they've done the blood work, they've done everything and there's absolutely no reason why they can't get pregnant. And there are a lot of women that are very, very upset about it because they want a diagnosis and I can't tell you how many times I've had the conversation, you know, one coming from understanding, but also I have the conversation around. But isn't it better to be open to possibilities rather than having a diagnosis slapped on you? Where you're, you know for sure you can't get pregnant.
Speaker 2:Well, and it's you know, I love that because and here's the thing is like again, just that alone is a really good example, and again, without shaming anybody, but it's a really good example of the program that literally tells you you're broken and that you need a diagnosis to justify that.
Speaker 2:Your victim now knows, right, that you're broken and then you're just going to, like, accept that.
Speaker 2:But the thing is like this is a very cognitive thing, right, when we, especially as women, you know, really begin to descend into the body and really understand our own mechanics and understand the actual power of our womb and ourselves as creational beings, right, yeah, I mean, it's a long journey of remembrance and, you know, through that remembrance there's a lot of aspects of healing that actually occurs not just for ourselves, but even epigenetically, like really, and what we carry in our womb, like code, wise, like literally in our blood, which is the plasma field which holds DNA and code, and all the information we need is actually epigenetic memory of trauma that's been passed on to us and it's held within the womb for women.
Speaker 2:And so, you know, this is a descent that I talk about a lot, where a lot of women think they're doing the work. They think they're and that's great for steps and all the things. But we must address, like you know, once we address the womb and we become acquainted with her beyond programming and shame, right, that is when we begin to understand. Oh, that's why they kept it from us. Yeah, that's why they distorted this. That's the illusion. Like that's why they taught us this, or omitted to teach us this, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so beautiful. I love it. I'm going to send people to you for fertility. No, I work with a lot of really great women. I don't have kids. I was married, I am divorced, but we didn't have kids. It is such a drive for women. Women are incapable of getting pregnant. It's their identity. It's every health right. They do feel broken when they can't get pregnant. It is like they can't live out what they're supposed to be doing. I've worked with a lot of really great women and a lot of IVF and I think I, you know, I, I, I see IVF as this great gift. I'm not sure how. I personally, for myself, I'm happy it's there because I think it's made a lot of happy women, but the intensity of it and the drugs and all of that, I don't know. But to each their own. I don't judge anybody for it. I think I've seen a lot of smiling faces because of it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, absolutely no, no, exactly. Everybody has their own path in this, for sure. And one thing I do want to say is that, where IVF is more common or even potentially readily available and normalized in our culture, what isn't is the natural feminine path and what actually has the potential to allow you to have access to fertility when you become fertile. In all the ways where you're actually like subconsciously impeding on fertility, yeah, yeah, but because that's, you know, that's also been really eroded out of our culture. Yeah, for many systemic and historical reasons that I can get into, but you know, it's scary for people and people are like I don't trust it, so I'd rather trust this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and over time I've been treating IVF because I guess I don't know maybe probably around 2008 is when you really started hearing about many people doing it right, going through the process, and I can not tell you how many more people are doing it now and they're doing it sooner, like some people are just doing it based on time, like it's like, okay, I just want to do it in the next year. You know, we're just going to go through the process. They're not even giving their bodies a chance. Again, no judgment, but it is just in response to what you just said. It is a little scary.
Speaker 2:It all starts with women being so disconnected from the fact that we are cyclical beings and like from the way that we're taught, you know, to really oppress our cycles, to oppress our bleed, I mean. I can go on and on and on in all the ways, but that builds up over time and that actually is a form of compounded trauma that nobody talks about because it's normalized, you know. And so here's what I'm seeing, right, and again, it's not to put fear in the field, but it's to actually put some awareness, to see the awareness, you know, where we've normalized and again, yes, without judgment and anything, where we've normalized this process or IVF and all the things. What's actually coming down the pipe, right With AI and artificial technologies, you know, and it's happening in china right now, and there's been some major like breakthroughs and lots of articles on robots that are growing babies in synthetic amniotic fluid. So I'm you know, again, this is all about how are we handing over our sovereignty?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you know, for a woman who has never explored the ways that she is not sovereign because of XYZ programming, you know, this is just like a brilliant next step. Yeah, we come so far away, like when we are not connected and we are not rooted, we're cut from the cord and we have no trust in great mother in nature, in the feminine aspect of whatever you want to call it, source, universe, god. We have none, there's none, so we outsource and we give our power away to the systems that be that, tell us, this is how you woman. Yeah, this is how you woman.
Speaker 1:Right, you know, what came up when you were talking just now was Avatar. The movie Avatar, yes, and I mean people loved that movie. What do you think the draw to that movie was? Because I don't feel like it was this fact that there was a person in this machine that was able to go into different worlds as an avatar or a different being, but it had something to do with the story itself.
Speaker 2:Like what do you? There's a lot Like I mean, I would say there's a lot like I mean there's, I would say there's stories within the stories, Right, and really there's. There's a core essence, truly about colonization and corruption and scarcity. Yeah, Right, that's I really. That's at the foundation. And you know, again, I'm not saying technology is bad, that's not what I'm saying, right, I'm not.
Speaker 2:No, I'm saying that, once again, we need to develop discernment and discernment. Developing discernment is also done through self-development and the spiritual path. Again, we can't have discernment, we can't refine it, if we don't know what truth feels like in the body, True, Like it must be felt at the core. Like most people don't even know what their no feels like or their yes feels like. That's a sensation, right, it's not. Like, do you know when you're in contraction versus expansion, Right, this is sensory, thematic. Avatar, I think you know like I mean, that's a whole other thing with the Hollywood movies and all of it. Like you know, I can get into all of that good rabbit hole stuff. Listen, I enjoyed it. Personally, I enjoy Avatar. My kids have watched Avatar. I think there's a lot of really good, thick things to think about because it's stuff that has happened in our planet on our planet
Speaker 1:and it's happening on our planet. Yeah, you know so, yeah, um, it was interesting how that popped into my, I just saw the tree yeah, um, excellent, um, okay. So we kind of diverted there for a little bit.
Speaker 2:I love all of this. This is all pertinent. It's all pertinent to integration.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's all good. So what's a daily life like in Sylvia's world?
Speaker 2:Sylvia's world. Olivia's world. Look, I am a mom of two teenage girls, 13 and 15. I've been in my marriage for 26 years now, so it is definitely far from perfect. We have had to make consistent efforts and choices and commitments through our own personal evolution. So I do not want to paint any kind of picture that says my life is so pretty and spiritual and I run in a meadow with flowers on my head. Hell, no, I'm human, right, you're doing the work, right? Here's my biggest thing. So I'll tell you a little bit of what my days look like. And then I'm going to get into, like, I guess, this, this core teaching that I've been really, really playing with and implementing.
Speaker 2:But essentially, like you know, I've had to learn how to honor my commitments in terms of, like the commitments I make to myself. So you know, it took me a long time coming out of policing especially, which is very driven by urgency culture, right, like constant, like I mean, that's what it is. So my nervous system was regulated to urgency culture. So it took me a long time, especially as an entrepreneur, and coming out of that and coming into, just like, the world of business or the world of entrepreneurship, but even combining that with being of service to spirit, which is also another different kind of entrepreneurship, right, I really had to learn to dissolve a lot of the urgency. To dissolve, you know, to really feel safe, knowing that I can work in cycles, right. So it took a long time to learn how to honor very particular commitments and then also how to say no, how to say no to certain things, like I can't say yes to everything, and that's okay. So I, you know it took me a long time to learn how to have healthy boundaries, right, healthy boundaries. So you know, now I can say, because it's been a good seven years, but like of, you know, coming away from all of that and just coming into myself more, now my day, you know, I've, I've made, I've made arrangements in my life where I know that my primary quote unquote work is, you know, it's not constantly being like tethered into the computer and writing content and doing that, that, that, that, that, like most entrepreneurs are doing right now, like, obviously, with, you know, social media and all the things, but it's really about me being in nature, it's about me doing my own work, it's about me really communing with the elements in a way that allows me to be the embodiment of, you know, the role of priestess, or the role of shamanic practitioner, or, you know, shamanic breathwork facilitator all the roles that I play, I have to be the thing right. So that's my work.
Speaker 2:So, really, my mornings, you know, are very much dedicated to being in the work, for you know several hours, whether that's through meditation, movement. You know my workouts, you know prepping my meals. It's really dedicated to wellness. I've had to dedicate certain times of the week specifically for self-care practices, where it's like massage therapy or maybe it's my acupuncture. So it's really about honoring the vessel.
Speaker 2:And then there's the reality that, yeah, I'm a mom, I have two kids, I have a husband, I have a business that I'm running, I have clients that I meet, I have a life I need to human. So really, it's also about learning how to dance in compassion and offering myself grace when I'm not necessarily meeting my commitments, and trusting the process, trusting that guess what? Even if I'm not sitting in meditation or even if I'm not doing my samples or whatever it is that I'm, whatever, that I'm still on the path, because the true ceremony is life. Yeah, learning how to co-create with every given experience, every opportunity, right, whether it feels uncomfortable or it's like wow, this is amazing. Right, that's the path, that's the practice.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So life, everything, down to the last minute, is my practice, it's my spiritual practice. Everything, all of it. It's how I show up, how I co-create, who I am being being is the practice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which sounds like integration, which is integration, bring it full circle, right?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, I mean there's again like, know, I mean there's again, like I said, there's different levels of the integration, right, yeah, like in the in the plant medicine world, um, you know which? That's also one aspect of the service. But in the in the plant medicine world, you know, we speak to integration like when you basically commit to certain modalities. Now, it can be plant medicine, it could be breath work, it can be, you know, whatever the modality is, that you know cold plunging or whatever it is right, okay, you'll always have something revealed.
Speaker 2:You will get insights, you'll get downloads, you'll get visuals, you'll get something as a form of a teaching or a message or something, and what I like to call those the gold nuggets, right, and so you get these gold nuggets and then, because you've had this peak experience, right, then it's like well, what do I do with these gold nuggets? How do I actually implement this in my life, so, like for the purpose of integration? In that regard, it's, yeah, like, oftentimes we do need guidance, like there's a very, it's very different doing your own mushroom ceremony in the woods somewhere, which can be very expansive and beautiful, and all the things, versus like a ceremonial rite of passage right when you're guided and, like you know, you can actually then also be guided for integration. So two very different experiences.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the other thing came to my mind was you know, when I talk to people, there are many people, if we're talking about wellness, that will go to the gym in the morning and that's the healthiest choice they make for themselves all day long, right? Like you know, it's not integrated and weaved throughout their day. It's like it's very compartmentalized, Right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that came to mind when you were talking, which I love too, because we're not making the connection Like and I'll give you one example Like, imagine that you're going to the gym and you're doing set exercise, and it's actually like you know your heart's beating so your muscles, you know, literally like you're tearing the muscles so that you can grow the muscle, your heart's, you know, well, we need to understand that, like, what we're feeling and experiencing at a physical level is also happening at an energetic level, right.
Speaker 2:And so when we're not tethered in to that awareness or understanding, like, why would you want to expand the capacity in your heart? Because the more we get stronger, like, every aspect of our body, every organ is designed very divinely and specifically to play a role in your microcosm, in the ecosystem, right? So this is, this is what I'm saying is, like, I think a lot of people just don't have that deeper understanding. So they're like, well, I'm going to go to the gym and I'm going to do my thing for an hour, but then I'm going to go sit for eight hours in front of my desk and literally like, do worse to my body than a smoker would.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's, it's incredible and it's only getting worse. Yeah, but um, if you could give people one, two integration tools that they can use, what would be some good integration tools?
Speaker 2:Well, it's again because it's often very unique to the person. What I can do is maybe can I give you an example of an actual client, okay, like, I'll give you a really like a live example, because it's a lot easier for me to do it that way, because I work so like uniquely with everybody. For instance, I had a woman, lovely, lovely woman, who was having a lot of difficulty, you know, voicing, using her voice, using her voice, okay, for many reasons inner child wounding, all kinds of things, right, ancestral, like all the things, and so, you know, it became increasingly clear that she was also having some difficulties that were very womb and ovary related, actually cervical related, and I'm just going real deep here. So, to make a very long story short, as we began to peel off the layers and, you know, offer different practices to do a lot of different things the integration right became two things. Well, we understood that the energetics that were being held in the womb were directly associated to the stagnation and blocks that she was having to actually be able to utilize her voice. Now, if we want to get into the science of this the vagus nerve is tethered right into the cervix want to get into the science of this. The vagus nerve is tethered right into the cervix. It's also tethered into the voice. When we tone and vibrate, right, like we're toning, it sends a vibration that actually calms the nervous system, right? So that's just one example. So, like, the integration then becomes okay. Where do you feel safe using your voice? What does using your voice entail let's start small. Can you sing in the shower? Can you tone and just sing in the shower? Do you feel safe doing that? Yeah, of course, Great, cool, okay, great.
Speaker 2:A couple of weeks pass, we're doing some different integration. Then, you know, the bigger step comes. It's like, oh, my God, you know, my boss said this, this and this, and I froze Okay, what could you have done? Well, I could have done this, this and this. Okay, great. So what I need you to do, as to become the thing you need to do, the thing you need to use your voice.
Speaker 2:So what would you feel comfortable telling your boss? How would it feel? Right, Then we do some role plays. And then it's like live, because a lot of when I, when I work with clients, we have like live messaging back and forth, right, they can actually access me through a three-month process, like they have access to me, like you know, during the week pretty much, so it's like something comes up at work. I'll get a little message oh my God, okay, I did this. Okay, great, let's reassess, let's realign and let's action right. And so the action then became ways that she was implementing her voice and speaking her truth. Very small steps, and now you know like she doesn't shut up.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it. It's a beautiful thing. Yeah, yeah, I love that, and I have seen, I've seen it a lot with fertility and voice, yeah, and voice. So it's interesting that you, you, you, well, they're designed the same right.
Speaker 2:So if you look at the actual design of of, you know the whole aspect of, like thyroid throat, the whole thing, and you look at the design of the ovaries, it's the same design. I mean, and we and again, there's a lot of stuff that I can I teach about this stuff too but I mean, yes, yes, it is directly related to our voice. It is really really connected. Yeah, in many ways many layers.
Speaker 1:You're just going to have to come back. There's too many things that we need to talk about. I really think that that would be a great topic for most of my audience. For most of my audience, it's women, so I think it would be well-received. And, of course, I do, as a Chinese medicine practitioner. I still do episodes on acupuncture and TCM. Even though the podcast is geared towards my coaching, I still like to bring those pieces of myself and into into the podcast, so I think that would be very well received. So you'll have to come back anytime. So many things, okay. Well, I think we're almost at two hours. Yeah, that's wow. That's huge. Probably should wrap it up. Is there anything else that you want to say on integration before we wrap it up?
Speaker 2:I mean, you know, at the end of the day, because there's so much that can be said, but at the end of the day it's just to really understand if you are someone who desires to get onto a self-development path, okay, and your desires to start exploring what the spiritual path looks like, or just like you know, healing and evolving and all the things, know that the integration is the most important piece, that the embodiment right. We are here to be in our body. Right, Our spirit doesn't get to feel, unless it's in the body, Like it doesn't get to feel the tear running on the cheek. It doesn't get to feel the, you know, the wind on the face. It doesn't get to feel like the heart cracking open with love or desire or, you know, grief. Right, Spirit chose this body right and it's by no mistake. And so being in the body is the most spiritual thing you can do on this planet, in this realm. And so that's what I say for integration it is the most important part of the process, the most important part.
Speaker 1:I agree and I feel like it's the step that it's. That's not talked about. No, no, it's all about motivation and drive and inspiration and I think those things are good, but they'll only take you so far.
Speaker 2:You can't talk yourself out of the thing or into the thing. It doesn't work that way, and so people just have to acknowledge that. You need to acknowledge an acceptance, or you need to acknowledge that there will be aspects and forms of surrender that will be asked of you and sacrifices that you'll have to make. Yeah, if you really want to transform like transformational work is not therapy. Yeah, very different, very different, Right?
Speaker 1:So this probably ties back to the beginning, when I was asking you, like, how do you talk to somebody and encourage somebody to do the work? One of the things that I always struggle to communicate with people is what that transformation will be right. Like, how do you? Because everybody is different, so you can't tell somebody what they're going to experience, but there has to be some way to explain to people what they're going to get. On the other side, Is it a freedom? What is is? Is that it? I mean, what do you say?
Speaker 2:Well, I love. This is such a good question. So I love this, you see, and, and the only way I can answer this, I can answer this in two ways. So number one, and I'll use, you know again, my process as an example. Like I, I guarantee nothing. I'll tell you why, because that's actually the problem.
Speaker 2:This is where we don't trust the mystery, this is where we don't trust the feminine path, this is where we don't trust the yin, it's where we don't trust 50% of the aspect of source right. We're tethered into such a logical, very patriarchal, very masculine over masculine. And when I say masculine again, I am not saying that to put down men, because both men and women have suffered at the hands of losing, tether into yin, tethered into the feminine right. So this is where it becomes too cognitive. What do I get out of this? What do I like? It's like no, like no. That's. That's when I know you're not ready. That's when I know that you're not ready for the transformation, because you have to learn how to be comfortable with the unknown.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, first piece. So that leads to sovereignty, because otherwise you're always going to create your own cage, right? So that's a whole piece, right? There is is transfer people. People need to understand that transformational work. It's like this. It's like saying, well, um, I got pregnant, I need to know what it's going to look like. Yeah, it's like why can't I trust the process? What is what is so bad about like actually being, like coming into contact with this little face for the first time in my own hands, in my own arms, right? So this is again. This is how we impede on creation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I'm so glad you answered it that way Because I think, personally, I needed to hear that more. Because you know, as an entrepreneur and as a business owner, it's a very driven thing, right like it's a very young activity, totally caught up in that right, and it's nice to be reminded to that. You have to embody that yin aspect as well. And you know, I go back and forth, I go back from a healer to a business healer business in the treatment room. I'm out the treatment room checking people out. I'm here, you know, like I'm trying to figure out how to grow my practice. You know very, very young activities and sometimes I forget to nourish that yin peace.
Speaker 1:You know, as I'm sitting here saying all of this, I remember a video you posted and it was you kickboxing or boxing, and then you were meditating and then I was like I think I commented on it and I was like, um, nourishing yin and yang or something like that. And I, I also, I'm a kickboxer. Yeah, I kickboxed for, like you know, 16, 17 years and I do Chinese medicine and I read somewhere once that if you're going to hurt somebody, you have to be able to heal them. Yeah, yeah, and because I was a martial artist and so I mean that's not the only reason why I went into it, but I do remember reading that and I was like, oh, it makes perfect sense, right? Yeah, totally the yin and the yang of a martial artist. Anyways, I love that answer and it was a good reminder for me, so thank you.
Speaker 2:I'm happy it serves. Yeah, we can dig into that another time too.
Speaker 1:So there's a lot to that. So, yeah, we have lots of topics to discuss, okay, well, anything else, tell people how to find you. I know you have a. You write your own sub stack, also in the show notes. If you want me to take any of your particular writing, um, send those to me and I will put them in the show notes, cause I know you said you could link some back to some of uh, your your sub stack, uh writing. So send me all of that, but tell people, yeah, absolutely no, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, this is, it's just been so great. I just, I just love having deep conversations. It's literally like one of my love languages. Like, just just give me a space to have deep conversations and I'm so happy. But, yeah, no, so thank you for that. Um, yeah, people can find me on my website. I've got a website that I'm currently revamping so just to let everybody, it is wwwintemanaca, and you can find me on Instagram, on at priestessofthebluefire, and on LinkedIn at sylviafilto. And yeah, I've just gotten so passionate about Substack and writing lately. It just gives me the freedom to actually unravel, like deeper themes, whereas, like you know, linkedin and Substack not Substack, but Instagram gives you these tiny little. I'm like, no, I can't do this. So, yeah, but yeah, those are the ways you can, you know, find me and find my work.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, I'll put all of that in the show notes so people can find that and you will definitely have to come back because it's obvious we have some unfinished deep conversations to have. Absolutely, I really appreciate that. So thank you so much for being here and, yeah, we'll see you next time, Absolutely, Thank you. Others find me as well. To get updates on new episodes and wellness inspiration in your inbox, please join the Wellness Inspired community. Go to thewellnessinspiredpodcastcom to sign up. I'll put the link to the website in the show notes so you can click and join. Also, there's a Facebook community at the Wellness Inspired and you can follow me on Instagram at wellness underscore inspired.
Speaker 1:If you're in the Houston area or just visiting and interested in our services acupuncture, herbal medicine, cupping, zinchiatsu or dry needling therapy contact us. You can find out more on our website at element5omcom that's element5, the number 5, omcom, and again, I'll put the link in the show notes. If you're interested in health and wellness coaching, we can connect in the clinic or on Zoom. Reach out to us and we'll get you on the schedule and, as always, I would love to hear your feedback. I am dedicated to bringing you great content that is inspiring and informative with an artsy fun, edgy spin. Thank you so much for listening. We'll meet here again next time. And remember, never stop exploring, learning, loving and being you Bye.