BYOU - Nida Syed Reveals the Mind-Body-Soul Connection

Hello everyone and welcome to the Be You Podcast. My name is Danique Motzheim and in this podcast I talk with the greatest people from all around the world. People who have changed their own lives to create a better impact in other people's lives. I've been nominated to become the global thought leader in health technology, but I cannot change the world by myself. The world needs more global thought leaders in different fields. That is why I asked Nida Syed to talk with us about the mind-body and soul connection, something I feel so inspired by. She's a clinical hypnotherapist, transformational specialist, and the founder of UK's Well-known practice, Nida Syed Coaching. Yes, you can say she can transform your life so much. So I would like to welcome you, Syed. How are you doing? How is life? Hi, thank you so much.

Yeah, thank you very much for having me here. I am definitely, definitely looking forward to connect with you, connect with people, Globally, and I feel so blessed to be here and to talk about one of my favorite topics, which is mind, body, and soul. And yeah, so I'm absolutely thrilled and glad.

Awesome, thank you. Tell me more about yourself. I saw some grades that you have studied a lot. Can you tell me more about who you are?

Yes. So basically, I was studying— I've always had interest in how the human mind works. I come from a South Asian family. So for me, it was always interesting to know what someone is thinking, because it was always about, you know, when you're coming from a traditional family, it's always about what will people think? What will people say? Be careful, don't say that. be respectful, be humble, be gentle. And with all that, I used to always think, my parents tell me, what would people say? But how do we even know what they're thinking? You know what I mean? So that curiosity as a child led me to willing to understand what someone is thinking. And that being said, I started my study in psychology. I dived deeper into how the conscious mind works, how the brain works. But then what caught my attention was that we think that it's actually the conscious mind doing all the work, but it's actually the subconscious mind. And when I realized that the subconscious mind, when you're born, from that moment, is recording everything, I realized the subconscious mind is actually that we need to get a hold on, that we need to have a grip on, because it's not about what you think, it's about what you believe, and belief comes from subconscious mind. So that led me to making a huge decision of whether I wanted to do my master's in psychology and get labeled as the psychologist, or decide to do something and just continue with working with people on their subconscious mind, learn different techniques, learn different qualifications, have different knowledges, different methods. Because the fact is everybody is unique. Okay? And because everybody is unique, we can't use one therapy method. We have to know different therapy methods. So that led me to that. point in my life that I had to decide to do my mastery in clinical hypnotherapy combined with coaching and NLP, which is all subconscious mind work. And once I had done that, I did EMDR NNRT course as well. So I am a qualified practitioner in that. I'm also a Reiki master. So I'd done that, you know, spiritual healing into—

Wow.

Because I'm into that as well. And I've done so many other qualifications as well. I've made my skill set as big as possible simply because I want to help people globally. And funny enough, my practice name, Luminous Transformational Coaching— luminous is enlightenment, luminous is light.

Yeah.

You know, so I wanted to give it a name which was not only related to science or related to spirituality. I wanted to name it something that would imprint and combine the mind, body, and soul.

Wow, that is super cool. Can you say the name again, please?

Luminous Transformational Coaching.

Wow, wow, super cool. Can you tell me more about your background? What Where did you come from? Where did you live? How was your childhood? How did you— yeah, can you tell me more about that?

Yeah, sure. So I'm born and raised in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, so I prefer to call myself Dutch. I feel home with Dutch people. That's, you know, that is my country. That's where I feel home. That's where I feel I belong to. But I've been brought up in a very traditional way. So as I was the eldest one at home, I had to understand the culture. I had to understand the religion. So I had all the freedom, but I had to follow the tradition as well. I had to follow the rules as well, such as not speaking Dutch at home, such as praying 5 times a day. So as a child, I was learning a lot about the culture, the religion. But funny enough, I was going to a school which was a Christian school. So at school, every morning we used to read Bible.

Yeah.

You know, and I used to love it. You know, for me, there were all these stories. And then when I used to come home, I had an hour lecture from a teacher who taught me how to read the Quran. So then I had the Islamic insight. And this all started from the age of 5. I'm 32 now, but that's how I'm brought up. My parents were a lot more easier with my other siblings. But I had the training of understanding different cultures, understanding different people, different nationalities. And there was lots of pressure, to be honest, being the eldest one at home, being a girl from a South Asian culture. It brings a lot of pressure.

Yeah.

You know, it's not about career. The idea is at some point you just get married and you settle down. So I have been always rebellious. I've always respected the culture, always respected the belief systems. I've respected it all. But I've always had the power within me to stand up for myself and fight for what I believed in. So it was very challenging, you know, and funny enough, I even had teachers in Amsterdam who used to say, you won't be a mental health therapist, or you won't be a psychologist, it's not going to happen. So the scream— yeah, that, that did happen.

Oh, that's bad.

That did. But, you know, every time someone told me you can't do it, I kept telling myself, I will prove myself to you. Makes you stronger. It made me stronger. And, you know, for 4 years, I didn't— you know, I applied to study for psychology for 4 years. They have this lottery system in the Netherlands. So, you know, you have to give your name, and then you have to be lucky enough that your name comes out of the lottery system. So they kept on rejecting me. So I had no choice at some point than to go private. Which was expensive. Yeah, you know, it wasn't easy. So I've been through a lot, but at the end of the day, it was all worth it. Yeah.

And what was it for you that you moved from Amsterdam to the UK and build up your whole life, like, again, or start with nothing, or how was that?

Yeah, okay, whoa, there was a culture shock.

Yeah.

That's the very first thing that I would like to talk about. You know, in the Netherlands, you're just very— you just think, and what you think is what you speak. For sure.

We talked about this this afternoon with my team. She's from the Philippines, and like, we Dutchies are very direct.

Yeah, very, very direct. And we don't see— and if someone is direct to us, we don't see it as being offended. But in the UK, I had some hard times because people are being sweet and nice and respectful, but they don't talk about what you want them to talk about, you know. They will meet you, they will sugarcoat everything, you know, and I still can't do it.

Yeah.

I still can't do it, you know. For me, I am who I am, and I tried to adjust, adapt into the UK, into the people here. There are different nationalities here as well, but into the British culture, you know, thinking like them, talking like them. I can't do it, and I won't do it anymore because, you know, the thing is the way they— yeah, you know, the thing is the way they talk to me, it's sweet. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I, I can't talk like that because in the back of my mind I'm like, why am I sugarcoating Why am I wasting this much time? I want to be straightforward. You know what I mean? So that was— it was very challenging. But also, I moved to the UK in the end of 2019, and I was almost ending my master's as well. So it was before the pandemic. So it was challenging. There were a couple of moments I was like, I'm leaving, I'm going back. And funny enough, Funny enough, before the pandemic and the lockdown, I was like, I'm done, I'm out. And then the pandemic came. So the lockdown has taught me a lot. In the lockdown is when I started launching my practice. I started seeing my clients virtually, which was scary.

Mm-hmm.

It was scary. Face-to-face, you know, you can see how someone is behaving. You can see, you can read someone face-to-face. much better than through a cam. So it was scary, but with a lot of practice, support, with— because I have amazing mentors, supervisors, I was able to launch. And now we are fast forward in 2023, and I'm seeing now clients globally, different nationalities, and it's just the new normal.

Yeah, well, And how was that for you that you changed your business from in-person to virtually? How was the process for you?

Yeah, as I said, it was very scary. I wasn't confident enough because one, I just recently, back then it was just fresh that I got my mastery and I was starting to work on the subconscious mind doing clinical hypnotherapy and, you know, bringing people into trance, communicating with the subconscious mind and It sounds, as you might notice, it sounds already very overwhelming. So you have to have confidence. I didn't have enough time to build that confidence. You know, I did some sessions face-to-face, but they were on my family members, friends. I wasn't ready to see clients. And then virtually, it was crazy. But Because the pandemic, everything and everyone going into the lockdown, one of my mentors, he started weekly virtual meetings for us, the therapists, to support us, to motivate us to start practicing on each other through the virtual meeting, during the virtual meeting, so that it becomes normal. So it was a lot of practice. It was scary. But then I think it took me 2 months, 2 to 3 months. And I was like, you know what, I'm ready. And now I'm even doing EMDR virtually. I'm doing now every technique virtually. And at this moment, all my clients are taking virtual sessions from me because it's normal.

Yeah. And can you give someone advice who would like to go virtually, but yeah, is a little bit scared to go on camera? Can you help people?

Yes. So people are often camera shy in the beginning. And you know what I always do with my clients, especially if it's a new person, I always book 30-minute free consultation, you know. And when they call me, I just switch on the camera and I'm like, you know what, let's talk. We don't need to talk about the problems you have. But let's talk. How are you? What's happening? How's the weather? Where do you live? And the first 5 minutes, they become comfortable in front of the camera, and they start noticing that the other person who's also in front of the camera is just a normal person. Yeah, you know, so this is how you can build confidence but also win the trust. So that's what I always do, and this always works for, for my clients.

Okay, very great. And what about the thing that when you want to jump into it, like that moment before you put on the camera. Do you have any advice for that? Because that moment is the most scariest one.

Yeah, it's simple. Just put on your camera, don't go live, just put on your camera, have a look at yourself, breathe in through your nose 5 seconds, hold your breath 5 seconds, and breathe out through your mouth for 5 seconds. Now repeat this cycle 3 to 7 times Just keep looking at yourself. You will feel more calm, relaxed, in control. Now switch on your camera.

Wow, that's a very good one. Thank you. And what about— because this episode is about mind, body, and soul connection— how can you help people virtually with mind, body, and soul connection? How can you help them?

Okay, so it's a very great topic because people often Do one thing and leave the other one. What people don't understand is that mind, body, and soul goes hand in hand. You know, you can wake up in the morning and do makeup and go to your work, and just because you have put on makeup, you might feel confident. Yeah, but on a day that you don't put on makeup, you're not feeling confident. Why? Because you're just working on your appearance. You're just working on your physical. You're not doing that mind and the soul part, which is very important. And everything that you do has to come from within. And only then you're able to put in 100% effort. So what I often do with my clients is when they come for a trauma-related issue, they want to work on a childhood trauma or any specific trauma, I stabilize the present.

Mm-hmm.

And it's funny, when we stabilize the present, we do mindfulness.

Mm-hmm.

We do exercise. We do journaling, maybe. And if you can notice, there are already things that are interconnected with mind, body, and soul. So to stabilize, to be more in the present, you have to be able to balance that. And you don't need to do the complicated things. You don't need to do all of a sudden yoga, which you never did before. You know, just go for a walk. But it's very important to understand that you have to learn how to balance it because it's connected. And if you're just doing 2 of them without the 3rd one, so for example, you're just doing mind work, and you're just doing your body work, you're doing exercises, or you're just taking care of your body. That's all what you're doing. But you're not doing the soul part, which is connecting with the universe.

Mm-hmm.

You will still feel empty. Something is missing. You will feel that.

Is it something like the why, or is it something like a belief, or what is the soul? Can you explain me more about the soul connection?

Yeah. Soul is actually— okay, that's, that's actually a good question. Because I don't want to go more towards the religious side. But soul is actually Who you are. Soul is your reality. It's the soul first, and then mind and body. It starts with the soul. Now what happens is, when we get used to this world, when we get used to what's happening around us, when we get used to rat race, okay?

Mm-hmm.

We forget about the soul, and we start focusing on the physical, or we start focusing more on the body, on the mind. And we forget about the soul and you start feeling empty. And that's why people, they might have everything in their life sorted out, but they're not happy because they haven't listened to their soul. And your soul connects you actually with your soul purpose. Yeah. Yeah.

This morning I went for a run and I was asking myself, okay, why Am I going for a run? And I was thinking about our interview now about mind, body, and soul connection. I was thinking, okay, maybe why am I doing this is because I just wanna feel better. And if I work out, I just use my body. So, and my mind is thinking, okay, yes, I accomplished this, this workout, because it was my My, my first one. So I thought, okay, is it something like that? I thought, okay, let's ask Nia today about, okay, what is my soul connection when I go out for a run? And it felt like, okay, maybe why?

Yeah.

So it makes me happy, or because I would like to give the booty classes, like There is a higher purpose about why am I going for a run? So is it something like this, or?

Okay. So it's very important to understand the things that your mind will tell you are things that are already programmed there. Remember, your mind has no mind. Okay? So everything that's safe there, everything in the subconscious mind, that's all the mind knows. Okay, your physical body can save memories, but has no mind. Okay, so now you have to rely on your mind, which is limited. Okay, your physical body is relying on your mind. Now you have the soul side, and your soul connects you with your intuition.

Mm-hmm.

And your intuition leads you to what's going to work for you. So whenever you're connected, whenever you're connected with your soul, whenever you're connected with your intuition, you will start manifesting, you will start getting ideas that will work for you. You will start noticing things that you haven't noticed before, simply because your intuition connects you to your soul, and soul has unlimited information.

Wow, this is mind-blowing. So can you tell me an example in your life When all those 3 things are connected, like a situation in your life?

Honestly, whenever I am working every day, it's connected because I do meditation twice a day. Yeah, I'm very intuitive, so with my clients I use my intuition. I have to make sure that I am balanced so that I can do the sessions. And for me, all 3 of them are equally important. There is no specific day, there is no specific moment that I'm like, okay, now I'm balanced. And now I'm all over the place. There are moments that I do get triggered. There are moments that I get caught up in life. There are distractions, but I know how to ground myself. I know how to withhold that power within me. So that's one thing. Another thing, sometimes what does happen, and I'm definitely sure that a lot of other coaches and mental health therapists will agree with me, you know, when we are helping people with releasing what they have been withholding for years, we are absorbing it as well. So we help them to set themselves free, but we absorb it.

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

That's why after a session, People feel fresh, they feel healthy, they feel more empowered, but we start feeling low day by day. So we have to keep recharging ourselves by keeping the mind, body, and soul in balance. But sometimes we have to take a break, maybe just for 24 hours or maybe just for a couple of days, but it's important.

Yeah. Yeah. Is it something like in your Energy fields, or that you feel exhausted after a couple sessions, or what is it and what can you do about it?

Yeah, so basically, okay, there are a couple of things. First of all, what I would like to suggest, and that's especially for the listeners, if you feel drained by talking to someone, if it's a family member, a relative, a friend, whomever it is, Distance yourself immediately. Okay, that's the very first way to protect your energy because there are energy vampires out there. You can't blame them. They are just like that because they are carrying baggages and they are not seeing what's wrong within their lives. So that's the one thing. Okay. For me personally, I am an empath. So when I have a client, I tune in immediately, I feel immediately the pain. So for me, when I'm listening to them, it's for me like as if it's happening to me. So it's very deep. So I have to make proper breaks in between the sessions, and I have to do the daily meditation or go out for a walk. I have to do that.

Yeah, yeah, I can imagine. Yeah. And when people are anxious or feeling stressed about a situ— about the situation, what can they do?

Yeah.

Based on the mind, body, and soul, what are some tips or hacks or whatever?

Yeah. So see, the thing is when we feel a threat, the first thing that happens is that we start breathing shallowly. So everything Starts with breathing. Okay?

Mm-hmm.

So it's very important when you are feeling anxious or when you feel that you're getting a bit out of control, you feel uneasiness, okay? It's very important to make sure that you don't make any big decisions. Yeah? Try to walk away from the situation, the place that you're in. Don't react. Walk away for a couple of seconds. And all you have to do is a breathing technique, which I always suggest, and I call it the 4-7-8 technique. So for 4 seconds, you breathe in, you hold for 7 seconds, and then you breathe out 8 seconds. Repeat this as many times that you want. You will notice that the moment you start breathing normally, you will not feel the same threat. that you felt a couple of seconds or minutes ago. Yeah. Wow.

Thanks. And another thing is more about little during the day, more hacks during the day. Yeah.

So you can do journaling. That's one thing. Another thing that does work for some people is, I always suggest this, is having an elastic on your hand. Yeah. And then when you get a bad or negative thought or you feel getting anxious, becoming more and more anxious about a situation, just close your eyes and tell to that situation or think about that situation and say 3 times, cancel, cancel, cancel.

Oh, that's an interesting one. It's fun.

Yeah. You can do it 3 times. Or what you can do is if you're wearing an Ella Stick, you know, in your arm, all you have to do is just stretch it out and leave it. Yeah. So once you leave it, all of a sudden, all that focus that was actually on the problem will now go to your hand, and you will feel in control again.

Okay. What about if people have like illness or like mental illness or chronic pain? And how can they work on their minds, body, and soul?

Yeah. So for chronic pain or pain management, clinical hypnotherapy is a better solution. Because, you know, the thing is, when we are in pain, yes, the pain is there, but our mind starts making it worse. Because our brain is just like a muscle, the more you feed into something, the stronger it gets.

Mm-hmm.

So with pain management, obviously, you will have to— there is a way to learn self-hypnosis, which can be beneficial, but I would suggest to seek out help from a professional that can do the subconscious work with you so that you learn how to get that pain from the sharpness to become a bit lighter so that, you know, it is there, but it becomes more in control.

Okay. And if they would like to have you as a therapist, where can they find you?

Yeah, so I have recently joined the Be You app as well. So through the Be You app, you can find me, guys. All the information will I'll be there. Also, you can have a look at my website, which is www.luminoustransformationalcoaching.com, or you can have a look on my Instagram, @nedasayedcoaching, or you can contact me on Facebook as well. But there is one thing that I would like to say: never ever say everything or write an email without knowing that it's me on the other side. The reason why I'm saying this is I have virtual assistants, I have a marketing team working for me, so it's very important to make sure to keep everything confidential. Please book 30-minute consultation, which is free, or just send me a message and say, Nida, I want to talk to you because I'm dealing with anxiety, or I have a trauma, or anything. Just keep it short. Simple, until I get back to you.

Oh, this is very important to know. Okay.

Because, you know, the thing is, people don't realize when they send out emails, a lot of therapists, a lot of coaches have teams working for them. And I respect confidentiality. And sometimes I get really messages and there are these stories and I'm like, you know, if someone else would open it, Confidentiality will be breached. And you feel confident to share your story with me, that doesn't mean that my team needs to know what the story is.

No, yeah, for sure. Yeah, yeah. Okay. And what is your last advice for the audience that I need to know, or where you live by?

Yeah, don't be afraid to accept What you feel.

Wow. Say that again.

Don't be afraid to accept what you feel.

Wow.

It's very, very important. Suppressing emotions does lots of damage. And you know what? If something hurts you, someone hurts you, a situation, if there is anything, it's okay to give yourself some time. You know, give yourself the permission to acknowledge and accept what you're feeling. Suppressing is a temporary solution which will do damage on a long term. So always, always be honest to yourself, for yourself. It's very important.

Wow. So thank you very much for this conversation and about all the knowledge you gave us. So I would love to put your website link in the description. And at the BUAB, you are nearby in London, or where are you based?

So I live in Bolton, but Manchester is nearby, so I will be covering Bolton and Manchester. But again, majority of my clients Does and loves virtual sessions, which you guys will be offering soon as well. So yeah.

Yes. Oh, I cannot wait for that one.

Yeah.

Oh yeah, we are working now on the test case, uh, with the developers because we need to find the right virtual software inside the app because we would like to have it Safe with a good quality and, uh, yeah, that your data is protected.

Yeah, and I have— honestly, I have so much respect for you, and I'm so, so, so happy and so excited about the whole BU concept. It's just mind-blowing because you could be just, you know, you could be just willing to do something for maybe get your nails done, you know, or maybe just get your hair done, and then And all of a sudden you realize there is something mentally you want to work on as well. And all these trusting people globally connecting and helping people, this is just mind-blowing. And offering people to do all 3 of them, mind, body, and soul. You know, normally, normally experts work only on body or only on mind or only on soul. It's hard to find a way to, to approach people that offer all 3 of them. So I have truly Lots of, lots of respect for you, and I'm so happy that I have joined it, and I'm looking forward to, you know, work with you and inspire people globally.

Oh, that is awesome! Thank you so, so, so much. And I came up with an idea now, because maybe we can just have, let's say, a beauty therapist, you, and maybe a yoga teacher together For like maybe a kind of BU deal or something.

Definitely, definitely. Yeah, definitely. Why not? You know, because as I said, it's equally important. It goes hand in hand. Oh, awesome.

Okay. Now, thank you so much.

You're welcome.

Thank you so much for the compliment. It feels so good. All right. I see you later.

Yes, thank you very much. Thank you, take care, bye-bye.