SSP 074: Kelly Noonan-Gores - Showering Your Mind

Welcome back to the State Shifters podcast, guys. This is Jordan Kanlish. And this podcast is designed to give you the awareness, the tools, the insights, the downloads to propel you along your journey to living a life that's in alignment with your truth, to live your purpose, to live your mission, your soul's mission. And there was a stage in my journey back when I moved out to Toronto. When I first arrived in Toronto, my first job out there was I got a job at a place called Soul7. And Soul7 was an alternative medicine healing studio. And this was my first job after leaving my corporate accounting job. And as you can imagine, you know, I've completely gone into a whole new world here where I was exposed to a lot of really smart people in the world of healing. And I learned so much during that time around alternative medicine and how the body can heal naturally when we basically can allow our mind to get out of the way. And the reason I'm telling you this is because today's guest is, I would say, somewhat of a celebrity in the healing space globally. Because if you're familiar with a documentary on Netflix called Heal, you'll know that today's guest, Kelly Noonan, has really left an impact on the personal development community through this, this Netflix documentary. And really, if you haven't seen it, like, if you listen to this podcast, you're engaging this, this content and you have not seen Heal go on to Netflix and check it out. This really changed the game. So back in 2017, Kelly released Heal. And the reason why it was so impactful and transformative at the time was because it brought some of the leading experts in personal transformation, healing, personal development, quantum physics. It brought all these experts together to really talk about how the mind and the body are interlinked. And this was some real, real leading edge stuff at the time. We're talking experts such as Deepak Chopra, Anita Marani, Marianne Williamson, Dr. Michael Beckwith, Bruce Lipton, Joe Dispenza, Anthony Williams, Greg Braden, like, these are the biggest in the industry. Like, these are the big timers. And Kelly has just done such amazing work in this space by firstly, just bringing all these thought leaders together, but also giving us an opportunity to really learn about the real power behind our minds. You know, we can tap into that quantum field and healing and transformation can happen. And to be honest, I do believe we're all on a healing journey. We're all on a journey around unlearning the conditioned patterns of behavior that are cutting us off from this, this true wisdom that's already inside of this true wisdom to be able to heal, to be able to create the life that we want. And in this episode today, I really got a chance to connect with Kelly and really ask some questions that were pretty much on my mind around what she learned from being around some of these thought leaders and the transformation she went under or the challenges she overcame in creating the documentary. So I'm going to give you Kelly's bio so you can learn a little bit more about what she's done and what she's created so far. So Kelly's based in Los Angeles. She started her career in front of the camera and in 2012 she transitioned into writing and producing. Most recently, she's produced the feature film Toucan in 2015. She also starred and was the executive producer in an award winning film called beneath in 2013. Kelly is a seeker of truth. She's practiced yoga and meditation for 15 years and she's considered her latest project the documentary feature film Heal, the one I've just mentioned as her greatest passion and life's work. So it was a real honor to be able to get Kelly on the podcast and dive deep with her and have a conversation around what she's learned throughout this process. So without further ado, guys, please enjoy this episode with Kelly Noonan. Gord.

Welcome to the State Shifters podcast.

A show dedicated to helping you discover.

Your true potential through connecting the mind, body and soul.

Okay, I've got Kelly Gores with me on the State Shifters podcast. Kelly, how are you? Calling in from la? How are things on your side of the world?

Good. The sun is setting over here as it's rising tomorrow. So you're in the future. It's very nice to speak to you.

Yeah, it's an honor. I was just saying I'm up nice and early, but I've been. I jumped out of bed for this one. Ready to go. Because you're a very big name in the industry, in the personal development, healing, self help industry, because you put together a documentary that I feel has really, it's impacted a lot of people, but it's exposed people to a lot of information that has woke them up, so to speak, because you brought together a lot of the leaders, the thought leaders in personal development. And for people who don't know the documentary, it's Heal on Netflix. And I'm really excited to dive into this conversation with you because I'm going to start to scratch my own itch in a sense because I want to learn a little bit more about what went on in your world. As you came about the creation of this, this idea and brought it to life. But I want to start with what kind of inspired the idea is wanting to bring together these thought leaders and kind of embark on this journey of bringing this information out to the world.

Yeah, it was definitely like a very strong calling, like a vision. I, you know, one of the. I actually saw the movie the Secret, I think in like 2007, 2008, and I started meditating at around the same time. And seeing the Secret like kind of strengthened my commitment to that practice. And so I learned transcendental meditation. I started going to Agape, which is Michael Beckwith's kind of transdenominational spiritual center. They recognize kind of the universal principles and teachings beneath all religions. So welcome. You know, just, it was a. Such a beautiful community of everybody around the world, every culture was represented. And I finally felt I found my like spiritual home because it just was based on universal truth, you know. And so between, you know, the Secret inspired me so much and empowered me and I started to kind of apply some of the things I learned in the film. And then as I started doing that, my life started getting better and better and I was like, wow, law of attraction. There's something to that, you know, quantum physics. And so I started diving into that whole realm and I would just inundate myself with really, you know, I'd drive around the streets of la, going to auditions because I was acting at the time and listening to Eckhart Tolle and Wayne Dyer. And I started reading books like the Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton. And I'd run. I was like a marathon runner. So I'd run for an hour or two a day and I would just listen to Abraham Hicks in my head. So I started to just inundate my psyche with all of this positive, co creative inspiring content and just felt so empowered and really understood that we're not a victim of life, we're co creator with life. So ultimately I was like, okay. You know, a lot of people would come to me and what are you eating? What are you doing? Why are you glowing? Why are you so happy? How are these great things happening to you? And so I just wanted to put together all my teachers in a film that empowered me. And then I don't know the exact reason that it morphed into physical healing. I mean, ultimately what I found is that all healing is spiritual healing. You know, the physical is the kind of byproduct, the lowest vibration of the energy. But you know, it's physical healing. A lot of people I just noticed around me were suffering more and more from chronic illness and being kind of, you know, we've been conditioned that we're victims and we have to seek help outside of ourselves and that our bodies are failing us. That's the messaging we're getting from pharmaceutical companies and commercials, et cetera. So, you know, in all the TV shows we watched growing up where the doctor in the white coat with his little black bag would come to the Prairie House and save the people. So I just wanted to kind of give people that I cared about their power back and say, now look, our bodies are fascinating. Our bodies are super intelligent. We're. You know, our minds and our bodies are connected. They're one and the same, but we're also connected to every other being on the planet. We're connected to the universe. It's all connected by energy. And so I basically just had to do this film where I basically put together all the people that empowered me so that I could empower others.

Damn. And thank you for doing that, because we've all benefited from that. You mentioned you watched the Secret. That was kind of one of the catalysts for you beginning into this journey and going deeper. But was there something that was going on in your world in that time which really sparked this interest in wanting to learn more about yourself, wanting to learn more about the metaphysical? Because a lot of people like the awakening is usually sparked by some pain, some really intense pain, or it can create a gradual awakening or a sudden one. I'm curious to know, for you, what was it a gradual or sudden awakening that came through?

I think it was gradual. I would say, again, there's another Australian connection. I love Australia. I love. You know, I just. I can't wait to go back. But when I was in college, I went to University of Berkeley, and after I came home from the summer of my second year, we call it the sophomore year here, I just realized maybe I was missing LA and acting, pursuing a career in acting and missing my friends. So I decided to transfer to ucla. But because I didn't transfer, I didn't figure it out early enough. I had a couple semesters off from school, so one of those semesters I chose to go with my brother to Australia. He was a photography student, and he was so talented that his university said, take a trip anywhere in the world and do a photo project for three months. And, you know, that will be your senior project, you know, and you can do a showing, and that's. That's all you have to do. For your senior year. So I said, take me with you. I want to go to Australia. I have this time off. So we traveled to Australia, but I was still feeling, you know, I gained 15 pounds, so I was not eating a good diet at the time. I didn't know that that was affecting my brain chemistry. I was a little depressed. I didn't. I felt ungrounded. I felt a little lost, you know. So that was. That was unlike anything I'd ever experienced in life. I was a pretty happy kid. So I traveled with him and a guy that I met in Manly Beach, Sydney.

Manly?

Yeah, yeah. He gave me. He gave me a book called the Return to Love by Marianne Williamson. And I read it on the flight home and it was my first awakening. Like, wow, this is so what I felt. That was. It just like shot me into, okay, this is what I'm missing. I'm missing this. It resonated for me as, like, what God is, you know, and she talks about fear and love and fear. When you're coming from fear, you're living in hell on earth. When you're coming from love, you're living on heaven on earth. So it's, you know, God is love, etc. And it just really kind of opened me up and set me on this spiritual seeking path. And then later I was acting and really holding on to this, you know, really wanting to be a successful actress. And it's just. It's very hard. So I started like, seeking healers and people that could reflect back to me or move energy or. I was trying to get out of my own way. And so I sought different types of healing modalities to get out of my own way so I could be a more free, present actress. And then on that journey, I just, like, just became more and more fascinated about psychology and, you know, the human potential and, you know, acting became, you know, I realized that I had no more passion for that. I was more passionate about this. So, you know, I had to go through it because it was. I was seeking out all these things to get out of my own way and acting. But then ultimately I realized acting wasn't the. It was a step along the journey, but it definitely wasn't the end goal.

Yeah, thanks for sharing that. And it's exciting to hear how for a lot of people, sometimes it is one book or one. One thing that they listen to at a really key moment in time where they're open to receiving that piece of information that sparks something. And I guess like the overlap when it comes into healing for you and when this came into play in your journey as well is like people start out in personal development, learning about how to the law of attraction and things of that nature to want to try and manifest more things. But the healing component, I feel this is a timely conversation because obviously at the time of this recording we're still in the midst of coronavirus. And you've just released a new book which is kind of a supplementary to the documentary, has a lot more details in the book. I'm curious to know when it came to the healing, what did you notice behind some of these thought leaders in the realm of healing? Were a lot of people starting to open up to these alternative medicines or alternative approaches to treating illness? Or was it still very like a touchy subject back then? Because this would have been probably, I'm assuming five, six, seven, eight years ago.

When I started doing the film it was oh, I don't know, like 10 plus years ago when I started exploring myself. And it was still, you know, I mean there's always been the community that was really into alternative health, but definitely in the last two years, you know, whether it's, who knows what has helped bring us there. But you know, so many people are searching for answers outside of conventional medicine. So many more people have chronic health issues. So there is this movement towards wellness that I think has really probably started about four or five years ago just in the mainstream has gotten and of course the last two years it's like everything is wellness, you know, everybody so many different. So I think it's a lot more accessible now. It was definitely criticized and, and you know, bashed by real science and researchers and doctors a long time ago in the last couple decades. But you know, a lot of the people in the film, Bruce Lipton and Joe Dispenza, they've been doing this work for 30 years, you know, and they've gotten a lot of flack for it. But it's so great now that technology is kind of caught up and so they can prove their far out concepts with science and research. So I think it's gained the respect that it has deserved for thousands of years, but much more today.

Yeah, 100% agree. And I will tell you, when I first started personal development, I was getting into Eckhart Tolle. It was one of the first books. New Earth was that first book for me that really opened me up and just gave me a new perspective, new lens on seeing the world. But it wasn't until obviously I grew up here in Perth, but I actually lived in Toronto For a couple of years. And when I moved out to Toronto and was in a bigger city and I worked in a alternative medicine clinic that used frequency technology, so they used pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, which is a non invasive approach to healing. And I got exposed to a lot of people coming in seeking these alternatives, right, like cancer patients, people dealing with chronic issues. And in that year where I was working in this clinic, it just opened my mind to all these different modalities and ways in which you can treat the physical body, but more so the emotional body and the spiritual body and how that can support healing. And it was during that time that I got exposed to Joe Dispenser stuff. And Joe Dispenser was such a big part in that, like, second wave of my own development. I just. It was something about the way he overlapped the science and the spirituality component. I remember going to sell and seeing him when he came to Toronto. I was like in the front row. I remember how excited I was in the front row. I was. I was doing all these meditations, like leading up to that event with him. And I remember just feeling his energy, like just the way he presented, the way he held space for the room. And I'm curious to know because you've been around some really influential people in terms of the energy that they bring. And I'm curious, like, who stood out in terms of. I'm sure they all were just amazing, but was there anyone in particular who you went, wow, this person is. I can feel something special here because big names are Joe Dispenser, Bruce Lipton, Michael Beckwith, Peter Crone, like massive names you worked with. Did any really impact you in a really powerful way?

Oh, I mean, I think, yeah. I mean, Joe Dispens is amazing. What's cool is that they all really embody and live what they're practicing, what they're preaching. I mean, they're the real deals, you know, and once you live that, they've tapped into such a deep level of love and compassion that they're. Yeah, of course they need to make money and everything, but they really are just here to serve and help people. And so they all really embodied that. And that was cool to see. I think Bruce Lipton has this just. He's just this like. He just oozes compassion. It's really. It's really cool. He's just this like jovial kid. He's got this kid energy and passion, you know, and he's probably one of the older experts that I interviewed. And yet his energy felt very youthful. And loving. They all felt very unconditionally loving. I mean, Michael Beckwith is the same way. Nobody knows how old he is because he's just like. He's just constantly channeling, you know, connected to the divine, and he is on fire. So, yeah, I mean, they're just. The coolest part is that they're just so comfortable in their own skin, so loving and just so present, you know, and just to be in that energy where someone's listening and helping and giving of themselves, like it's. That's healing in itself, you know?

Yeah, big time. And just on that, what do you think some of these thought leaders are doing that allow them to maintain their. This level of purity in their energy, or what do you think it is that they're doing that? I guess the majority aren't quite there yet in terms of practices or just ways of living, ways of being.

I mean, for me, I can tell you that they're just, you know, they don't. They don't care what people think, meaning they say no. They honor their inner guidance system, so they all practice some form of meditation. They're all very connected to nature. Not, you know, they don't really live in cities. They live in nature, I would say the majority of them. So. And they just, like, they just. They own their life. They're not afraid to say no, which is something that I really need to learn and adopt. And they're. They're so convicted in their beliefs and they're so connected to their higher self that, you know, they're not. They're not clouded by old stuff. They've done all the healing work and they're just present and they're there to serve, and they know when they're doing too much. And they, you know, they just honor. They honor their physical energy, you know, whether. And they. They take the time out. They. They feed their bodies very nutritious food. If they want to indulge in sugar or wine, you know, it's with balance and presence and gratitude. So they're just. They're just present, they're conscious, and they're just convicted. And I think, you know, it takes a lot of kind of work and practice to get there.

Yeah, no doubt. And even for yourself, like, I know in the creation of this documentary, there would have been a lot of external challenges, but also internal challenges that probably stretched you in new ways. Right. So I'm generally curious to know what you've learned, I guess, throughout the creation of this documentary, that obviously being around these really inspiring thought leaders but also just learning more about yourself and what goes into the bring something like this to life like this scale. Were there some big internal blocks that you had to overcome to allow you to get this thing complete and I guess afterwards as well. Right. Because now there's a lot of attention coming your way. I'm assuming your fame grew a lot. So then dealing with that, I'm sure that brought a new set of challenges. Yeah, I would love to hear how you've overcame them.

Yeah. I mean, I think one thing I love to share with people is that once I started, you know, I've been acting my whole life and I thought I was really passionate about it and I worked very hard at it, but I was never really as free as I should be as an actor. I couldn't access that vulnerability or wasn't comfortable enough to share freely. And which is why I only, you know, got a modicum of success in that arena. But so once I started kind of delving into like exploring healers and learning about quantum physics and a lot of attraction and energy and biology and psychology, I really started paying attention that like, I would have a conversation about one of those topics and I could. I was energized. So I started paying attention, like, wow, this really energizes me. But when I thought of an audition or on set, it would deplete my energy. So one thing I'd love to encourage people is to really pay attention, Cultivate awareness on what energizes you and what drags you down. And you know, if you're going, you know, you practice really hard to become a lawyer and yet every day you go to the office or of course now get on zoom calls and you're stressed out, you're depleted, you're not inspired, you hate what you do. That is going to literally take years off your life. Start paying attention to what brings you so much joy and that fires you up. To talk about and follow that and it will not lead you astray. Those are little like sign lamp posts that you're on the right path to your passion and your purpose here. So I encourage that. That's something I realized along the way. And once I said yes to that calling, once I said, okay, yes, this vision fires me up, I'm ready to do it. Then all the self doubt comes up. You know, you've never directed a film before. Even though I've been on sets my whole life and I've always wanted to direct, I'd never taken a class, I didn't know how to. You Know, technically direct. So there was a lot of self doubt there. And I finally just said it was like a surrender, which is like, look, okay, I'm saying yes, this is obviously a calling and there's a, I have to do this. So I'm just going to surrender and trust that the universe will give me the support I need to make it happen. And it did. And everything just kind of flowed and of course little things came up. But what I realized is like just if you stay in that trust, if a no comes up, then you can quickly pivot somewhere else. Or if your intuition says no, that no should be a yes, then you keep knocking on that door for persistence. So you just start to hone into that guidance system and it never leads you astray. So that's cool. So I've become much better at following my intuition and tapping into that. And then. Yeah. So I think the biggest thing for me is like, who am I? I haven't overcome any crazy health condition. I haven't lost anybody. Like, who am I to tell this story? Who am I to do this film? Why me? I just, you know, finally like, shut those voices out and just continue to do the practice and do the work and meditate, trust, gratitude, journal and keep moving forward. And, you know, I guess I just had to trust that I'm the curator of that information. I don't need to be the expert, you know?

Yeah. Beautiful. I'm so glad you mentioned the purpose element and the start there, Kelly, because I used to be an accountant. I studied finance and accounting at university here in Australia. And I remember that exact feeling of when I started my corporate accounting job, I was in tax, and that feeling that my soul didn't want to be here and this misalignment with what excited me, what my soul wanted to do and what I was doing during the day. And you were right, it's draining you. It energetically drains you when you're not living in alignment with your truth. So great point. About as soon as you notice that whisper and then following just infuses a different kind of energy into your work and life kind of just like goes, here you go, here's the next opportunity, here's the next person. But there's one thing I do remember when I quit my corporate job and I followed this passion and this calling that I had it brought to the surface a lot of, I guess call them survival patterns or things in my emotional body that were trying to keep me safe or things my mind had developed to try and keep me safe, that the Corporate job was like this mask that was protecting me from really facing the underlying trauma or emotional blocks that were preventing me from living my soul's calling. And I remember as I dove down further and deeper into this journey of trying to understand myself better, I got to the point where I realized, wow, a lot of these. This conditioning happens really early in our life, right, where we develop these limiting beliefs. And it happens in the first seven years about, you know, period of evolving. And I'm very curious to know because you've been around people such as Peter Crone, and I've dove into Peter Crone stuff. I love the way he articulates things. I know you've worked closely with Peter Krohn yourself over a number of years now. I would love to know how you've been able, maybe through Peter's help, how you've been able to really get to the root of where some of these earlier conditioning was coming from. If you're open to sharing, that is. I know we're going a little bit deeper here, but where some of these early childhood conditioning comes from and maybe what were some of the main core limiting beliefs that you've extracted and how are you able to then replace them and empower yourself?

Yeah, well, it's a daily practice, and it's a practice because, you know, you become conscious and then life throws you a harder test and a challenge to take you to the next level. So, yeah, Peter has. I was fortunate enough to meet Peter maybe. Oh, gosh, I think it's like eight or nine years ago now. Maybe eight years ago. And so I started working with him personally. And then, you know, even though he wasn't widely known at the time, I felt his work was very profound. And I knew he'd be one of the thought leaders, you know, in his lifetime very soon. So I put him in heal and I continue to work with him to this day. And he helped me see, you know, these. These constructs that we put in our minds to. And like you said, it's. It's from childhood. It's bul. Based on our environment. So, you know, if I had. I love my dad, but when I was younger, he had a bit of a temper, and so he. That was the way he was raised. And he was raised in that environment that made him very hard on himself and other people. So once you kind of learn this stuff, you can have a lot more compassion for people as well. So. But. But as a small little girl, if you have a father that's 6 foot 3 and has an Explosive temper. You develop this construct that I am not safe, and then you develop survival behaviors to try to give yourself that false sense of security. So I became hyper vigilant of what people wanted. I became a people pleaser so that I could keep the peace and, you know, keep the bomb from going off. So I'm hyper aware of my environment. I'm hyper aware of what every personality in the room needs. I'm very kind of a chameleon in that way, which obviously you lose kind of authenticity of your own needs. I became, you know, so you have your belief system, you're limiting belief, and then you develop survival mechanism behaviors so that you can navigate those belief systems. So just becoming aware of those things is profound because you can start to pay attention again. It's that body is always communicating with you because everything is energy. So if you. And we have this like, beautiful alignment with, like, when you're in love, I mean, you feel like you could run. You could feel like you could lift a car in the air. You feel like you can run up a mountainside. You feel like you could fly almost, you know, so it's that, that love that's so in alignment with your soul, you know, because we are love. And. And then when you are angry, you know, what am I trying to say here? All I'm saying is when I get triggered, I can start to become aware now, okay, is it that construct that I am not safe that's triggering me right now and making me feel like I can't breathe and my stomach is cramping and my chest feels like there's an elephant on it? So you start to become aware of what limiting belief is causing you to be triggered from outside people. And then you realize, okay, it's not the outside people that are the bad person or doing it. They're just doing what they're doing. It's your limiting belief that we need to deconstruct so that you can find freedom and not be triggered anymore. And everybody's going to have different constructs and different triggers. And so it's just so fascinating, it's so profound when you become aware of those limiting beliefs and then you start to pay attention when you get triggered rather than react. You can breathe and go, okay, that's just a little girl inside of me, and she's terrified. She doesn't feel safe or she doesn't feel loved. And then you can, like, go through whatever work you need to go through to deconstruct that false lens of perception. So it's just it's like, so profound and powerful to have those tools. And Peter's really helped me see that.

Yeah. And the most powerful tool being just awareness. Right. Just as soon as we see it, all of a sudden we then have the ability to choose. Like you just said, we have the ability to choose to go in instead of blaming and slipping into that victim mode.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. And for me, one of the biggest, like, breakthroughs was that realization that this was coming from a past emotional pain. And it was just a younger part of me that was crying out for attention. And it all of a sudden, those triggers then become opportunities to grow and discover deeper parts of ourselves. And I have a very similar, I guess I would say emotional pain to you, because my dad was very angry, like, you know, drunk a bit of alcohol growing up, and he had a tendency to make me feel like I need to, like, be on guard and be small. So the similar tendencies or survival patterns came out of that. So it's very interesting. And I'm a coach. I've worked with a lot of people. And the more you coach people, you start to notice these patterns. And you can see on the surface what the indicators are of where the core wounds are coming from, whether it be shame, abandonment, guilt, embarrassment. And you start to notice these patterns. And I guess the next layer in that and what you just shared was the ability to be able to flip the perception and look inward every time you get triggered and then be able to self regulate and connect with that inner child and really self soothe and do that self love practice, which is a practice, like it takes, I guess, some awareness to build and get in the habit of just always monitoring that emotional body. Because I know for us, and I'm assuming for you, the challenge has probably been able to maintain staying in that feminine essence of just flowing, trusting your guidance. Because I know for me, my masculine side of my brain wants to kick in and try to do more work. I got to get busy. I've got to keep other people happy. So for me, it's all about how can I maintain my connection with my feminine body, slowing my mind down, having practices in place that keep me connected with that guidance. I'm curious to know, for you, what are some of those practices? How do you stay connected to that part of you that's in the moment?

Yeah, I think breathing is a good one. A lot of us just hold our breath, and we're not. So once we start practicing awareness, we can go, okay, getting triggered. First thing you do is just like, breathe through your nose. Into your belly, whatever your practice is. Four counts in, hold for four. Four counts out, Eight counts out, whatever it is. I was actually with Deepak Chopra yesterday, and he was saying how just if you do one thing in your life and you just really cultivate nose breathing into your belly, like, it'll profoundly shift your health and life. Because a lot of us, like, breathe too shallow and breathe through our mouths. And so that's breath is our number one tool free the anchor.

It's the home base, isn't it?

Yeah, it's the home base. So in the moment, I breathe, obviously, just in general to keep my sanity. Meditation for me is huge. That silence. And I love how Marianne Williamson talks about it in the film. It's very practical. You know, we wash our physical bodies. We wash our skin. The oils, the smog, the smoke from the fires. We wash all that stuff off our skin daily. And that's called our personal hygiene. But we just as important need mental hygiene. And meditation is like a shower for our mind. We accumulate so much crap, whether it's thoughts beating ourselves up in our head or fear or stress from the negative news or whatever it is. And you know, every day, once or twice a day, however many times you can, just cutting off that stimulation from the outside world, turning within, connecting to your breath, using a mantra, guided meditation, whatever that is, and it just starts to melt and schluff off all that accumulation, mental stress in your, in your mind. And what that does is it just creates space so that when you are triggered, you have the capacity to breathe and to come back to awareness. And you're not just like, if you're at capacity in your head and you get triggered, it's just like, you know, like you're in first gear on the, on the freeway going 60 miles an hour or kilometers. So you know that when you have that space, you can start to respond to life. And then after you've been practicing for many, many years, you find out that your trigger is just. You're not getting triggered anymore. So meditation to me is like again, another anchor. And then gratitude. When I feel like something's not going right. I know about energy. I know about what the vibration that you're putting, the frequency you're putting out into the world. And I feel the quickest way to shift that is for me, either, like exercise, gratitude, jumping in the ocean, connecting with nature. Those three things, any combo of those can really, like, pull me out of doom and gloom.

Yeah, definitely. Given the fact you're on the west coast of America, I'M on the west coast of Australia. I'm sure we share very similar practices in terms of using nature in the ocean and movement as our, as our kind of home base to reconnect back with that part of ourselves. And yeah, I would love to know when it comes to really, I guess, maintaining these practices within the heat of the moment when you've got a lot of demands on, because at the moment you've got the book out, I'm sure you're doing a lot of extra work promoting the book and doing a lot more interviews like this. How have you been able to, I guess manage, you know, the extra demand of your energy and have you been forced to adapt the way you go about your practices now, given that, I guess you're, you're at home, you're not traveling as much. And how did things change when you were traveling?

Yeah, I mean, I think the word that keeps popping in my head is grace. I'm a lot more gentle on myself than I was before. So if you're rigid about your meditation, if you're like beating yourself up or you're like, oh, I must do it 20 minutes at 8am and 20 minutes at 4pm, you're missing the point. So the point is to just not have rigidity about it and to just know that, look, sometimes you'll find only five minutes in the day to reset, but you could do it, I mean, just shutting your eyes and connecting to your breath for five minutes is profoundly transformational. So I just, you know, I do what I can and I continue to try to practice awareness. I have a almost one and a half year old daughter, so that makes it more challenging too because I'll be meditating and she'll come up and she doesn't quite understand, but hopefully soon I'll get her to meditate with me. So you just, you know, you do what you can and be gentle on yourself and you just start to. I drove down like a two and a half hour drive yesterday to this thing and, and you're driving fast on the freeway for two and a half hours. It's taking a lot of your attention, you know, because I drive fast, safely, but fast. And so I knew that once I got there I was 15 minutes early and I just like shut my eyes and just reset and you know, did my quick meditation and not just I could feel my heart like I could feel my energy vibrating from, you know, the what I had just gone through for two and a half hours. And it just like grounds you. So fit it in where you can. And you just once, you. And commit to a practice in whatever form that comes, because the more you. It is a practice and people practice for many years, you know, but you get addicted to how good you feel. You know, it's like such a positive addiction and you may fall off the wagon and you lose it, but you just come back on, you know, It's. It's amazing.

100%. Yeah, 100%. Once you overlap all like the modalities in terms of physical health, emotional health, and that spiritual connection. Yeah. You get a taste for what it feels like to be in that pure, energized, elevated state. And it's an addiction. Yeah, you're right. You can't go back to the old patterns, the old habits.

And I think it's really important to take a meditation course or at least like read a book or learn, learn about the practical benefits, the physiological benefits, the spiritual benefits. Because there's so much scientific research behind why meditation is so beneficial. It's not some spiritual woo woo thing that people do. In India. Joe Dispenza says when you assign meaning to something, when you learn about the actual benefits it gives you, you'll be much more likely to go deeper in your practice and commit to it. So there's some real, real research about the benefits of meditation and the healing power of meditation.

Yeah, agreed. I was doing Joe Dispenser's meditations for a solid year and a half. Every morning I was practicing them and.

Only think of the new voice that he does now.

Has he got a new, Is he a new voice out?

Yeah.

Well, I don't know.

His latest meditations, he does this like voice. It's very. I love it. It's funny.

Yeah, I'm a fan of it. I know some people are a little bit thrown off by it, but yeah, I've gone to some real deep places in his meditation and I guess this is going to flow into my next question. I've got a couple more questions for you, Kelly. I'm mindful of your time, but given the fact that Joe dispenses meditations, the primary purpose behind some of them is to, I guess, tap into that quantum field, quantum realm of possibility, which requires an element of quietening the mind down, getting into that theta state, and really leaving this physical world. And I've observed what happens when you tap into that quantum field. And the energy, the amount of energy that comes through you when you can access it is truly profound and impacts everything you do when you come out of these meditations right which is why they're 45 minutes to an hour, they're extended practices. Recently, Kelly, I went and I felt it was time in my journey to embark into some plant medicines. And I played around with a toad medicine called 5 Meo DMT. I'm not sure if you're familiar with it. Some people are, some people aren't. And it's from a toad from Central America. And basically it's one of the most intense, psychedelic experiences you can have. And what that toad medicine does is it essentially blasts open your pineal gland, meaning it releases a ton of DMT into the brain. And when I experienced this, I prepared leading up to it, meaning doing a lot of breath work. I've been meditating for a long time, so this isn't something that I would recommend anyone just go out and do. It was something that I had engaged in the traditional route, meditation, breathwork, mindfulness for a few years. And what I observed after coming out of this experience was that now going forward in my breath work practice, which I might breathe for 15 minutes, fairly intensely, and I'll access this quantum realm a lot more efficiently. Like, I'll get there straight away. And I know that because I can feel it. I feel like I've left my mind and my body and I've tapped into this just elevated pure state of energy. Now, my question to you is a. Have you explored any of these plant medicines or I guess, alternative modalities that some people aren't. The conversation starting to open up, but I'm just curious to know if you've explored any of them. And I'm wondering if there's something that I guess maybe Joe Dispenser is doing that he's not open to talking about just yet, that he shared with you or anything that you want to share that's like leading edge. Like, given the fact you just spoke to Deepak Chopra yesterday, there must be some leading edge conversations you're having around this. If you're open to sharing, that is.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, for me, I've done ayahuasca twice. I've been kind of circling around it for a couple years. And I talked to my facialist, had actually, like, studied with the shaman, and she was, you know, she'd done plant medicine like a gajillion times, which. That's like, brilliant.

You're facialist. This is your.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah, that's LA for you.

Very la. Yeah, so. But she was like, you know, you'll know when you're ready. And like, okay, whatever that means. She's like, the medicine will call to you. So I had been. I was really intrigued and I'm very connected to Central America, like my favorite, you know, I. I know there's like some past life stuff there. I love Mayan, Aztec, like pre Columbian culture and art and civilization. So I am very connected to, you know, just shamanic work and all of that. So I finally was ready to do ayahuasca. I used her shaman because she was like, you know, it's really important that you're with someone that you trust and in the right environment, whatever. But once I was ready to do it, I was a little impatient, so I did it with her shaman. But we did it in la in like a bottom floor of a condo building with people I didn't know, like, wrong, like not the right environment. I didn't have any lessons or like roadmap going in. So it was a very intense, like, very intense, not enjoyable experience for me. And of course I got some pretty profound insights. And I remember it so well and it was so interesting, but it was brutal. It was like, it was so intense. And I was like, okay, ayahuasca is not my medicine.

Yeah.

Then I'll try to keep this brief. But cut to two years later, I'm going down to Costa Rica to do to show heal at Rythmia, which is a place that does plant medicine, ayahuasca specifically. And they do it for four days. And so I picked a week to go show heal, where they offered breath work and ayahuasca, because I was not going to do ayahuasca again. And once I got down there and I brought my best friend who's never done a drug in her life, let alone plant medicine, and she's very timid about that stuff. So she was like, there's no way I'm doing mother ayahuasca. So we went down there. Breathwork, we found out, was only offered the Sunday night and then the Friday, and then it's the four days of ayahuasca in between. I was like, what? And there's nothing really else to do at this retreat center. So we went to the intro class we got, and they just gave so much education around the journey and what to expect and, you know, the three questions that mother ayahuasca was going to ask of you along the journey. So there was definitely more of a roadmap and we felt kind of comfortable. And my best friend was like, hey, I don't know, maybe we should do this. You know, she had a profound experience at the breathwork the night before. And I was like, who are you and what did you do with my best friend? This is insane. But if she was willing to do it, I knew that I had to step up and do it with her. If not for any other reason, but to protect her from the intensity. And so we did it. And there was, you know, there was massive amount of people. It was I think 40 to 60 people at this retreat center and multiple shamans, but one lead guy. So we drank the medicine and I just set the. I remember talking to Michael Beckwith, someone close to him, and she, she was like, look, after 13 times going down to rythmia and teaching yoga, I finally was ready to do the plant medicine. And I just really set the intention for a gentle experience. And she said, so just do that. And so I set the intention for a gentle experience. And that's what I got. It was not gentle as far as intensity goes, but like, I just, I didn't purge. I was basically curled up in fetal position. Because part of doing ayahuasca is you physically purge a lot of energetic stagnants and toxicity out of you. I didn't purge. And I just kept telling the medicine, like, no, I'm not going to do the work this time. You do the work. I asked for gentle experience. Like, and ironically, like, I mean, the insights and the healing and the awareness and although it was so intense and, you know, waves of nausea flowed over me and it was, it was no less intense the first time. It just, I actually got why I was, I was shown why I had to go through the first experience to complete this experience. So it was like, even though they were two years apart, they had to, they were connected and it was just, it was just wild. So again, I feel like it's super intense. It's not for the faint of heart, but I know people that have been battling addictions for years and do ayahuasca one weekend and are completely healed. So it can be really profound for people. But I just want to encourage you, do the research and be real. Like, you just really need to trust the shaman. Be in a really beautiful environment and outdoors in nature if possible. Or you're close to nature and, and be with people you trust because you, you do, you are in a vulnerable, kind of open dimensional situation.

Definitely. Yeah. Thanks for sharing that. And I guess it depends on where someone's out in their journey. If they feel like it's time to explore that, then it's just following that curiosity. But it's not I guess it's not necessary, is it? You don't need to go and do these medicines and I guess I'm sure a lot of the healers and thought leaders you've worked with, a lot of them probably don't need to go and do an ayahuasca or DMT journey. They're just tapped in already.

Exactly. I think that they've done other healing and versions of that. I'm sure they've done some peyote in the past or whatever it is. But once you get to a place of connection and vibration, I don't think you need to mess with stuff like that. But who knows? I don't really know. I think that's why you've got to trust your own inner guidance system.

That's it. Hey Kelly, one last question for you mate. Just in around the book. So a lot of new information that's coming out currently, but you've been able to compile more in depth knowledge into the book that you've released which is. Is it also called Heal the book?

Yeah, the book is called Heal and the film is an hour and 45 minutes long. I had an hour to two hours of interview footage with 18 experts. So you can imagine that's 18 to 40 hours of interviews and I can only fit an hour and 45 minutes on the screen. So there was just so much wisdom left on the cutting room floor. So a book just made sense to. I was able to put maybe you know, another 50% into the book. So I think it's a good resource. A lot of people like to. It's a good reminder, it's a good one on one. If you're just waking up to this stuff and it's definitely good to just have and flip through to get inspired if you need to kind of re up that practice or that awakening.

Yeah, definitely. And I'm going to encourage people to check out the book and I can't wait to, can't wait to get a hold of it and dive into it because just given the amount of conversations you've had with some amazing people, there's probably a lot of knowledge that you've obtained that you now want to share just in new ways. So just finally, are there any like conversations that you're having right now, current time that perhaps maybe didn't make into the book or perhaps some people may not know about? Given the. How quickly information is evolving and how quickly we're evolving, what's kind of the. What's the conversations that are coming up for you at the moment. And the people you're speaking with.

Oh, this is a good question. Let me think, let me think, let me think. I mean, yeah, I mean, what I was talking about with Deepak yesterday is he's. It's. It's suicide prevention month here in the United States. And obviously with this global pandemic and people are trapped in their homes, losing their jobs, losing their businesses and losing loved ones, suicide rates have just like gone through the roof. So he's starting an initiative called Never Alone. And they've, you know, they're putting all this technology into having people be available and connecting people so that they never feel alone. So to try to kind of reverse this trend in suicide and depression and anxiety in our youth. And so that's cool. I, you know, as far as like healing modalities and, you know, there's just always so much technology and new things coming out, so I don't know what to share at this moment in time. The pressure is just too much.

I'll put you on the spot, mate. It's okay.

Yeah, yeah, no, that's okay. You know, so we'll see, we'll see this film, Thrive. Did you ever see the movie Thrive?

Sounds familiar. I don't think I've seen it, no.

Proctor Foster Gamble and Kimberly Gamble, they're coming out with Thrive too, and they kind of explore. Some people think it's woo woo, but they're exploring people that are doing really amazing things in the world. Different cures and healing modalities that kind of get snuffed out by mainstream or get censored or prohibited in certain countries. Also free energy and just things that can really improve the planet. So that's coming out, I think next week. So I'm excited to check that out.

Yeah, it's really exciting. And I knew I said I was gonna ask you one last question, but before, before we take off, because I was gonna ask you this offline, but because you've been in Netflix, you've associated with Netflix a fair bit and you're passionate about film and documentary. Are there specific films, documentaries or TV shows that you would recommend people check out, obviously heal. Let's assume everyone's watched that. Let's assume everyone's got your book. Are there any other key pieces of information, TV shows, documentaries that have impacted you tremendously and that you would say, hey, you gotta read this, you gotta watch this, you gotta absorb this information?

You know, I haven't seen it yet, but the buzz right now is around the film, the social dilemma, and have you heard of it?

You brought that up.

Yeah, yeah.

Watch that.

Yeah, I haven't seen it yet, so I wish I could because I think that's probably a pretty important one based on everybody's feedback. You know, I haven't watched like, what the health or sometimes I tend to like stay away from health documentaries because they're so preachy and they're so one sided. So I actually, you know, and then recently I've just been watching a lot of kind of where we're dealing with this racial issue in America. And so I'm really just trying to educate myself and learn the history and just kind of wake up to, you know, how racism is seeped into our institutions. So that's kind of where. So I don't know that those would help your audience, but yeah, so next time we'll talk. We'll talk about the social dilemma for sure.

Hey, Kelly, I just wanted to acknowledge you for a moment just for all the amazing work you've been doing and how much you've been sharing with everyone. Because there's a lot of people that have been impacted by just the work you're doing and the information you've put out. So I just want to acknowledge you for that. I just want to thank you so much for coming on here today and just having this conversation and I really hope we can spread the word out here in Australia as well and more of this information gets out to the right people. So thanks so much. I've really, really enjoyed this conversation.

Yeah, thank you, thank you for having me. I love your passion and you know, keep, keep doing the amazing work you're doing.

Thanks, mate. Hey, there we have it, guys. Thanks so much for listening to the this episode and yeah, look, if you made it this far, cool. Here's my voice again in your ear and I'm gonna make one more request for you is go ahead and subscribe and leave a comment on the podcast page because I'm really putting a lot of focus and attention on getting this podcast out to more people because I know what I'm putting in here can serve and bring value to people and it would mean a lot if you got value from this to leave some feedback and subscribe so you stay up to date with what's coming up. And as always, follow me on Instagram and love hearing from you. It's at stateshifters until the next episode. Guys, thank you so much and I appreciate you.