367: Moving Your Body to Move Through Mental Blocks Along Your Journey with Jen Esquer

If you look in and tune in and really get to see where you're not really showing up at your best, or what you're hiding from, or what you're keeping from the world, then you're not giving the world the best of you.

Welcome to the Earn your Happy podcast. I'm Lori Harder, founder of The Bliss Project, 3 Time Fitness World champion, fitness expert and cover model, turned self love junkie, lifestyle entrepreneur and author. Each week I'll bring you a guest or a thought that will help you bust through your fears, connect to your soul and get focused and clear so you can elevate your life, business and relationships. We don't wait until we're ready for someone to tell us we're good enough. We take what we want and we anoint ourselves, get ready to earn, own, and unapologetically rock your happiness every single day. Are you with me? Here we go. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm so excited that you have tuned in for another episode. I'm beyond grateful for this community that we have created through really sharing our stories and connecting and just being vulnerable. And I'm so grateful to be on this journey right along with you learning. Let me tell you, I am nodding my head and learning and having aha moments during all of these podcasts. So I'm so grateful that you are also tuned in to learn right along with me. And my beautiful guest today is Dr. Jen Iscare. She's a doctor of physical therapy and movement enthusiast. She treats patients privately in Los Angeles and has an on online programs called the Mobility Method and the Optimal Body. She uses her social platforms to push educational videos on how to maintain mobility, increase strength and prevent pain throughout the body. As former gymnast of nine years and a Pilates instructor for six years, Jen is an avid mover who dabbles in acro, yoga, calisthenics, weight training, Pilates and yoga. Her vision is to empower others to continue to move and live a pain free, active lifestyle. And I will tell you that the more and more I learn about investing in your body, investing in mobility, and really honoring the body that you are in, the more that I have been able to view my body completely differently. And I really think that this podcast is not going to just open your eyes to how important it is to maintain mobility throughout the years. And she's going to give you some incredible tips on how to do that. But this is so much about all of the stories that we have told ourselves in our lifetime and how they get locked away in our bodies and how Releasing that is going to really help you move easier throughout your life. So let's get started. Jen, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast. Thank you so much for coming on.

Thanks for having me.

So you are, like, one of my favorite people to follow on social media. But also, we've gotten the opportunity to kind of, like, travel to a few different countries that, you know, I was thinking of that, like, I haven't really traveled to a few different countries with, like, many people. You're one of them.

I know.

We went to Guatemala and Greece together. That's kind of crazy.

We did. It was fun.

It is super fun. Like, just. I don't know, I just was just thinking of that this morning. I'm like, wow. I can't say that I've really been to two different countries with many people, so. So I'm really excited to have you on and I would love for you to share a little bit about yourself. For anyone who doesn't know. If you're not following her yet, I don't know how that's possible. But for those of you know, I would love for you to share a little bit about just your background. Let's go all the way back so that they can get to know you and to what brought you into what you're doing now.

Yeah. Oh, my goodness. I know. I would say I've kind of always been a mover from early age. If we're going to go way far back, my parents kind of required that we be in a sport all growing up. So movement has just kind of been a part of my life. And so naturally, I kind of gravitated more toward learning anatomy and physiology and wanting to know more about the body and movement. And it led me down, you know, kinesiology because it's literally the study of human movement. And then finally into physical therapy. And then once this whole social platform started to grow, which was on accident, I then decided to start educating and it became a beautiful platform where I could share, you know, education based on the body and really teach people in a different way.

And, I mean, you really educate on social media. Like your posts. Like, I've been. I've been with you when you've been doing posts. They can take you, like, hours, right?

I think I've gotten a little bit more efficient with it now.

I guess if an accounting film is.

A long caption.

Hey, I get it. Some of mine take hours and it's like, hi. And that's it. No, but. But really, you are. You can get an Entire education on your social media, which I think is so incredibly amazing. Like, do you plan that all out? How does that work? Because number one, I love to show people because you've taken something that's not very traditional, you know, into the social media world and you've made it like a really mainstream thing. How do you. Why do you think that is? Like, what, what caught on with that?

You know, my friend Vinnie was doing it with. In more in the educational space early on, and that's when I had just graduated physical therapy school and I already had a social following more just through fitness. And, you know, I. I went up to Canada and I was spending some time with him and. And he was like, you know, you should really start educating more toward. Toward like, the body and what, you know. And I was like, I don't know. I'm a new physical therapist. What do I know? And I went into this whole conversation too, of like, I'm not good enough yet. I don't have the knowledge to. To share with people because I'm a new graduate and why. Why would people listen to me? But I was also stuck in this conflict of like, well, I just graduated. I don't really care about social media anymore. Even though I had like 100,000 followers. It was just like, that was fun. And that was my side hobby that got me through grad school. And now I'm actually out in the world and I want to really help people in doing my passion, which is physical therapy. So he really, you know, kind of paved the path of like, well, why don't you model what I'm already doing, which was the half anatomy photo and the half video, and talk to your audience. You know, you have yogis following you. You know, you have acro people following you. So talk to that community in terms of how they could start improving their body. And I was like, okay, I guess. And I just took the leap and started putting out videos. And people really gravitated toward it way more than any of my, like, look at what my body could do. And crazy, crazy fitness tricks it was. People really wanted to learn, which made me so happy.

Okay, I love this whole conversation. And you just mentioned something saying.

The.

Whole beginning part of the I'm not good enough. I'm not sure. What is this now? Now, the difference between you, though, is that you took that consistent action, even with that conversation going on in your head of, I'm not good enough. Who do I think I am? Like, what, you know, it not making sense, even though your. Your friend is Doing it, but not making sense to you that you're the person for it. So I'm going to get into that even more. But in the beginning, what actually made you take action and follow through? Because I'm sure you've had a lot of people that you've talked to and told them, like, just do this. It works like if you just get out there and share and put yourself out there. But some people don't take the action. So what. What kind of forced you to do that?

You know, I just decided, why not try? And I did have other people where I would meet them in the fitness community, and usually through social media, we'd meet in person and I would talk to them about different injuries and different things that were going on with their. With their body personally. And they would say, why don't you share this information? You have a lot of information. And I was like, oh, do I? And so. So that's when I was like, okay. And I listened to one friend and she said, you know, just ask your audience. Ask your audience what they'd want to learn from you. And so I did, and I decided, oh, okay, I can actually, like, people have questions. And some of these questions I definitely can answer with the knowledge that I have right now. And so when I. When I took their advice and I took Benny's advice and I just posted a video, I remember waking up the next morning and seeing way more views than my fitness videos. Interesting. Oh, my God, what this was like for me. It felt really basic. It felt really. Everyone already knows this information. Boring. It wasn't catchy and flashy like a fitness video. So I was like, so thrown off. I was like, what? Like, people actually are viewing this and looking at it and liking it and saving it and all these other things. So that actually I was like, okay, let me touch on this again and again. Same response. Let me touch on it again. And so every time I started to do it, people came even more, and my following started to grow way bigger than anything that was within the fitness community. And so I started to realize, even though I feel like I'm still learning, that's okay. I'm going to keep learning. I'm going to continue to be on my journey, and if someone wants to challenge me on something, let me learn. Let me ask why. And what I started to notice too, when I really dove in and I just continued to do it, not only were people actually getting help and benefit and loving it, which motivated me to continue to do it, but I was actually connecting with with a lot of the mentors and physical therapists and chiropractors that I actually looked up to. So rather than being judged, I was actually creating connection and friendships with these mentors that I looked up to. And I was so afraid of coming into this space in that way. So it only helped in so many beautiful ways, which was absolutely incredible.

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I always think of that like the. Some. Some of the biggest blessings in my life have come from the most unexpected places where I'm like, okay, I'll try that. Like podcasting. It's that same exact idea. I'm like, really? This is really. You're really liking this? Like, and it's your zone of genius. Like, when you follow, it's so crazy because this is like your zone of genius. Like, you love to move and you're great at teaching people. And it's like, is that too easy? Can't I overcomplicate?

Exactly, exactly. And then it became a great way to not only further connect with other professionals and fitness, but it also, I allowed permission for other people because I would have people reaching out to me and saying, well, I know that I can educate and I can share my knowledge, but what if I put everything out there? Then they won't need me anymore. And I said, no, it's actually the other way around. The more information that you put out there, the more people are going to turn to you because now you're a credible source.

That's so interesting because that theory really works in, I would say, just about everything because I used to feel that way about fitness. I used to be like, oh my God, if I put all of these free videos out there, they're not going to buy my monthly membership. And it was completely opposite. Like, they wanted more of. It's almost like they wanted the inner circle of not having, you know, what wasn't accessible to everybody. Like, they love the free stuff which brought them in for like the inner. The inner circle stuff, which is just so backwards of the old mentality of like, don't tell them what you're doing, don't show them everything. Don't let them know what's going on in your program. So you've really helped a lot of other people and given them permission to kind of step out. How is that? How has that impacted you? Like, the more people that you help, how does it impact your business in life?

Oh my God, it's everything. And I know, like, you know, now I will sit down. So if there are any physical therapists can't talk, physical therapy students, or anyone else who reaches out to me, I really take the time to sit down with them and talk with them. And I know, like, reaching out and asking for support and asking for help is a big thing. Like, at least for me, I knew I had a really hard time doing that. And once I did start to do that and I realized, oh, people want to help. People are open to giving and receiving in that way even. I remember when I asked you and I was like, well, I want to launch this program and I have no idea what I'm doing. Any chance you'd be able to sit down with me? And you did. And that was like, that was like eye opening for me to realize that someone would actually take out their time to offer help and offer assistance. And so I just always want to give it back now. Well, if someone gave it to me, I only want to give it back. And I want to help everyone. And when we truly understand and grasp this idea of abundance and that there's enough room for everyone, you just end up connecting together and you're able to help each other grow. Because if we can help each other grow, then we help everyone else in long term anyways. And our whole purpose is to be able to spread the message and help people even more. So why not come together to be able to do that together? And so it's always just been this, like this, this pool to help other people and to gravitate myself around people who want to help others as well. And so it's been this amazing community. It's just opened up even more the more that I continued to step into it.

Oh my God, I love hearing that. And I think the, the most exciting thing is when people take it and run with it. Like that's. I'm sure that now you've helped people who've taken it and ran with it and you're like, it's the best gift in the world to you. People want to help people. If the people are willing to help themselves, they want to help the people who are most willing to help themselves. Because don't get me wrong, there's that whole group of people who, you know, like, you can actually feel it energetically and how they ask as well, that they're actually cutting and pasting, like, the same question and not listening to any of the answers.

Yeah, yeah.

So you have to be somebody who, like, if you want the help, you got to, like, show up and run with it. And. Oh, my God. I knew everything we were going to. We were talking about. I'm like, just. She's gonna just. This is gonna explode. So you were like, I'm ready, and I'm doing it, even though I'm scared. Okay, here we go. Got it. Those are the people that you're just like. Yes, because that's how I was helped. Like, I had friends who sat down with me, and they're like, Jill Coleman was one of them. Who. Do you know who Jill Coleman is?

Yeah.

Okay. She literally sat down and was like, here's the deal. Here's how I do these challenges. You can literally take this whole thing. I was like, are you kidding me right now? Like, that. Are you really doing, like, are you sure? Do you want to sign something that says, this is okay that you're sharing this? And she was like, no. Like, that's just what she believed. Like, that her life is going to be exponentially better if she helps me. And to this day, her and I go back and forth. Like, if she asks me for anything, I'm there, and vice versa. And that is such a powerful thing to create. And we're all creating these little webs that, like, we. You know, they just. They catch you when you fall or when you need them. So I love that advice. Just, like, that mindset of abundance. So I know that you and I kind of struggle with the same thing, which is awesome and crazy to me because I think a lot of people can look at you from the outside and just be like, oh, my God, this girl can do everything. She's got this huge following. Like, everybody must love her. And she's so helpful, and she's smart and she's knowledgeable and she's beautiful, and they. They don't maybe know that you struggle with, like, putting yourself out there even more, speaking up when you want to. I know that you've. You've shared a few things with me, but would you share some of the things that over the past couple years, you would say from the person that you were? When did I meet you? Two, three years ago, Maybe longer. Three?

Yeah.

I don't know. Maybe almost four years Ago, maybe.

What?

Okay, let's go back, like, to the. I don't know. Who was I for years ago? Oh, my God, I was a completely different person. I was amazing mess, but. But I loved that mess. She was great. But now I'm just. It's great where I'm at now. So what would you say you were struggling with four years ago, the most? First of all.

Oh, my goodness.

And where were you at? Like, just kind of for people who are on this journey right now, like, where were you at? And what was the main thing that was consuming you in your head that felt like a block for you?

Honestly, me, I was stuck in my head, not voicing what I really wanted to share or how I wanted to share it. And. And I wasn't allowing myself to ask and put myself out there. I was afraid of judgment. I was afraid of not being good enough. I was afraid I'm not good enough. I just. There's so much, I would say, fear that held me back. Like, even coming and being around people who were putting themselves out there and doing thing. Even though I had a social following, I didn't feel the. The credibility and the energy yet. I was a doctor of physical therapy. I've done the work, I've gone to school, and yet I'm still questioning whether I could be out there and sending my message. And. Yeah, so, I mean, there's been a whole. Lots of shifts, a lot of crazy things that have happened since I've met you.

A lot. Like, I mean, I feel like just even every single year is such a different year for everyone, especially if you are really putting yourself out there and stepping into growth and dealing with whatever's going on in life. So I know that ALA was a big thing for you. Would you explain what that is? Just because I feel like some people don't realize that there's some really pivotal moments in life that can really shift you. I know for me it was, oh, my God, why can't I think, like, landmark and some different Tony Robbins events and things like that. But I know that that was a huge shifting year for you throughout ala. Would you just explain what that is and kind of what. Why you did it and what you experienced?

Yeah. So ALA Ascension Leadership Academy in San Diego is a personal development program. And my theory on personal development programs at the time before was that it was. I hated the language of well, does it serve me? And is this for me? And it felt very selfish, and that was my resistance to wanting to do it. Besides, even, like, I grew up In a very, very great household. My parents are still together. Everyone is amazing. Highest morals, high integrity. Like, I. I feel like I grew up in this beautiful little bubble and so why would I need to go do personal development work? I'm great. I'm good.

It's like Chris that is so much like Chris. Harder. Okay.

I love this. So for me, I had a lot of resistance. It felt. I also grew up in a family that was very close, very connected, very much focused on each other. Not so like, like what would be best for the family, what would be best for this person, not necessarily what's best for me. And I think at the time too, I didn't even realize that although it was very family focused and very outward focused, my parents definitely still took the time to be focused on themselves as well. And my dad would still do his golf trips with the guys. And my mom worked out like a fiend every day for herself and would also take her girls trips. So I just didn't see that as. As work for themselves. I still only saw it as like, no. But they focus on the family. And so stepping into personal development was hard for me. It was hard for me to wrap my head around and it was. And I didn't. I felt like I didn't want to. I was resistant to wanting to get sucked into this me mindset.

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I had a misconception of what that meant. Which. Which really, it's not about a selfish thing. It's. It's really more about how can I be better for me so that I could be better for others. So it's not selfish at all. Because if you look and tune in and really get to see where you're not really showing up at your best, or what you're hiding from or what you're keeping from the world, then you're not giving the world the best of you. Which is what I realized I wasn't doing on a huge front because I was sucked into my own insecurities of all these not pretty enough, not fit enough, not smart enough, not good enough, all of these things, rather than just saying no, I'm enough and I'm going to step in to what I know and what I can share and how I can actually help and put all of these stories that I made up about myself at bay. So really being able to do the work through Ascension Leadership Academy really helped to open me up and be able to see that see so much. I mean, I went in Initially thinking, playing the comparison game and the judgment, like, oh, well, I didn't grow up like that, so I don't. I shouldn't be here. And not really realizing there's no judgment. We all put on our own scars and our own stories and our own things. Doesn't have to look a certain way. It might not be that I was molested or, you know, my parents grew up in. In, like, poverty, but it doesn't have to be this. This. There's no comparison of story. Everyone deserves their own story. Everyone deserves their own journey through their stories and discovering what they made up about themselves based on those stories and working through it, and that's it. And so once I realized, you know, and I. And I increased my awareness of all of this stuff of like, oh, my gosh, I'm actually feeding into my insecur. And I'm giving permission for other people to feed into their insecurities and stay hidden and stay small and not. And not be able to share my gifts with the world and not be able to help people. The more that I know that I can help. It was robbing the world by. By keeping hidden in myself.

Oh, there's so many things there. I love that you talked about the comparison of stories because, oh, my gosh, this is like, one of the biggest things that I hear is if it's not that your story is so traumatic, it's holding you back. It's that you don't have a story, and that's holding you back. There's no in between. Either someone's like, oh, my God, my life has been so traumatic, and this is why I can't do it, or I don't have a story, and this is why I can't do it. I'm like, oh, my gosh, do we not see that? We're just stuck in the story of, you know, our story. So that can be one of the most powerful things to see is sometimes, like, I've even had Chris be like, I don't. I don't have, like, this traumatic story to share. And I'm like, okay, that's a story in and of itself. And that's also important to share because there's a lot of people who feel that way.

Exactly, exactly. I mean, I was feeling that way where it was like, well, I grew up having to be in a sport, and we wakeboarded every summer. We snowboarded every winter, and my family was. Went on family walks, and we were an active family. Like, I don't have the. From not working out and overweight to this overcome story. I don't have the pain to purpose. And is that bad? And I would see that. I would see other speakers coming up there and like, some tragic thing happened and it flipped their world. And suddenly I'm like, so I don't get to tell my story because it's not as traumatic.

And that's a thing, especially in the personal development world. And I think it's important for everybody to hear. There's no comparison of a story. No.

Yeah, exactly.

And to be honest, I've come to this point in my life to realize that trauma up to whatever you've experienced in your life is still. If you've experienced a 10 of trauma and it's a car accident compared to the experience of a 10 of trauma of being kidnapped or abused, it's like you're. You've still reached a level 10 for your life. So in your. In your. From where you stand, it's kind of. It's the same in your experience. So you really. It's impossible to compare experiences and to also really look at our stories and be like, wow, this is amazing how we can get so stuck in this story that we're telling ourselves. So that's so incredibly just powerful to share because there are a lot of people that that's. We know this. Like, I know that you hear this, and I know, especially with what you do with mobility, like, so much of it. I'm. I know we know it's the body, but we also know how the body is so connected to the mind. So for you, what. What do you find when you're working with people or maybe when you even worked in your own body, in your own experience, were there things that you mentally had to move through that you had? The mobility helped you move through it, like actually moving your body helped you move the mental things that were going on in your life.

Well, movement in general can just be really powerful and rest. And I think that's where people don't get to really tap into, is listening to what your body needs, being compassionate for what your body needs and being okay with that. It doesn't always have to be an intense workout. I think it's great if you can get there and you can go and push your body and sweat and. And everything that you fill out of that is amazing. And resting and being still is also healing and also amazing. So I think it's also just allowing your body to go into whatever it is that it needs to and being compassionate and where it's at and that's really been like, the most powerful thing for me. And being able to say and acknowledge what you have, because we do it a lot in life. And gratitude has been overflowing in conversation, which I love, and being able to appreciate and be in gratitude for what we have. But also, we get to be appreciative and gratitude for what we have in our bodies. Because so often we forget about what we have until we don't have it. Like, all of a sudden, you throw out your back and you can't bend over, and you're like, oh, my God. Or you roll an. And you can't walk as well, and you're like, oh, my gosh, I can't walk. I can't even use my foot the way I used to, or whatever it may be. We don't acknowledge these things about our body until it's gone.

Oh, my God. I'm right there. I fell snowboarding on my shoulder. And I'm like, oh, my God, what's wrong? Because you don't realize it, and then it's just you. I don't. I'm in such gratitude right now for my body. Because when something's not working, you don't realize. Like, this is really. It affects your whole. Like, it literally affects me mentally right now. You know, when you can't move the way that you want.

Oh, yeah. Because especially you. You're used to working out hard and using your body however you want to. So when it. When it comes to a traumatic experience and getting injured and having pain can be a traumatic experience, which is okay to accept as well. You know, it's. It's hard to then be able to be like, oh, wait, but I can't be this person that I'm supposed to be.

God, our identities are so attached to it. It's crazy. So that brings me to my question of the resting is. And this has been a season of my life, I'll tell you, like, a year of understanding how important rest is, because I. If I don't, my body's gonna. It's starting to take me down. Like, it's like, you're gonna rest or we're gonna make you sick. You're gonna rest, or you're gonna throw something out. You're gonna rest, or, you know, you're gonna get hurt easier. And I'm getting these messages really clearly. And I'm also watching just detachment from identity. So for people who. And I'm wondering if you deal with this a lot, because for people who need to rest and when you tell them that, especially if their identity is really attached to working out hard or their career is attached to it. Is there something that can help people when they feel the fear that comes up around resting? And I can imagine, I don't know if you can list some of the fears around what they think is going to happen when they rest and how do you help them detach from that?

Yeah. So being able to come back into our body and have compassion and slow down your body is only going to help you. And I think a lot of the fear that comes with that is why we're pushing our body so hard, because it's based on an external validation of aesthetics or anything else. But that's not internally going to drive you anywhere and. And it might not even get you the results you're looking for. A lot of people, I hear all the time, it's like, I'm working out so much and yet nothing is happening. And I'm not losing weight, I'm plateauing or whatever it may be. And a lot of that has to do with you're not giving compassion to yourself in order for your body to even drop down and be able to process what you want it to process. And if we're always running at such a high rate and we're always in this, what's called your sympathetic nervous system, where it's go, go, go all the time, you also have higher cortisol levels. It's going to be. You're going to be more stressed out. It's going to be way harder for you to drop weight. And a lot of men, they hold on to belly fat or any other kind of weight that's kind of hanging onto your body because you're in this stressful high state of mind all the time, and you're not allowing yourself to drop back into this parasympathetic. And when we don't allow ourselves to drop into that parasympathetic rest and relaxation state, which is also your digestion state, you know, our body is going to be able to process so much better in that other state. So rest is necessary for clarity. It's necessary for our bodies to be able to increase strength, to be able to be mobile again. So many people it's like, well, I stretch my hamstrings all day long and nothing ever happens. And it's like, well, are you breathing? Like, like really breathing and really listening to yourself breathe and being calm with it? Because if we're never getting back into that parasympathetic and we're Always staying in that sympathetic. Everything is going to be harder.

So when you're so. This makes so much sense, because when you're working with people, can you. Can you share what, like a typical maybe session for somebody who could comes in looks like? And when I say that, I think what I'm trying to get to is, like, when you work with someone, you can't really move their body if their mind is, like, tense or they're not breathing. So what are some of the things you do to kind of get them into that state?

First thing that we do is we work on the breath. And it's something so easy, anyone listening to this podcast right now can do it for themselves and just start to tune in and start to see what is happening with the body. A lot of times I will tell my clients to do this, like, five to 10 minutes before they go to bed at night, because it's so easy. You're already laying down, you're relaxed, and for so many people, especially insomniacs, it knocks them out right away. And so just being able to take your hands for a very rudimentary level, just starting with one hand on the chest, one hand on the belly, and not that you're going to completely quiet the chest hand because it's still going to move. Your ribs still expand when you breathe, and you don't want to press the belly out, so there's no force in breathing. And I think that that got shifted a lot, too, when belly breathing became a really big thing. I literally had clients that be like, I'm the best belly breather, and they're just forcing their bellies in and out. And I'm like, you're actually forcing that.

You just look crazy, and your rib.

Cage is doing nothing. And I think what we miss is the fact that the reason why we talked about belly breathing a lot is because it should be coming from the lower part of you. The diaphragm, which is our respiratory muscle. It rests right underneath the rib cage. And so if we're going to get more movement and the diaphragm doesn't actually expand, it moves down, and it moves up when we breathe. And so in order for it to have the space to move up and down, we have to get that lower part of that ribcage to attach, expand. And so whenever. And it's interesting, you know, when we think, take a deep breath, we automatically breathe up and into our chest and into our shoulders, and we usually suck in the belly, but that's actually so counterintuitive. To what your body actually needs to get back into a restful state. Like, it. Honestly, Ala would do this all the time, too. They'd be like, take a deep breath. And I'd look around and I'd be like, ah, stop breathing like that.

Let me use my voice.

Hold on. Actually first, can we do that? But really. So I start one hand on belly, one hand on chest, and think of just taking a nice, slow, deep breath in from the nose, and then an even slower breath out through your mouth, like you're blowing through a straw. Like you're barely trying to flutter the wings on a butterfly. Like really softly, really slowly and see what that starts to feel like. Try to see if you can allow that belly hand to move a little bit more than the chest hand. So not drastic, but it's going to maybe lift first and then the chest hand lifts and then they both come down together. So that's kind of what you want to start to feel. And then when you feel ready, I want you to bring your hands around your low rib cage. So that can either be like a little bit on the outside. You want your fingers to still kind of fill the belly, but you definitely want to be on the low rib cage area. And then again, just taking a breath in. And you can even squeeze the ribcage a little bit as you breathe out so that you feel where the expansion should be into your hands, on the breath in. And that allows you to give feedback to your body as to where you should be breathing into. So now it's not. It's not a forceful thing, and it's not forcing the belly out or lifting in the chest, but it's a whole rib cage expansion, which means you're going to expand front, back, side, and to the other side. So it's this whole 360 pattern. And that alone. I've had clients cry on the table when we tap into breath because all of a sudden pain is gone. I've had so many crying incidences where they're like, I don't even know why I'm crying right now. Because you actually allowed yourself back into your body. You allowed yourself to calm down. And compassion is where we don't want to go when we have pain. I don't have time for pain. Why do I have pain? Why is it here? Get it out, mask it, cover it, whatever. Whatever we can do to make this go away. And we automatically get into this, I mean, and think about all those words. It's like we're constantly already in a heightened state of Frantic energy of like, I need to get this out and that. Only more tension. So when we can actually have compassion and say, okay, I feel you pain, that's not bad. Because if I don't feel pain, that's bad. If you're not having any awareness and that. That important signal in your body that you have pain, then we don't know what to listen to. So your body's just talking to you and it's just letting you know something is happening. And it's not bad. It's just something to start to breathe into and start to increase our whole awareness of our body to see where can that pain actually be coming from? Because typically where you're feeling the pain is not where the problem is.

Okay, I want to know more about that. I'm just sitting over here with both hands up because I had Erin from the Align podcast, which we actually talked about you that day and how amazing you are. He had done like a little mini session before his podcast on my arm, but I think it was a different injury. But anyway, I had started. I started crying, and I was partially mortified, partially fine with it. I do a lot of self work. I know this crap can come up, but I was like, oh, my God, where is this coming from? So when you said that you can just start crying on the table, like, I feel like part of it was because I wasn't slowing down or having compassion for myself and I wasn't allowing other people to support me at the time. Like, even just I noticed that I can go in and out of that, and it was like, even the recognition of somebody supporting me around an injury isn't that interesting. So crazy.

100%. I mean, and that's. I really feel like my gift in, in person especially, is that I allow people to have compassion.

Yes.

I'm going to come to you and I'm going to validate your pain. I'm not going to say it's bad, it's high, it's not there. It's there, and that's okay. And then I'm going to allow you to have compassion for it.

I know that you have helped Chris so much. Like, he's always like, when he. When he's in pain again, he's like, I got to do my gen stuff.

All right, do your gen stuff right now.

So you're always in our household. So when you were talking about the pain, where the pain is is typically not where it's coming from. Can you expand?

Yeah. I mean, if we want to just step back and look at a very basic level, and there's a joint by joint model, and it. And it says, you know, where things should be a little bit more stable and where things. Things should be a little bit more mobile. Now, granted, if we look at the whole scheme of things, you should have mobility and stability all throughout the body. But we're just going to look at it at a very basic standpoint. So if we go down the body, neck should be more stable. Upper back and shoulders should be more mobile. Low back, more stable. Hips, more mobile. Knees, more stable, ankles, more mobile, feet, more stable. Now, the areas that people typically complain of more pain are probably the areas of more stability. Neck, back, knees, and feet. Now, if we look at what's happening above or below that area, that's where we tend to forget. We say, okay, my neck, back, knees and feet need to be addressed. And they're the more areas. They're the areas of more stability. So I just need to strengthen right there, right then. I mean, so many times there's people who have back injuries and they're like, what back exercises do I need to do? But really, what if we took a look below and above that area, and what if the areas that need more mobility were not being addressed and the back was actually taking on too much pressure because of that? That's where I say, you know, we get to take a step back, assess the entire body, and say, actually, do you have the mobility that you need above and below that area, or are you putting extra tension and extra stress in an area that needs a little bit more stability and more support?

So really being able to. I mean, I think the importance of working with someone, especially if you have an injury that's over and over and over again showing up, it's. It can get confusing, and it can also get really. You can go back to what you were doing and continue to have the same thing and not understanding why, because you're an athletic person and you're doing all the right things. But sometimes it can just be that you're missing a certain area totally.

And typically, this is what it is for all areas of our life. We're neglecting something we're not paying attention to. Whether you're sad and emotions, whether you're financially, you know, falling apart, you're neglecting something that should be paying attention to, and that's just what's happening within our bodies. If something is screaming at you time and time again and all you're doing is covering up the symptoms, all you're doing is putting an Electrical stimulation unit, rubbing some oil on it, putting some heat on it, ice on it, going to get a massage, doing things that are all passive. Meaning something is going to fix this. I'm not going to fix it. But really, our body requires active movement into it in order for it to change. Just like our business requires active motion in order for it to change. Anything requires active motion in order for it to change. Why do we treat our bodies any differently? There's no external force that's going to fix it. There's no external person that's going to fix it. You fix it.

Oh, man. I am. I just want to, like, not only have this for me, but I, like, send this out to certain family members. Because I'm just like, oh, my gosh. Because there, there's times when, like that you just said, like, having mobility to fix it. And so often I have people in my life who are just like, well, I can't move right now because I'm in a lot of pain. Like, that's a consistent thing that I hear from a lot of people in my life. And I'm like, oh, please. Like, you have to actually move your body. But in a way, like with. With help, in a way that's obviously, you know, isn't going to cause, like, damage to whatever you're dealing with. And that's why I think, you know, we're all put on this planet to connect and help each other. And I kind of love that this conversation has gone there so many times because you have to have somebody else to see the blind spots. Because no matter what, we have blind spots. And a lot of times, especially with active people, it's in their body. So to have somebody that you go to for help to say, something's not right here, like, that's why you have to seek out and you have to ask, right?

Yeah, totally. And, you know, and go to someone, I will say, that is going to listen to your full story. Unfortunately, in physical therapy school, you're taught to, like, how to rush through the evaluation and get people back to. Well, if they get into story, bring them back to where the pain is. If they get into story, bring them back to what the level is and, and what measurements you need to do right there. But really we need the story. So go to someone who's going to allow you to tell your story of pain and what has happened. Because so much of that is also wrapped, especially if we're talking chronic pain, fibromyalgia, any of that. So much of it is wrapped into our Stories of life and stressors and what's happening. And I rewrite stories all the time for people. I'm like, oh, did you catch that? Did you? Or I had a client with some nerve issues and it was like, they're getting better working with me. And then they went on vacation and it completely went away. And then they came back to work and it came back and I said, okay, let's look at that story. It completely went away. You didn't have work, you weren't stressed. You were able to relax, probably breathe, and then it went away. So how could we bring that experience. Experience back into our everyday life?

I'm just saying.

But allowing them to see that, you know, like, I can't. I can't tell you that it's. That it's your stress. And you're going to, believe me, you're going to be like, no, no, listen, this is what I'm feeling. So just allowing someone else to tell it and allowing me to just bring it to their awareness and let's observe it, let's talk about it.

I'm just, I am like, looking at all the parallels of in life to this, because it is very real, right? When you sit with someone who's in pain, they're like, I'm feeling like, you know, I have a sword running through my back right now, and you can't tell me that I don't like. And I get that. I've been there. Like, I can really run this parallel in my life to like, when randomly out of the blue, I'm like, what are these panic attacks doing back? And someone's like, you're fine. Don't worry about it. That's, you know, don't think about it. And you're like, I'm not thinking about it, but they're here. And then looking at like, like, well, what. What's going on in my life that could potentially be setting this off or causing this? And it's like, that's the only thing I look at now. Because you can't. I've learned that I can't. Ignoring it doesn't make it go away. Having someone tell you that you shouldn't be anxious surely doesn't make it go away.

No, definitely not.

Turns you into a psychopath. But, like, recognizing it and then really looking at the root like, and with. Not like, with no judgment. And I think that's the power of everything you're saying is it's like, let's hold hands and let's look at it and be like, that's okay, like, we see that, but what. What could change it?

And I think that's a journey of everything. I mean, like you said, it's all parallel, right? Even if I'm going through, like, an emotional, you know, thing, I. I don't gravitate toward the people who are like, you'll be fine. Like, it's gonna go on. I gravitate toward the people who are open and allowing space for whatever emotion might be there.

Man, whenever I try to avoid it, it's like it's going to come back with a vengeance.

Oh, it will come back. So allow yourself to be also around people who are going to be supportive along your journey of opening up space. Because as much as we want to say you're going to be fine and everything's going to move forward, we know that. But sometimes you don't know that in pain. I have so many people who are like, is this what I live with now? Is this my life? And I say, I don't know, let's see. I can't guarantee anything I want to say no, but let's see. Let's see how we're going to attack this journey together. And I really allow people to know. I'm not fixing you. I'm on the journey with you. And that's why I created programs that I did, because it is a journey. It's a constant journey. I don't believe in a 12 steps back to mobility or, you know, the one back pain fix that you need, because there's not one thing. There's never one thing. And that's like my one message that I'm pushing out all the time on. You know, I get constant DMs, I get MRIs, I get X rays, I get diagnoses, pain, everything. Understand that all of those things are symptoms. Your diagnosis confirms your symptoms. Your MRI confirms your symptom. Your X ray confirms your symptom. But none of that is telling me what the actual problem is. And without being able to assess you and gain awareness of what your body is at and where you are mentally as well, I won't be able to help you. So that's why I created programs where people can then dive in and assess themselves and gain more awareness themselves of what's happening in their bodies.

Man, I just. Just through different. Through things during the years. So much of what you're saying is just. It's. It's like, I think we all know it. I mean, you know, we. We like, we have so much inner wisdom that we just, you know, Especially if you're an athlete, you muscle through. It's just amazing how the body is gonna make you listen. And when we're not listening, we can find plenty of proof and evidence to support that. It's just a pull from this thing that I was doing. When you really look, you're like, oh, this is much deeper. Like something else is trying to come through and speak to you. And also, I think so much of the body is asking you to take care of yourself. If we really took care of our bodies, we would be so much more mentally, I don't know, just feel so much better mentally if we were actually like, what does the body really actually need? Which is just so interesting.

And we'd be able to come up with our own diet plans, our own movement plans, our own. Because what we get stuck on is what external validation we need from other people rather than the listening of ourselves. And I say this all the time too, is like, we take the time to listen to another individual and we say, you're worth listening to, but we don't take the time to say, you're worth listening to, to your own body.

Oh my God. That's like. That just like. That just brought tears to my eyes. That's so incredibly. Like, that's just. That's my truth.

Wow.

That is so true. Like, we're always looking for someone else to be, like, make us feel better or give us the right answer when we always know, but we're just afraid to lean into it. Wow.

Exactly.

So what do you want people to know? Like, what is something that you want people to know about the body or about life or about anything that's coming up for you right now that you wish more people knew about?

I wish people just took the time to, to tune in a little bit more. Because this is our one body that we get to live with all day long, every single day. And it's going to push us forward. And if we want to continue to play with grandchildren, we want to continue to live and explore this beautiful world that we live in. We have to explore what's happening inside first. And so just allowing people back into that and it's not an hour a day. I don't have time for an hour a day. I have time for a quick 30 minute HIIT workout and some mobility all randomly dispersed throughout my day. That's really what I do. And that's why, you know, I've created programs that give you that same ability to tap into where it's like the mobility method. If you choose to dive into that has a whole self assessment. And each exercise is very, very short because you get to pick and choose when you're going to put it in throughout your day and how that looks for your individual body based on what you need. Because there's again no one plan for any person. It's your plan for your body and then also like the optimal body. It's just like it's a continual message just to tell your body, move into mobility, understand what the core is not the six pack and do some functional strength training. And when you have all those together, you're able to really start to listen, increase your awareness and just move into your body so much better.

I love what you do because there's probably not been, I mean, but so many people that I know and so many people that we either have worked with, like at one point they've either been injured or they have something coming up in their body where we've been like, go look at her stuff or refer you to them. Because truly it has to be holistic like that. Like it has to be the entire picture. And I know that's what you really deal with in giving that person space as well. So I'm so grateful for all that you do and I'm really, I would love to know any recent wisdom for you, something with that's come up for you that's really maybe been something that you are listening to more inside of yourself or that you want to share with other people. Just I'm kind of asking as 2019 has, has come, like any things that have really kind of flipped for you that you're leaning more into and trusting yourself, inner wisdom, what's coming through for you?

Just that what you just said, trusting your inner wisdom. I think for a long time I, I want to always come from understanding and compassion and acceptance and I need to grow more. I need to understand more when really I know in my heart and in my intuition was, has been screaming at me for a long time. I wasn't listening though. And so really stepping into my intuition knows. And you, you can trust your own self, you can trust yourself, which I think is so powerful. And when people really are able to tap into that and say I'm trustworthy in myself, it's going to open up so many more doors of compassion, acceptance and into your own life and into the lives of the people around you.

Well, we can just all go get that tattooed down our arm. Amen. Like that is, that is the theme. Like it just has been the theme and it's been so freeing. And it's, it's. Thank you for sharing that because it's also helping me trust my intuition. And it's just been, I think that's the most powerful thing that we can do because we're connected to something so much greater than us. So when we trust ourselves, it's that Wayne Dyer quote, like I'm obsessed with. It's when we trust ourselves, we trust the very thing that created us. So it's like, of course, of course. It's so beautiful. So where can we find you? Where can we follow you? Where can we get on your programs?

So Doc GenFit in all the places. And really I'm most active on Instagram. I'm going to start YouTubing a little bit more so people can get a little bit more interaction with me. So I'm excited for that. And I do have a free challenge I'm going to offer your listeners if they want to start exploring what that looks like in their body. It's just two assessments of what's happening in the body and two mobility drills that you can do for your body and you build your own program throughout the seven days. So it's completely free. It's docgenfit.com challenge and you can access that at any time.

I will put that all in the show notes. And you guys definitely, if you're having any issues or you're like assuming super active person and you think you're fine right now, just go and do that. Because that was me for a really long time. And now I'm like, okay, I got it. Okay, I've got the message. But taking care of yourself before things happen is like the most powerful thing you can possibly do for yourself. And I'm Jen. I loved this. I don't know where the hour went, like, what's going on?

I know, right quick.

I know this could be like, we could take this down, like the mental part, we could take this down the self development journey. I could take this down the physical part because it's also intertwined and that's why love talking to you. So thank you so much for what you do because even if people have not been on your programs, you've benefited people. Your Instagram is just like this wealth of knowledge. So I'm grateful for you, for how you show up in the world. I can't wait for you to even step into more of your bigness and I know that's coming even more. So I can't wait to be on that journey with you.

Thank you love.

Have the most amazing day everyone, and I'm so grateful for you. And until next time, earn your happy.

Bye Bye.

Thank you guys so much for spending this time with me on the Earn your happy podcast. I am so glad that you stopped by. If you could take one second to share this episode with someone you think would love it, that would be absolutely amazing and we would be forever grateful. Also, please leave us a review if you feel feel so moved by going to itunes and leaving us an honest thought, an honest comment. Tell us what you think, tell us what you want to hear more of. It would really help us out on our journey to helping thousands and thousands of people. Until then, don't forget to earn your happy. Thanks again guys.

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