.png)
Mystical Mayhem Makers
Join Soul Alchemist and Loved As You Are Founder, Eileen Walsh on her ever-evolving quest to deeper self knowing, giving fewer fucks to the supposed tos, and connecting with other's lights. If you're into hearing about crystals, mushrooms, paragliding, ritual piercings, and more...join in on the mayhem!
Mystical Mayhem Makers
Unlocking Inner Wisdom through Breathwork
Discover the secrets to integrating mind and body wisdom for holistic well-being with our very special guest, Matthew Chavez. Join me, Eileen Walsh, as we unravel Matthew's extraordinary journey from a sports-oriented childhood to a profound spiritual awakening, catalyzed by his early experiences with mushrooms. Learn how these pivotal moments shaped his path as a breathwork facilitator and somatic coach, guiding sacred journeys for awakening souls.
In this episode, we delve into the transformative power of intuitive awakening, sharing personal stories of overcoming fear and resistance to embrace deep-seated intuition. Explore the profound impacts of ayahuasca retreats, Reiki, and the teachings of luminaries like Joe Dispenza, Bruce Lipton, and Dolores Cannon. You'll gain insights into how these spiritual experiences can be grounded into everyday life, offering a roadmap for accessing internal wisdom without relying on external substances.
We also take an in-depth look at various breathwork techniques, from box breathing to intensive breath journeys, and their effects on the nervous system. Matthew shares the importance of somatic practices and building compassionate relationships with all parts of ourselves for true self-acceptance and wholeness. This episode is a treasure trove of wisdom for anyone on the path to holistic healing and self-discovery. Tune in and let Matthew guide you towards a revolution of wholeness and love.
Greetings, salutations and welcome. My name is Aileen Walsh and I am your Ministress of Mystical Mayhem. I wanted to say welcome to the first episode, so excited to be here and have this guest that you're all going to get to hear from in just a little bit. We did an interview a little while ago and awesome update. I actually just had a session, a breathwork session, with Matthew Chavez last night and mind blown expanded release of so many things. I there's just so much that that happened last night in that session, in this amazing circle with other women, and also shout out to another one of my guests, to be Miss Nikki from Bloom House. Anyway, it was incredible, amazing and I cannot wait to do another session. If you've ever been interested in breathwork, if that's ever something, that has been something you want to explore, join us and learn a little bit more as I talk with Matthew here. So I want to give you that update before going into the interview. Also, this is the first episode and what I want this to be is a space for listeners, practitioners, everybody to come together in this new way to revolutionize the way that we see and understand ourselves and just what it means to be us on this planet, not to make us feel like we have to be some version of normal or fitting in, but to find what that means and lights up for ourselves how we can show up here and be who we were really meant to be here in this space. So I encourage you to listen to this episode. It's so wonderful. Definitely reach out on Instagram If you want to be a guest. I would love to hear from people who are doing work in this holotropic movement towards wholeness way and sending you so much love and gratitude for being here, showing up, and this space is about you just as much as it is about the people that I bring on and even myself. So truly grateful that you have chosen to spend your time here to be with us, and I really look forward to this journey with you.
Speaker 1:All right, I will turn it over to Matthew. Hello all you mayhem makers. Today we have a very special guest, matthew Chavez. Matthew is a breathwork facilitator and somatic coach who guides sacred journeys for awakening souls. I had the absolute pleasure of one meeting Matthew through a mutual friend of ours who owns the Lotus here in Spokane, and also then got to know Matthew through a program that we were working on through the local art nonprofit supporting creative enterprises here in Spokane. It was just wonderful to hear a little bit more about the work that you do and get to know you as a human, because that's what this is all about. So, yeah, it's been wonderful and as soon as I started hearing more about the work that you're doing and even what inspired you is why I had to have you on as a guest and I'm just so excited to welcome you, matthew, to Mystical Mayhem Makers. Thanks for coming.
Speaker 2:Yeah, of course. Thank you for having me and I'm excited about your new project here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you. Yeah, so in this Terrain's Creative Enterprises we were both working on what Matthew's going to be sharing about that. He's been doing this work for a while and this podcast for me was the piece that I was really working on and developing out and getting feedback in, so it was kind of fun to be able to share that back and forth here right now. So I know some of your story, which is wonderful, and really wanted to get into this and have our audience learn a little bit more about you. So I wanted you to you know some of this work we're talking about.
Speaker 1:This mystical mayhem work is what it was. That was the calling for us into doing this kind of work. I don't, maybe some people started. You know, when you're in some communities and you become a shaman, that's a part of your entire life process, right, and sometimes we start out on a different path and we feel and hear the calling to this kind of work. I'm curious and would love to have you share with the listeners, just if you can share a little bit about yourself and your backstory and how you came to doing the work that you're doing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure I'm happy to do so. So kind of, like you said, I didn't just come straight into a family that was doing this work. When I was growing up, I, I, just I was kind of a normal kid in some ways.
Speaker 1:I just loved sports played a lot of basketball and baseball were you at hoop fest this weekend. I was not no, I don't play like I used to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's for sure, okay, but yeah, but eventually even at I remember my dad would tell me the story once in a while. I think I was maybe eight or nine. We're just sitting at dinner at at a restaurant and I don't know where I came from, but I just started asking him like what's the point of all this? Why are we here? Well, and so that was kind of the start of my journey into opening up to all these things. I'm just starting to get really curious about what all this is, what all this means at a young age. And so, as I was getting curious, it started leading me a little bit more away from things just like sports and more into music and arts and stuff like that, and that eventually led me to my first mushroom experience.
Speaker 2:And it definitely wasn't the first mushroom experience that really started opening me up, although I soon, very soon realized, oh, this isn't like just some fun get together with your friends, recreational party thing. It was like, oh, there's some serious shit here, right. And so it started kind of giving me some glimpses and insights into some of those questions that I had been asking for a few years before that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And as I went deeper into that, it really started opening things up.
Speaker 2:So that was kind of like one of the big catalysts as a teenager. And then, when I was 18, the second catalyst was I was just working a summer job and all of a sudden I just noticed some like really big pain shooting from my lower back down my leg to the top of my foot. And first I just thought it was oh, you know, I'm just working a labor job, so I'm just getting sore, it's just hurting. And then I realized, okay, not everyone else is feeling this that I'm working with this is getting worse and worse to the point where it was semi-debilitating, where there was no position that was comfortable to be in. Standing was the best, but after a certain amount of time that would start to hurt sitting down. There was a point I remember, looking back like five minutes after sitting down, like excruciating pain, feels like someone's like stabbing me in the back yeah oh gee, which could have been metaphorical for something at this point well, that's, that's you know, um so yeah, you know.
Speaker 2:So eventually started going just down to the traditional route of hey. You went to the doctor like what's going? On here did MRI stuff like that. They diagnosed it as herniated disc in my lower back lumbar five. So I didn't. I didn't know really what was going on, so I just kind of followed that path for a little bit. Went to like physical therapy did these big old cortisone ejections where these needles are like giant yeah my mom actually just had one in her lower back.
Speaker 1:She was telling me about that and I actually. I had one in my knee many years ago, and I'll tell you what I had. I birthed two children. They went in and I was okay and then, when they came out, I passed out. It's no joke like this. These injections are intense, and I can only imagine what that was like in your back too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it wasn't fun. I didn't want to do it many times after that. Those first couple of times there was just a point where I was like, okay, that sucked. Plus, it's really not giving me that much relief in the first place, maybe for like 20 minutes.
Speaker 1:Well, wow. That was it, yeah, for short term.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, yeah.
Speaker 2:So in the combination of that and not really getting relief from just the whole traditional route, and then this is when, at this point, the doctor is like, while you're young, but the only thing I can recommend now is surgery. I can't guarantee that it's actually gonna help. It may, but it all may also may make it worse, and you're also just really young. So you make the decision if you want to do that. And so I was like, okay, and around this time, you know again, I was still experimenting with mushrooms and I was really getting into things like shamanism pretty heavily at that time, and so I was just like you know, there's gotta be another way, there's gotta just be something else. And intuitively I knew that there was just another path for me in general and that would lead to something that at the time I had no idea what it was, but I just knew that I had to follow that.
Speaker 1:So did that. It's just so. The intuition piece is so interesting for me at least, it's something that's taken me a long time to tap into that I call them gut feelings, because that's what it feels like for me, where it's like if I'm even if you don't have the exact answer right, it's kind of like is this the path? And for me, if it's yes, like I can feel it really deep down. If it's a no, or if I'm like questioning things, it's all like it's very up in my head, kind of you know, it's that's my experience of it. What is that? What is that like for you? Sort of tapping into those intuitive glimpses or you know messages or whatever you want to call them. But what does that? What does that look like for you? Yeah, what?
Speaker 2:does that look like for you? Yeah, similar in some ways. And when the intuition is just clear or the answer is just you say it's a clear yes, then it's just that, it's just straightforward, yeah. And when it's not, it's kind of like you're saying it's all over the place. It's kind of like scattered and there's a lot of questioning, and so what I noticed what happens with me is that when I get really confused and I'm just like questioning and really overthinking it, it's because I'm resisting what I'm actually feeling deep down and so it's not that, it's not that I can't hear the intuition clearly, it's just that there's some resistance to what it is.
Speaker 2:If it's guiding me to do something that is going to be really a really difficult decision, say it's leaving a relationship, sure you know? Just a big example let's just throw that out there totally. Um, then, yeah, there's might be a part of me that's really resistant to that, that is still holding on, that isn't ready to let go, and so I'm like well, I don't know what to do, I don't know which, what is right, what is wrong. Maybe I should stay in this relationship, maybe I just need to, maybe we just need to work on things more, or there's something we can do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's just this back and forth thing, and I know for myself that when I get into that space, it's because I'm not really listening, I'm not allowing myself to actually act from what I know is going on deep, deep down inside. Yeah, yeah, and that's a real experience from my past relationship I was not ready to let go of it for a long time when I fought it and, um, but deep down there was already a part of me that intuitively like yeah, I think of that as my intuition or my soul or whatever higher self, whatever you want to call it. But yeah, it was always there. So I believe that for all of us it's like it's always there. That voice is there, even if it's subtle or even if it's quiet.
Speaker 1:But, like you said, yeah, the mind does like to get in the way and start to kind of try to figure things out or just overcomplicate things living in this mind-body hierarchy, right when our minds and our rational thought and thinking brains are, those are the things that are prioritized over what our bodies are telling us, right? So even growing up like that's just what we're trained to do is to say, okay, our thoughts are what make us, are what make us human, our thoughts are what, like, really set us apart, versus actually being able to tap into our bodies and knowing that it has just as much wisdom and knowledge. Right, and I didn't realize or know that for the longest time, and it's taken me a long time to really even break that sort of dualistic understanding and approach to that mind body split. So, um, yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yep, absolutely. And it's not. And it's not to disregard the mind, um, because when we learn that, that we can also access the wisdom of the body, there can be a tendency to be like, okay, well, the mind was this thing that I was just operating from for so long, and now I want to like discard that aspect of it, and but it becomes like, come to the point where it's like, oh, it's about like, the unison between each other and the fact that the mind is helping us interpret the messages that we can get from the body in order to actually put that into play into our life or into action, or whatever it may be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I know that was tangential. So you're sharing your story, so you're getting this information and you have this intuition that there's a different way. What is that? What happens next?
Speaker 2:Yeah, essentially I just continue searching. You know, it sounds kind of weird to say even at this time, because it was only 16 years ago, but that was a different time as far as what information was available. Yeah, because there wasn't social media all blown up like it. Is the there all these memes about spiritual wisdom and stuff like that? It was just books like, at that point, a lot of it for me. Yeah. So I remember literally going to the public library and looking for books about shamanism oh wow, and I would just check them out and I would just read as much as I could.
Speaker 2:I would go to things like this is when, yeah, the yeah, I mean it's still going, but the holistic fair was was here. So I remember going to those just trying to get as many answers as I could, trying to find what would really work for me. And so, yes, that was happening and I was learning a lot. At the same time, I was in a really toxic relationship.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it was really starting to drain my energy and my focus.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so it became the point where that path started to fall off. I started falling off that path for quite a few years and eventually it came to the point where I just started questioning it all. It was like my life doesn't look how I want it to look or hoped that it would look, and so to look, or hoped that it would look, and so I would come back to like these teachings from these books, or the teachings from the mushroom experiences and I would start to doubt them all.
Speaker 2:I would start to question them all and be like is any of that stuff even? Real yeah because I was just in a really dark place so there was just a lot of negative perception of everything.
Speaker 2:So eventually that relationship ended and I had some time to reflect on things but slowly, slowly started to come back, Slowly, slowly started to come back and the kind of the big catalyst that really led me to find things like breathwork and somatic coaching was when I answered a just an inner calling to travel down to Peru and sit in some ceremonies with Ayahuasca yeah wow, um, and so the funny story about that is me and my girlfriend at the time we were we were going to travel somewhere.
Speaker 2:We had both saved up, we had some time off from work and we're like we're gonna yeah, we were maybe probably gonna go to like Costa Rica or something, or it was just going to be a fun vacation.
Speaker 1:Not some super deep soul exploration?
Speaker 2:Yes, yes. So around that time I picked up another shamanism book and it had been quite a few years since I had Sacred Science, I believe it was. I don't know if you're familiar with that one, but really good one. I forget the author's name. And so around that time then I was, I was reading the book, finding myself back into that world. I'm like okay, and then I started getting this itch on my finger. Oh, super strong, itch like uncomfortable. Interesting, super strong, itch like uncomfortable. Yeah. And it was around the time when I was reading that book and started feeling like, oh, maybe it's time to go to peru.
Speaker 2:wow, and it might even been like, right after I internally made that decision that I started getting that itch on my finger. And then I had that conversation with my girlfriend at the time, yeah, and we both just said, okay, let's do it, let's just do it, it's time.
Speaker 2:Wow, yeah, that's finally yeah, I knew again into. Intuitively. I knew, probably at age 16, 17, that it was going to happen eventually. I just didn't know when it was going to happen, sure, and so when that happened, it was just like, oh OK, this is, this is the time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, it's interesting too. Well, it's interesting too. I've found for myself again I'm not speaking for you that I mean I always hated hearing this when I was younger, and how much I'm finding of it to be true is kind of wonderfully frustrating. Or like timing of stuff, like things happen when they're meant to happen. It's so annoying to hear. And yet I have found that to be very true. So you know, just as you're speaking, there are certainly many experiences in my own life of having like, having gone through this and having shaped the pieces and parts of me that it has to be where I'm at in the time that those callings or these new learnings can take place and really sit and develop and flower.
Speaker 2:For me they're right, they were, they were right yeah, yeah I agree it's kind of like when people say, well, how are you asked, like, uh, how will I know when I'm in love, and and people say, oh, you'll just, you'll just know, and it's just right, well, okay, fuck you. Thanks for not answering my question. And then you get older and you're like oh shit, you just know yeah, you just know, you're right, that's what it is.
Speaker 2:You just know absolutely oh, yeah, and yep, so this experience was was no different than that I just knew, yeah, I just knew, and I and, like you're saying, I would have, if it would have been five years, three years, two years before that, oh my gosh, I would have not been ready, yeah, for what I was about to experience. Sure, that week, because it was fucking intense where were?
Speaker 1:so you were in peru. Where did you if you don't mind sharing where, where, where did you go in Peru to experience that ceremony? And back then, how did you I mean, like now I feel like there's so many resources and things like that online for like where to go and things like that Like how did you navigate all of that? I think it's incredible this is, this was only we.
Speaker 2:We went through a you know 10 year chapter there. Oh yeah, so this was. This was only six, six and a half years ago got it okay yeah, so this is when, yeah, all that started becoming more accessible got it so yeah, so I I spent a week at arcana retreat center okay on Arcana Research Center Okay. Yeah, but just in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, and it was the most amazing week, but also the most difficult week of my life.
Speaker 1:Sure, I don't doubt that at all. That's a pretty deep dive.
Speaker 2:Not that. I've experienced that for myself, yet, and that's what I've heard yeah, for sure, you know, um, you know mushrooms is a really deep dive in a different way, but this was like packed. This was like a week packed full of experiences like I wasn't used to doing back-to-back ceremonies or sessions or anything you know yeah, I was like, okay, we have a um.
Speaker 2:For me at that point it was like I have a mushroom experience. Then I wait four months, five months, six months, maybe longer at that point, maybe a year before I come back to it. Sure, this was like ayahuasca ceremony ufo ceremony. Ayahuasca ceremony UFO ceremony. Ayahuasca ceremony daybreak ayahuasca ceremony ayahuasca ceremony and a couple um, there was a, a hoppy ceremony there at the beginning of the first night, type of thing. So yeah, it was a lot and um, yeah, I uh, uh, it took me a while to come back, like after I came back home.
Speaker 1:It took me a while to fully come back, like months, a few months I think that's the part that some people don't necessarily or aren't maybe necessarily aware of. And we can we'll even talk about that with some of the breath work too right like Like the integration afterwards, like you can be back from doing psychedelics or even breath work or whatever those things are and then having the period to truly integrate that work and that understanding and those insights. It can take a while and those insights.
Speaker 2:It can take a while, yeah, yeah, and please, people, give yourself the time that you need before you just go back into something. Yeah, and especially because the more, the deeper you go into those medicines sometimes, the longer it can take to integrate those experiences and really be back in a baseline, grounded place where it's actually um, rather than yeah, just jumping back into another experience again, because that can be, it can send you so deep and there's just things that you'll experience that you will not understand what it is at all and you come back and you're like what the fuck was all of that?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So give yourself some time. For sure, yeah, even with breath work stuff like yeah, any, any, really any type of healing modality, like you don't need to rush it yeah, so you come back and you take a while for that.
Speaker 1:Just I mean grounding into it and integrating that. When did you? I mean, was it during that, after that, when you started exploring what you wanted to do next?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I started to follow the breadcrumbs, essentially.
Speaker 1:Sure yeah.
Speaker 2:The breadcrumbs were just started to be placed out.
Speaker 2:Like when I came back, things just started opening up and yeah, so I just started to follow the little openings and it first led me to um, a Reiki practitioner who I started working with for a while and started training with, and so, you know, for a while I thought, okay, this, I was going to go down, I was going to go deeper into that, but the most valuable thing that came from that was all of the different teachers and things that she started to introduce me to. She's like, hey, read this book by joe dispenza, read this book by bruce clooks, by dolores cannon, do all yeah. And so I just started venturing into these different worlds of people that I had never heard of before. And then, yeah, that would just open up something else and something else.
Speaker 2:And during that time, I was working at a place where I could just put on my headphones and do my work, so I was just listening to a ton of podcasts and YouTube videos and just taking as much of it in as I could to kind of help me.
Speaker 2:I was just, yeah, I was really looking to ground the experiences like, okay, cool, all of that is real and possible. Yeah, but how do I start to access some of this little by little, like in my daily life? Cause that was a big part of it that I would always hear from, like the mushroom experiences. It would become this like joke where I just sit there laughing for 10 minutes at a time like you're literally eating something external to access these internal places and then you believe that this is the only way to access them and.
Speaker 2:And it's just like come on, like there's other. This is already innately within you. So that was really the question that was starting to be finally starting to be answered after years of asking that question Like what do you mean, though? Like I get what you're saying, but what does that mean? How do you actually access it?
Speaker 1:So cool, yeah, get what you're saying, but what does that mean? How do you actually access it? So cool, yeah, that's. I mean, it's such an interesting way to think of it, right, because we, there is this reliance, um, even without you know this kind of work like, oh, something else has the answer, somewhere else has, if I go on this trip, I'm gonna get the answer. If I, if I do this, I'm gonna find the answer to all the things of why I'm here, or why I'm in this relationship, or you know, all of if I, you know, if I google it, if I, why? Why do I say? What should I do?
Speaker 1:like it's incredible yeah, for sure when there's so much of that knowledge outside, and really the knowledge that's inside and what we're capable of of tapping into there is exists already.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, exactly. So that that was my journey, basically after those few months after coming back from Peru. After those few months after coming back from Peru, and yeah, so there's little doorways here and there that started to open up, like how that became possible, and there's things I really liked, there's things that just kind of fell off for me, but eventually, yeah, the first thing I found that really stuck with me was breathwork, and I think part of that was because when I first started to experience it, it started actually like opening me back up to some of those, you know, spaces or energies that I had felt during ayahuasca or mushrooms and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:So I was like oh, whoa this is actually really powerful, like I had been looking for things that would help me tap into these versions and these energies within myself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, those non-ordinary states of consciousness, that's amazing. So you did you start a program, or how did you? How did you go then into the breath work?
Speaker 2:yeah, well, I mean eventually. So I found the company or the modality called soma breath and that was the one that, just at the time, spoke to me the most. Now there's like a lot of different, a lot of different companies that are training for breathwork at that time. There's just a lot fewer, and that was the one that really spoke to me at that time. And yeah, so I just went through one of their trainings, um, and just ran with it, ran with it, loved it, fell in love with it so tell me about it.
Speaker 1:So tell me about the breathwork work that you currently do. What is that? What does that look like? I know there's, you know there's different types of breathwork. You can look at the Wim Hof method and there's all different kinds of ways to approach it. So I'm curious what is your approach with breathwork?
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, I think it would be helpful if I just kind of outline breathwork a little bit.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then something like that so what is box breathing?
Speaker 1:What does that look like or sound like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's a technique that's really popular right now. It's a technique that's really popular right now, and so all box breathing is is essentially you're breathing in for an equal count as your, and then you hold at the top for an equal count and then you release for an equal count and then hold at the bottom for an equal count. So it's like kind of like box. Yeah, inhale for four hold for four exhale for four.
Speaker 2:Inhale for four, hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four at the bottom. So a technique like that, and then it ranges. Then the other extreme version is where you are doing what we call breath journeys or breathwork journeys, which can be anywhere from an hour to two hours of conscious connected breathing, where you are usually breathing in a faster rhythm, either in your nose or out your mouth, or sometimes it's in your mouth, out your mouth, and it's just a connected breath. So there's no pause.
Speaker 2:And so there's a whole different reason for doing a breathwork journey. This is more of the deep dive enter an altered state of consciousness, release some emotions from your body, type stuff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh cool.
Speaker 2:So that's, all breath work. And I like to divide it into essentially three categories for the duration and three categories for the different styles, cause, like you mentioned, there's different techniques, like the Wim Hof method, different array of different practices. So, no matter what the technique or the practice, they can all fit into these three different categories. One is either a balancing practice okay, this is where you're just balancing the nervous system, where it's basically an even inhale and even exhale.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Got it Okay. Then there's relaxing. So this is where you're, yeah, stimulating more of the parasympathetic nervous system. Okay, it's going to be calming and relaxing. These are slower practices and usually where the exhale is longer than the inhale. So, you're extending the exhale and this stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system. Okay, got it. There's energizing where the inhale is more emphasized or forced and then the exhale is just shorter, you just let it fall.
Speaker 2:So that kind of conscious, connected breath, and that's more energizing oh, cool okay and so is that with the sympathetic nervous system yes, so you're actually stimulating a no, no thank you for saying that, because I did forget to. So, yeah, you're stimulating a temporary positive stress response in your body working out well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yep, interesting okay so I think that's a really easy way for people to look at it and really get a feel for, like, what the practice is, why you're doing the practice, and the last thing I want to say about that is just the duration. So this is really relevant to our conversation, but I like to break it down into three durations. Okay, a microdose.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Yep, a daily dose, and then the heroic dose or the journey. Okay, so a microdose is anywhere from a minute to 10 minutes. Say this is a good thing, just a little practice you do when you don't have much time.
Speaker 1:Sure Okay.
Speaker 2:And then a daily dose somewhere from 10 minutes to 25 minutes, half hour tops, where you have a little bit more time and you're going to really get like all the good effects from it, but you're not doing a full journey got it yeah, and then the full journeys, like I said, you know, 40 minutes to two hours sometimes and those are typically guided by somebody, some kind of practitioner or something along those lines it is highly recommended that you do those guided that's why I?
Speaker 2:want. After you do those experiences guided with a practitioner, and you start to really your body starts to you get to familiar with how that breath work affects you then, it is okay to do those experiences all by yourself, um, but yes, if you're just for starting, then please do those experiences with a facilitator.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's you lead those kinds of experiences.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's what I'm more interested in when it comes to breath work. So, yes, I have a daily practice which, if I have enough time, I will do the a daily dose of 15 to 20 minutes, if.
Speaker 2:I'm short on time. I might only do you know seven to 10 minutes, but what really interests me, what really got me into it, was those longer journeys, and that's what I yeah, that's what I focus on. Facilitating is a two hour experience, so we're not doing the breath work for a full two hours. There's some time where we are talking about just potential experiences, talking about the techniques, how to actually do them correctly, got it and then how we navigate those potential experiences if they show up in a journey I see so that's really important.
Speaker 2:If a facilitator is just guiding you into the breath work without making sure you're aware of those things, then it becomes questionable, like the level of just integrity there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I mean, it makes sense. Even in the psychedelic practitioners program that I'm a part of right, we talk about preparation. Right, you want to be able to be prepared and have an understanding, know, whatever modality it is that you're working with. Right To really have that background and know, especially once you get to the integration period afterwards, like what do I do with this? How you know, how is this existing for me? What did I just go through? Because at least having that education up front allows for a more potentially successful integration afterwards of of whatever you've gone through yep, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah, same thing with breath work. Yeah, because you may experience something like in a psychedelic experience where, if someone doesn't kind of address like what's possible at first, and then get into it and experience it and you're like what the hell is that? Yes, you could come out of it never wanting to do breath work again. Yeah, and that's what I really want to avoid.
Speaker 2:I'd really or you can really re-traumatize someone right someone's not ready for big emotions to come up and then all of a sudden, boom, there they are and you didn't tell them that, hey, you might have some emotions, really big emotions, and memories surface during this experience yeah then you didn't. Yeah, then that can be re-traumatizing for someone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and having that trauma-informed approach. I mean, gosh at this point and I'm not exaggerating, to exaggerate right that how many people haven't been impacted by some sort of trauma within their lives? You know, especially after living through a pandemic and all of these things like there is a lot, and to assume that or to not be aware of and to not address the fact that people will be coming in with trauma can be an unfortunate reality and that's something that we really have to consider, or anyone who's doing any kind of work like this, especially in non-ordinary states of consciousness. To have that trauma-informed approach is so important.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely yeah, you're taking them into these deep spaces within themselves. You really do have to be trauma-informed.
Speaker 1:So okay, so this works. So you do with these journeys you do typically group individual. What does that look like?
Speaker 2:these journeys you do typically group, individual. What does that look like?
Speaker 2:yeah, I do group, individual and I also do couples experiences which are really cool too, yeah yeah but my yeah, yeah, I mean I wouldn't say it's, it's my favorite, but I would say the group experiences is. I really love the group experience because the energy that happens gets created by everybody in the room. The collective energy that happens in the group, yeah, you just give each other permission to really let your mask down, let your guard down and really just let whatever experience happen. Let it just be expressed.
Speaker 1:Well, that's super vulnerable.
Speaker 2:It is, it is, it really is, and so that's another part where the kind of trauma-informed piece comes from. It's where you're not pushing people outside of their safety zone.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because there's a big difference between someone's comfort zone. Yeah, because there's a big difference between someone's comfort zone and their safety zone. And so I always tell them hey, I'm going to invite you, with my guidance, out of your comfort zone, but I'm never going to push you to go outside of your safety zone.
Speaker 1:Oh important, wow, yeah. Yeah, oh important, wow yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Because you know their, the guidance of their body always comes first over, like my guidance.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:My guidance. These are suggestions, but if it doesn't feel right for you in that moment, then go with whatever your body is telling you. Moment than go with whatever your body is telling you. So it's a really cool opportunity for them to have that permission to listen to that and start to listen to it, especially when you're connecting to the breath, because it really helps connect you to your body and you start to feel sensations in different parts of your body that maybe you normally don't, and then it gives you a really cool opportunity to start to okay what do I need right now?
Speaker 2:Do I need these faster breaths? Maybe not. Maybe I need something more gentle more subtle, more relaxing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I actually totally feel that. So I was diagnosed with PTSD and so there's a part of me that like especially if I'm in a super stressful, you know, season of my life or whatever that is knowing that to be like, look, this is to engage my sympathetic nervous system isn't necessarily going to be like, look, this is to engage my sympathetic nervous system, isn't necessarily going to be the thing that's very helpful for me in this moment in time, and being able to just rely on the knowledge and wisdom of my own body, of that is so incredibly important and helpful. So, yeah, I that makes so much sense and I love that. That's an option, if you will.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure and right, and even in order to do that, there has to be a level of an awareness of okay, what does it feel like to be in a sympathetic, kind of stress, fight or flight state?
Speaker 1:yeah.
Speaker 2:What does it feel like to know that I'm really grounded right now and in a place where I can actually explore my edge?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Explore that threshold and stretch myself a little bit, Because that's like you said, that's not always what you need.
Speaker 1:Right yeah.
Speaker 2:Sometimes you need restoration.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that goes into. I mean, because you have your somatic coaching right, and I mean that informs so much of this breath work, Do you? I mean, they're so intertwined. I feel like you have to be able to understand the somatic system to be able to do that breathwork. And how did that sort of happen? Or did you start learning on that after learning the breathwork piece, or were they sort of at the same time? Everything happens all together happens altogether.
Speaker 2:Um, no, yeah, this happened more recently. Um, yeah, yeah, only a couple years ago where, yeah, you know, I just found another teacher again, just diet going through rabbit holes one thing leads me to another and so, yeah, I just found another teacher and that's where I trained in the somatic coaching, and so there's a lot of similarities as far as like benefits and the results and all of that. With breathwork and somatic coaching it's just the process is different, but they both, like you're saying, complement each other really well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'd imagine so really well, yeah, I would imagine so, so can you give? If someone doesn't know what somatic coaching is, what is? What does that look like?
Speaker 2:yeah, it's just kind of a term to be honest, like they're just. They're just terms a little bit it's almost meaningless when you actually start to do the work. You're like you almost have to hmm, what could this be called? That would actually be a better name for it.
Speaker 2:Right, I still wonder that sometimes. Yeah, but essentially all it means is that, you know, somatic just means in relation to the body. So a body-based life coaching modality as a basic way, easy way to explaining it to people, yeah, okay. So what does that actually mean? Well, it's me guiding the client into learning to connect with the wisdom of their body and learning to interpret the messages of their body Okay, of their body Right.
Speaker 2:So the body in this context is the doorway or the gateway to our subconscious, to our intuition and to different parts of ourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so we're using the body to start to explore all those different aspects and pieces so that we can really know ourselves more and better and get clarity on the questions that we have. So it goes back to way back to the beginning of our conversation. The answers are within Right, and so, instead of giving your power away to someone who's going to want to give you the answers or someone who is going to want to give you guidance based on their intuition which I'm like I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a, there's a time and a place where that's can be, where you what you need, right. It's just not my interest, sure, it's not my approach.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so I'm always interested in modalities that really empower a client to access that wisdom within themselves.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's, I. I'm actually I don't know, Did we talk about this? I'm currently training in a 14 month program for women, specifically somatic coaching and so going through, yeah, going through even the cyclical nature of the female body and sort of understanding how all of that plays a role into it. So we'll have to talk more certainly going forward and see where we might be able to meet up on some things and create some stuff together too. But yeah, it's pretty incredible to just I mean even tapping into that female wisdom right of the way our bodies are created and listening to those cycles Right Versus like a linear path, that that our world typically runs on work and it's specialized, or very specific to, yeah, say, learning how to listen to your body and the different cycles that you're on.
Speaker 2:And so the term somatic is so wide, again, very widespread. It can mean a lot of different things, you know it can. It can mean movement in some aspects. So, yes, so more in a general term, I guess, where it's not specified to say just women.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Someone might be wondering OK, so then, what does, what does that look like in this context? Like in this context? Um, so the way I always like to put it is that our bodies just have a story to tell and that they're waiting to tell and they're sending messages through different sensation and feelings that usually we're not listening to. So we don't know how to really interpret that story or read the book.
Speaker 2:Essentially we don't know the language, but the language is very simple. There's just different little channels, essentially channels of communication. Sometimes that's an emotion, sometimes that's a sensation in a certain area of your body, and sometimes, for some people it's actually less a little bit less somatic, you could say, and more energetic. Or sometimes it's visual, where there's imagery. Where you start focusing on an area of your body, then you see an image in your mind's eye. Oh, that sensation in my stomach actually looks like a red balloon or something. I'm just coming up with something or a finger itch or a finger.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what does this mean? Yeah, but either way, we all get these messages in one way or another, and so it's just really about learning to listen and attune to that communication, whether it's for your cycles, or whether it's for getting clarity on what your next decision is or what your next direction is in your life yeah, and the whole program isn't just that piece, there's other stuff too.
Speaker 1:I just that's been on this past month which is just really interesting as an additional sort of emphasis to understand that part as well. So, yeah, gotcha you're talking about too well, yeah, it's, it's really interesting and yeah, I mean, my body's been talking to me for years and so really tapping in to that and allowing oh boy, anger is one of those ones that I didn't know how to express for the longest time, and feeling that and allowing for it, like just trying to get to those parts, has been a lot of the work that I've been doing, and it's just, it's incredible when you can start to read the book again, knowing and desiring to be able to do it for so long, but just not knowing how to and feeling very frustrated that I couldn't, and almost feeling like why can't I?
Speaker 2:like hearing other people talk about it or whatever it is, or having psychedelic experiences and like why can't I? But, yes, so that's one of my favorite parts about it is is when a client comes out but the session opens up their eyes and they're like wow, I didn't know that was possible. I didn't know, about those parts of myself.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I didn't know I could access that level of clarity or those insights Like where did that come from? That felt like a dream.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Right, and it's in it's internal, it's all it's. I mean, certainly you're supporting and guiding that and what coming up is from yourself and that's so powerful.
Speaker 2:It really is. I mean, it really is coming from the self and because, you know, even though I am supporting and guiding it, I think the most effective thing that the facilitator is doing is just bringing the energy of what they know is possible.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm bringing the belief that, hey, I know that I've done this myself and I've been to these places within myself and therefore I know that you can do it too. And then, when you're holding that energy in that space for that person like I think that's the most powerful part of having a facilitator guide you through it, rather than just doing the work you know, within yourself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, holding that space of safety is incredibly powerful and so important to do in those sessions, right To be able to create the safety in that space, to create that grounding and even doing the work of co-regulation and like being that person. It's not just saying the word right, like there is a presence that you have to bring into that space to be able to allow for that, and I'm not saying like, oh, some gurus and whatever, there is an intentional creation of that container, that space, to allow for people to gain that internal wisdom and it's incredibly important and a lot of responsibility in holding those spaces for others yes, yeah, absolutely, because a person is only going to be able to go as deep as the level that they feel safe, yeah, in that space.
Speaker 2:So that's the safety with the facilitator and the trust and rapport there. And then also this I mean, just as important, if not more important the safety within themselves of how safe do I feel to actually explore the thing that I am looking to explore within myself? Sure, the thing that I am looking to explore within myself? Sure, because, if not, there's just going to be block after block after block that's going to start to come up, that you have to work through first before you could ever get to that thing that they're really wanting to explore.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's Neurospion. This is incredibly powerful work and truly it is revolutionary to be able to have that sense of sovereignty of my own body right, that I am empowered, I can understand myself, I have the answers. That is revolutionary. You're doing revolutionary work and that's amazing.
Speaker 2:Hmm, well, I love it, that's why I do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sure.
Speaker 2:It makes my life better in so many ways. So yeah, that's one of the reasons why I love to share it.
Speaker 1:Love it. So we are going to wrap up here in just a second, but I have one question for you to answer for folks that I'm going to be asking all of our guests. But if you could tell people one thing that would allow them to start their own revolution towards wholeness, love, acceptance, purpose, whatever that may be for you, what would you say?
Speaker 2:Yeah, awesome question that may be for you. What would you say? Yeah, awesome question. Um, if I were to narrow it down, the thing I would say is start to build relationships with the parts of yourself that you don't like. It's not easy, but see how you can start to release some of the judgment towards those parts, because until then, you're going to just start, you're just going to continue to fight. There's going to be a battle within yourself. There's going to be a constant conflict within yourself, and that's not going to feel whole.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because bringing compassion and curiosity to these different parts that you have either rejected or suppressed or just completely avoided or denied within yourself, that's what's going to start to liberate them and create a sense of more unification within yourself, so that the system is the different parts and different pieces of yourself are working together more rather than in a battle rather than in a battle, and that's where the sense of wholeness, at least, can start to come from.
Speaker 1:That's amazing, I mean. It's such a gift to start there and really hard, really hard, yeah, and everyone who's been on this journey or who is currently on this journey has and we'll can. It's not. It's never ending right, like I do want to be, for me, at least right. It's not something you're like. Well, I did it, I accepted them. Now I'm whole um so good all the time there there is a a loving of those parts for always.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, yeah, but it does get easier and you don't. And also you don't have to start like from you know, oh, I just love all of myself and I love that part that I yesterday I hated, right, that's just not realistic, that's not the way it works. In fact, that can put you further behind. You're just lying to yourself essentially at that point, but it's just okay. Can I get a little bit more curious about this part of me that I once judged, that I once rejected, and just to get to know it a little bit more, yeah with no agenda, that something's going to change, or that, yeah, or that all sudden, yeah, you're just going to start feel a little different about it, or that all sudden.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're just going to start, feel a little different about it and just take it one step at a time yeah and you'll actually get a lot further that way than trying to push yourself to get to some results that you know too fast, too soon, absolutely we're talking about right now the process of titration, right, yes, little bits, little bits of time, um, because that's the thing that actually eventually change behaviors, and all of that as well. It takes a little bit. If you tried, who hasn't tried to? Oh, you know, my new year's resolution is this I'm going to start it tomorrow and then we never come back to it ever again.
Speaker 2:Right, little bits over time yeah, yeah, that whole thing, yes, exactly, it's just, it's just not, not even helpful a lot of times to just say I'm going to just cut it off right here, right now, never come back to it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sometimes that creates more just conflict and tension within yourself and it's just like okay maybe I just start with getting to know artemy that doesn't want to exercise right totally yeah yeah, and then maybe that eventually we can get to the place where we are together, coming to a resolution where, okay, I exercise for three days a week and we're going to take some time off and whatever it is, you know, just yeah, using that as an example, as with the new year's resolution thing, totally yeah, you should do a new year's resolution somatic program.
Speaker 1:That would be kind of cool. It's like all right, how do we actually feel about these resolutions that we're creating? What can we? That would be kind of interesting. Anyway, yeah, all right when I talk with people about ideas. I just get very excited about doing that kind of work. So yeah, for sure, yeah, or maybe you'll do it oh well, there you go.
Speaker 1:That's true. That's a great point, matthew. This has been so much fun, truly, and just having the opportunity to even dive in more with you has been great, and I feel like there's still more to go, but in terms of time, I would love for you to share where people would be able to find you yes, so three main places third eye geminicom at the dot, third eye gemini on instagram or third eye gemini on youtube, where you can just kind of dip your toes in some of the breathwork practices that I do in my style of breathwork.
Speaker 2:it's a good place to kind of get a taste for it I'm subscribing now.
Speaker 1:You were telling me a little bit before, before we started. Where are you at for subscriptions for YouTube?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so. I'm almost at 900. Okay, so the first kind of like initial YouTube goal for YouTubers is a thousand. Yeah, that's where you just get to change some of the way you run your channel a little bit, and stuff like that. So, yes, I would love it. I just subscribed so there it is.
Speaker 1:There it is. Subscribe. It's great and Matthew's amazing and wonderful. Thank you. I just want to say thank you again, matthew, and to all the listeners, thank you. I just want to say thank you again, matthew, and to all the listeners. Thank you for tuning in and, with all my love and gratitude, this is your Ministress of Mystical Mayhem Eileen Walsh and I'll see you next time.