452: Your Awakened Brain With Dr. Lisa Miller

Prepare for an eye-opening conversation as Michelle sits down with Dr. Lisa Miller, a psychologist, researcher, and bestselling author, to explore the science of spirituality and its profound impact on mental health and well-being.

Dr. Miller shares groundbreaking insights from her research on the "awakened brain," revealing how spirituality is not just a belief system but a fundamental aspect of human resilience and flourishing. She delves into the neuroscience behind spiritual awareness and how cultivating this awareness can enhance our lives, relationships, and overall sense of purpose.

Transcript

Welcome to the Michelle Chalfant Show,

The next evolution of the Adult Share Podcast.

I am Michelle Chalfant and my goal is to help you to awaken to your true self.

Together,

We will break through your barriers so you can find your purpose and live a soul aligned life.

Each week,

I'll bring you powerful conversations with thought leaders,

Spiritual teachers,

Healers,

And change makers,

Along with actionable insights to help you to transform your life from the inside out.

Welcome to the Michelle Chalfant Show.

Hello,

Hello everyone and welcome to the Michelle Chalfant Show.

I'm delighted to be here with you today talking with Dr.

Lisa Miller.

My friends,

We had quite the show,

Let me just tell you.

She is a scientist,

Has a new book out called The Awakened Brain.

She tells us that we are all born with an awakened brain,

Almost as if we have an antenna that directly connects us with God,

With source,

With universe.

And it's time that we tune up that antenna again,

For lack of a better way of saying it.

We got into it today.

It was such a great show.

I love that she has this science background,

But really talks so beautifully about how we are already awakened.

And if you don't feel awakened,

She will talk to you about how to awaken on the path that you're on right now and honestly,

How to have an incredible life.

What a show this was.

Let me tell you a little bit about Dr.

Lisa and we will get right over to the show.

Dr.

Lisa Miller,

PhD,

Is a New York Times bestselling author of The Spiritual Child and a professor in the clinical psychology program at Columbia University.

She's the founder and director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute,

The first Ivy League graduate program and research institute on spirituality and psychology.

I would like to go back to my and get another master's degree in this,

Specifically with her.

Her innovative research has been published in more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals,

Including Cerebral Cortex,

The American Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

She's a graduate of Yale University and University of Pennsylvania,

Where she earned her doctorate under the founder of Positive Psychology,

Martin Seligman.

Dr.

Miller speaks and consults around the awakened brain and the spiritual child.

What a show this was.

I cannot wait.

Get a pen and paper.

You're going to want to take some notes because she goes over many,

Many ideas on how to not just awaken your own brain and your heart,

But also your children.

Here we go with Dr.

Lisa Miller.

Dr.

Lisa Miller,

Welcome to the Michelle Chalfant Show.

Michelle,

I'm so excited for us to jump in.

Thank you for including me.

I know.

I am excited to have you here talking about,

Well,

You have a new book out,

The Awakened Brain,

But I just love that you talk about awakening in general.

And I was telling you before,

I love your science background.

Can you tell people a little bit about what you do?

Your background and how did you,

Where did the interest come from to even talk about awakening?

Because gosh,

Like I said,

We need you now more than ever in this world.

So how did you even,

Where did the interest come to even write this book?

So Michelle,

As you know,

I'm a scientist of 25 years.

I'm a career scientist and the entire time I've taken the lens of science and looked at our deep,

Innate,

Inborn spiritual nature.

I've looked at our spiritual nature in moms.

I've looked at our spiritual nature in kids and families in the course of a woman's life.

And there's now a very strong peer review science that says that every one of us,

Men and women,

But particularly women are naturally spiritual beings,

Just like we are physical or social or mental.

We are spiritual,

Born spiritual.

So the science is such a clear signal.

It is such a powerful signal mirroring what women have known all along that I pulled it together in the awakened brain together with stories of women and men and wanted this to be really one more arrow in our quiver as women.

When we go out and express our true,

Authentic spiritual heart.

So I'm interested.

I want to understand.

So why is it that you said,

Did you say women?

I don't want to misquote you,

But women are more spiritual than men.

I don't,

I don't think I said that correctly.

Women and men,

Both are spiritual.

Everyone's a spiritual being.

Women through the lens of science for women,

It is imperative that we strengthen and actualize and realize our spiritual heart because for women,

Spirituality is really the guiding post,

Synchronicities,

Whether I turn right or left,

What is the universe?

What is God showing me?

Mystical experiences that we know as women are real knowing in our prayer or meditation life that we are loved and guided,

That we have an ongoing relationship with the higher power that's real.

This daily spiritual awareness is essential for women.

When we look through the lens of science,

When women realize our spiritual nature,

We are far less depressed,

Far less likely to become hooked on drugs or alcohol,

Far more fulfilled and realize who we really are.

And you know,

For a mom,

The most important thing we can do is pass this deep authorizing of the spiritual heart to our children.

Most important thing we can do.

So the awakened brain is the science and stories of who we really are through the lens of science.

And we are spiritual beings.

How is it different for men?

I'm curious.

Men and women are spiritual.

For women is essential in preventing against depression and addiction.

Men benefit as well through realizing their spiritual path.

It is important to men as well.

When we look at data,

A nationally representative sample,

We see that with coming of age with puberty,

Girls become 50% more likely than boys to become depressed.

Why is that?

Why would it be that girls suddenly with puberty are more likely than boys to become depressed?

So we peered under the hood.

And it turns out that if a girl strengthens her spiritual voice,

If a girl is authorized in her direct spiritual knowing,

Then she's not any longer at greater risk for becoming depressed.

So whereas both boys and girls are spiritual,

Both boys and girls must realize their spiritual awareness to be whole.

The spiritual core is the hub of the whole person.

For girls,

What have been for decades,

Inequities through which girls have higher rates of depression than boys.

All of those inequities go away when we support our girls in their spiritual knowing,

Their natural open-eyed spiritual awareness.

This is big stuff right here.

I already love it.

And carries into womanhood.

Yeah,

It does.

It does,

Of course.

So what is a spiritual knowing?

How do we know?

What does that even mean?

In school,

We spend a lot of time as we grow up in high school and in college focusing on logic,

Which is important.

We use it.

Focusing on empiricism,

Data,

Science,

We use it.

Very often in school,

We are not encouraged to use deep intuition.

We are not honored in our voice if we express a mystical experience.

We are not encouraged to use synchronicity as a way of knowing.

School has effectively foreclosed,

It's shut the door for boys and girls,

But particularly for girls on the strongest footing we have,

Which is our relationship to the universe,

To who I call God.

It's so true.

I look at the kids of today,

And my kids are in their 20s now,

But when they were going through school,

Even all the moms,

We're all talking about what AP classes is your kid in?

What honors?

Are they taking college credits?

It's so mind or mental based.

Push,

Push,

Push,

Push.

What sports?

Travel sports?

It's like so much out there and pointing out in the world versus in here,

Inside.

How do I feel?

What's going on in my heart?

There just isn't that.

We don't strive for that anymore.

We've got it all- Out there,

I would call our achieving awareness.

We do need tactics and strategy and make our way through high school and college and pay the rent.

Sure,

We need achieving awareness,

But achieving awareness alone is completely inadequate to feel that you have a full life.

Put your kid on the A train,

Send them roaring ahead,

And when they get off and disembark,

Mom,

Where have you sent me?

Where am I?

What do I really want to do?

Do you really know me?

Did you love me beyond my performance?

Achieving awareness alone is a really partial piece of what we need in life.

Parent culture,

Contemporary parent culture has radically overemphasized,

Has hugely overstated the importance of achieving awareness in relationship to what is far more important,

Which is our awakened awareness.

Achieving awareness is tactics,

Strategy,

Empiricism,

Logic.

We need it.

Awakened awareness is our deep inner wisdom.

Awakened awareness is the intuition.

I just know,

I just know this is my partner in life,

The mystical experience where we see a grandparent or we feel the deep unit of presence or we feel at one with all nature.

These are awakened experiences.

These are the grand,

Grand openings in life.

This is what reveals who we really are and awakened awareness.

Awakened awareness lets us know who we really are as souls on earth.

I think it's important as moms that we share the spiritual stories about our children.

These are not brags.

These are deep,

Precious jewels that we're sharing with each other.

So,

You know,

Michelle,

Would you consider sharing a time where your child touched your spiritual heart,

Where they did or felt or saw or said something that was profoundly spiritual?

You're asking me?

I'm thinking of all the times.

I'm thinking of two different things.

My kids,

When they were very little,

Oh my gosh,

I have a number of things,

But I remember my older son,

I was putting him to bed.

He was probably four and I was putting him to bed and he looked over my shoulder.

He goes,

Mom,

Who's that?

Is that Papa?

And I turned around.

I said,

I don't see anyone here.

I said,

Are you seeing someone?

And I was just as calm with a smile on my face.

And he said,

Yeah.

He said,

I see a man with a top hat and a suit.

He's right behind you.

And he does.

He's pointing.

He was.

He's right there.

And I said,

I love that.

I don't see him,

But I believe that you see him a hundred percent.

I said,

Tell him I said hello.

And that's because my father had passed away.

And he said,

OK,

I'll tell him.

They both used to see dogs and people walking around every once in a while.

But that was one thing.

And then I was thinking on the way to school because I would drive them to school.

We always did intuitive games,

So I'd say I'm thinking of a color,

Who can guess the color I'm thinking,

You know,

And I would,

In my mind,

Say picture yellow and expand it out in my energy field.

And man,

They would nail it.

I loved it.

Direct knowing.

So you shared.

Oh,

Yeah.

You shared direct knowing.

Yeah.

Authorized direct knowing.

And your children told their experiences and stories of spiritual perception.

Oh,

So great.

And one thing I did say to my kids,

And they'll still say this to this day,

Which is what I brought up earlier,

Was how does that make you feel?

Feel it in your heart.

What's your heart saying to you?

Let your heart guide you.

And when my son was,

My older son was,

I think he was 15,

He couldn't quite drive.

And he was at a high school.

They'd gone from school to some kid's house,

Like a couple miles away.

And apparently everyone was drinking there before the high school football game that was happening at seven.

And he called us,

And we lived like 15 minutes away,

And he called and he said,

Can you come over here and drive me to the game?

And I said,

Well,

Aren't you with all those kids that drove you to this kid's house?

He's like two miles from the game.

He says,

Yeah,

But they've been drinking and I don't,

You told me not to get in the car with anybody.

It doesn't feel right.

And I was like,

I'll be right there.

I was like,

Yes,

Don't get in that car.

But I always would say,

If it doesn't feel right,

Don't do it.

I will be there anytime,

Anytime,

Anytime.

And you made him save his life.

Yeah.

And I said,

I'm coming.

No problem.

And it wasn't,

You know,

Crazy about it,

But I said,

Absolutely.

I'm so glad you followed your heart.

I'll be right over.

Beautiful.

And authorize them and praise them for listening to their inner wisdom.

God speaks through our inner wisdom,

As well as that of those who walk with us.

The child's born knowing truth and living love.

So knowing truth,

When my youngest was tiny,

Two and a half,

Three,

He said,

Mommy,

Things never go away.

They simply come back in another time or in another way.

The two-year-old,

The three-year-old is directly connected.

They've yet to have been educated out of their natural knowing.

Yes.

Knowing truth and then living love.

When my center child,

She's asked to go by center child.

I love it.

It was in the threes program in nursery school.

Every day we all waited,

Moms,

Kids outside the door for the teacher to open the door and start the day.

Not even a minute,

30 seconds before the teacher would open the door like clockwork,

This little boy,

Bart,

Would come over and punch my sweet little Leah.

Oh my gosh.

Leah was a little frail and Bart was a little strong.

And the other mom was stretched,

She had a new baby and she never held Bart back.

She never told Bart,

No,

No,

There's the line.

And so I got quite upset and I spoke to the teacher and I spoke to the mom and I said,

You know,

Every day,

Time after time,

It wasn't just once,

Bart comes over and punches Leah right before they go in the door.

I'm driving home,

Leah's in the middle row.

And she goes,

Sweet little Bart.

I'm like,

Sweet little Bart.

She's like,

Yes,

I'm teaching him not to hit.

Oh my gosh.

Loving teachers for one another.

Wow.

As opposed to wronged or taken from a teacher.

And it's hard as a mom.

I mean,

Gosh,

When my kids would get bullied or bit or whatever,

I think about like when they were little kids,

Like,

You know,

How do we not go,

Oh,

These kids.

My husband wanted to sue the nursery.

As parents,

We love our kids,

We don't want them harmed,

We like the rage,

But the child's full of love and the child knows what's true.

Oh wow,

Beautiful.

Thank you.

So as moms,

These are the stories that we can share because they enlarge our heart.

Being a mom is a spiritual awakening.

Motherhood is inherently a spiritual awakening.

Yeah.

We've got to remember as moms that we are spiritually awakened and just stay open so we can then give this to our children,

Keep them open.

And they open us.

I was just going to say,

They're teaching us so much.

These kids come in and they teach us so much,

It's crazy.

Souls on earth.

Yes,

Indeed.

Okay.

I have a question for you.

Are you finding that kids of today are waking up regardless of how they're raised?

And I'm going to give you a very specific example that I myself am hearing about.

Oh gosh,

There are a few of them.

You know,

I am on social media,

People send me things about,

You know,

Children that are able to see spirit guides or they're able to remember their past lives.

I'm also very specifically,

So there's all that going on on social media.

But very specifically,

I personally know friends of mine and family members where their kids,

They're just having a hard time in college.

They don't want to do this.

It's almost like we send it,

The kids graduate from high school,

Then we got to pick a college and then they go get their job.

You know,

It's this very,

Almost like run an assembly line,

Right?

Achieving awareness.

Achieving awareness.

Yeah,

Exactly.

It's achieving awareness instead of this awakened awareness.

So I'm hearing though,

From some personal friends and family that are saying,

My kids are not doing well in school.

They're freshmen.

They don't want to go to school.

They want to change school.

This actually happened to my younger son,

Blake.

He went to college,

Went to the four-year college.

First year in,

He's like,

I don't want to do this.

And I taught that kid,

Both of my kids,

Follow your heart,

Follow your heart.

And he said,

Something feels off.

Anyway,

Long story short,

He doesn't follow that traditional mold of kids of today.

He now lives in Costa Rica.

He's 24 years old.

He's lived with tribes in South America.

He studies medicines.

He's,

I mean,

Anyway,

I'm not going to go off on Blake,

But he's a very non-traditional,

If you will,

Or way.

And he just keeps following his heart.

As does my other son who lives in Brooklyn,

Who works as a data analyst.

They have two very different paths,

But I'm hearing more and more that these kids are wanting to,

I'm just going to take a year off after high school and study abroad or just go travel.

Or I'm going to,

I don't want to go to college and I don't know what I want to do,

But something feels off.

Are you hearing this as well?

Because I've got friends and family,

I'm like,

This is so crazy.

This is happening to not just my kid,

But a lot of kids.

Your beautiful Blake is listening to his heart.

He's listening to his deep inner wisdom,

Which is his birthright.

A child is born listening to the heart.

A child takes guidance and the heart is that deep inner feeling,

The truth.

The child follows guidance and feels love and feels buoyant.

So every child's born awakened.

Every child is born fully using our awakened brain.

Our brain is an open system.

You know,

In the 20th century,

We thought the brain was a factory that made thoughts.

Now in the 21st century,

We know the brain is more like an antenna that receives consciousness.

I would say sacred consciousness or spirit,

A universe who I call God.

We are loved and held.

We are guided and we are never alone.

When we look through the lens of an MRI,

We can identify the three circuits in the human brain that let us perceive and know the reality.

We are loved and held,

The bonding network.

We are guided,

A specific shift in the attention network.

We are never alone,

The parietal.

These three circuits are wired into every single child's brain.

The day they're born,

The child is spiritually awake.

Our society has shut the door on that child's birthright.

And I dropped the mic.

I'm out.

I have goosebumps on top of goosebumps.

I wish I could drop this mic right now.

Wow.

What you just said.

Wow.

Okay.

We as moms can do exactly what you did,

Michelle.

As moms,

We can honor our child's direct knowing.

In my home,

When my three children were growing up,

We spoke of direct knowing.

The extraordinary importance,

The hard bedrock,

You can count on it,

Truth of direct knowing.

Knowing of the heart.

Michelle,

What you have done for Blake is to help him know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the truth speaks,

The universe guides us from within.

And you know what's so sad?

I don't even know if sad is the right word.

It is a little bit sad that we're taught,

Though,

To think God and source are out there and I'm pointing way out in front or up high.

I always thought God's up there.

No,

We can access God right here,

Source,

Universe,

Right inside the heart,

Just in the body.

It's right here.

I would say God is in us,

Through us,

And around us.

It's everywhere and everything.

Yeah.

And Michelle,

Our brain,

Our awakened brain is built to be an open system in a sustained relationship with God or the higher power.

Whatever your sacred word is,

Whether it's universe or Jesus or source,

I feel touched by source,

Whatever your word,

I've never heard people argue that there's two sources of all life.

Everyone seems to agree there's one source of all life.

Science shows us,

Beyond the shadow of a doubt,

We are built to be in a sustained relationship with the source.

You're blowing my mind because I've always thought about the brain as the brain opens my eyes,

Makes me breathe.

My heart is beating because my brain is telling it all of that.

So when you tell me that the brain,

We're born awake,

It's blowing my mind because there's awakening,

Which to me is consciousness,

Like God,

Source.

And then the brain is something much different,

But now you're combining the two.

So we have an antenna to connect us with God through the brain.

Wow.

Always there.

Everybody.

No one's left out.

So no one needs to worry,

Oh,

Am I not spiritual?

Do I not make the great deal?

We're all built for this.

Coming to feel and know the presence of God,

Our higher power in our daily life,

Is a practice through which we strengthen and honor our natural spiritual awareness,

Our natural awakened brain.

So then what happens then?

Okay.

So we're born,

We have these antennas,

We are completely attached,

Awakened to knowing we're not alone.

And you think about humans,

I mean,

I worked as a therapist,

Saw individual clients for over 20 years.

So many of us are lonely.

So many of us are anxious.

So many of us are depressed.

All the things.

And we're longing for connection.

We're longing for deep connection.

But I think most of us don't even know what exactly that means or what it is,

But that's what we're looking for.

I think we forget that we're connected to that bigger thing and we spend our whole lives looking for it through other people.

So it's very easy.

It's very easy to go through our day where other people are somehow part of the scenery or the backdrop.

Yeah.

The people we walk by in line at the coffee shop,

The people with whom we are rallying for promotion at work,

The other children who are effectively the backdrop of our child's class.

Yeah.

But in fact,

Other people are ambassadors of God.

Other people carry God's presence as do you.

The awakened brain that allows us to feel and know God's presence is the same awakened brain that allows us to feel that love and guidance in one another.

The sacred presence of God in our fellow parents,

Fellow children,

Families,

The people who are incredibly annoying at the school PTA,

The person who caught me off in traffic.

Everyone is sent from the same source.

Yeah.

So what's amazing to me,

What I find jaw-droppingly revealing of who we really are is that the awakened brain both sees and knows the presence of God and sees and knows the presence of God in you,

My fellow parent,

My fellow colleague.

So we're never alone,

But we need to awaken and see each other and feel each other.

Wow.

Okay.

I mean,

I teach a class at Columbia that's packed,

There's 200 kids in the room and 170 feel totally alone,

But there's 200 kids in the room.

We need to awaken to the presence of each other,

Lovingly connect and stop keeping up with the Joneses and start walking with the Joneses.

Then you won't be lonely.

Wow.

Yeah.

I was just thinking about that.

I was like,

I wish I could live in New York and go take your class at Columbia.

I was just thinking that when you said that,

I was like- I think there's a lot of patients who would like you very much to stay exactly where you are.

Coming to New York,

I'd like to go back to school to take all of your courses.

I think you have a lot of patients who are flourishing because you're staying,

But you're important,

Impactful roles.

You're not talking about religion.

This is something very different.

This is a very interesting point,

Michelle.

What is the relationship between spirituality and religion?

As a scientist,

I don't define either spirituality or religion,

But I can tell you the origin of spirituality and religion.

Our beautiful world faith traditions,

Whether I'm Hindu or Catholic or Jewish or Christian or whatever my faith tradition may be,

This is a gift of our parents and grandparents,

The ceremony,

The text,

The traditions.

Religion is environmentally transmitted,

Is 100% a gift of our environment.

Spirituality,

The capacity through which we feel a deep lived relationship with the higher power,

And that's that power of love in and through one another.

Spirituality is innate.

Every single one of us is born with the capacity for spirituality.

Two thirds of people in the United States say,

I strengthen,

I realize,

I know my spiritual reality through my faith tradition.

It's through the prayers of my mother and grandmother.

It's through my faith community,

The holidays,

The ceremonies that I experience God,

Whatever one's precious word may be.

And about a third of people say,

I am spiritual,

But I'm not religious.

Whether or not we're religious,

And no matter what that religion may be,

We are all spiritual beings.

So the question is not if I'm spiritual,

But how in my own path am I going to realize my spiritual life?

How am I going to experience the deepest nature of life?

How am I going to live out the profound opportunity as a soul on earth?

That's good too.

How do we raise our children to keep that connection alive?

The most important gift we give our children as mothers is authorizing their inner spiritual heart.

That deep hunch,

That felt sense,

That exciting numinous feeling,

The synchronicity,

The vision,

The mystical experience,

Knowing in your heart,

Your prayer truth,

All that is valid.

In fact,

More than real,

That is your most certain form of knowing.

Logic is great.

Empiricism is great.

I use them all the time as a scientist.

How did I raise my kids?

That if you really want to make a decision,

An important decision,

Pray,

Meditate,

Listen to your inner heart.

What does your deep,

Direct knowing say?

Raising three kids,

I felt like I was playing the fiddle against a background that was not singing along in our culture.

There was a lot of achieving awareness in parent culture as I was raising kids.

As a mom,

I made the choice that I was going to put a stake in the ground so that when my kids came home and said,

Jimmy says that his dad has much more money than anyone else in class,

I would say,

Okay,

Well,

In our family,

What we care about for us is we are very rich in love.

We know what's coming as parents raising our children in an achieving culture.

You'll hear plenty of strategies about how to tactically and strategically maneuver,

But where's your North star?

Who are you and what do you really want out of your life?

And how are you going to value your friends and family?

These deeper questions only come through knowing the reality of this deep love that dwells within us,

Of giving it voice.

As a mom,

Narrate,

Narrate,

Narrate your spiritual life.

Strengthening our children in their spiritual heart is not one more thing to do.

Strengthening our children in their spiritual heart is the golden thread that moves through every moment of our days.

When you're driving and your child's in the middle row,

Mom,

All the girls are having a slumber party and they left me out.

I feel so bad.

It hurts so bad.

I feel like such a loser.

I am such a loser,

Right?

The devaluation.

Mom loves you more than words can say.

And even more importantly,

Will you join me in a prayer?

Because God loves you more than words can say.

A non-reactive stance,

Return to source.

Mom,

I'm- That's powerful.

Go ahead.

Mom,

I'm so depressed.

I can't stand to go into school.

Everyone is so fake.

I'm so boring.

I hate it so much.

I don't want to go.

Let's pull over.

Let's take a breath and open our heart.

Let's get out of the car and walk in the morning sun and say a prayer in your words.

In our family,

It's loving God.

Thank you for sunrise and the air and the earth and the water.

And for all living beings of the air,

Earth,

And water,

The trees and the birds.

Awakening.

So our children love that.

If we do it over and over.

Now,

When they get older,

They're going to go like this and you know- Right,

Fingers and ears.

Right.

Yeah.

They've heard every word you've said.

Every word you've said.

Yeah.

And science shows us that the depth to which teenagers go with their friends,

How much they dig into the ultimate purpose of their lives and make meaning out of their lives only goes as deep as we have walked them as parents.

Even if they think they're all secret and finding it out on their own.

We were the ones who broadened the contours of their inner life.

And now they can inhabit that beautiful space.

What does somebody do if they're listening now and they say,

Okay,

I need to,

I don't know what word you'd use.

Open my spiritual heart,

Activate my spiritual heart.

What do we do if we are listening going,

Uh-oh,

I haven't done that well.

Or I'd like to do it better.

How do I,

What are some ways or steps?

You have a spiritual heart.

It's been there all along.

And Michelle,

To your point,

It's only a question then of how do I re-engage,

Re-open,

Reconnect?

And if there was a time in your life where you felt closer to God or your higher power,

I invite you back into that time.

And was there then a prayer or a person or a place in nature where you might return?

Dust off the rusty prayer,

Return to the place where you spent your summers.

Invite yourself back down the road where you have no awakening.

That's one path.

If you've never felt that,

Or that seems far away,

Or maybe there's now a roadblock there,

You met a bad person along the way,

Pivot,

Pivot,

Because your spiritual heart is yours.

No one can ever take it away.

And I invite you to start to explore the synchronicities in your life,

How God or universe shows up for you and gives you guidance.

When you don't know which way to turn and you listen to your heart,

When you take as real a synchronicity and act on that synchronicity,

Life opens up infinitely.

It becomes really a grand spiritual adventure.

That's an exciting way to live.

There's nothing to lose.

There's absolutely nothing to lose.

You'll still have the same house and the same car,

But life becomes an amazing spiritual adventure.

And you don't need to worry about getting what you want or not getting what you want because it doesn't matter.

That's only your little plan.

My little plan,

My little plan that I cooked up in my head is only baked inside one mind,

But the path,

The dialogue with the universe is taking us somewhere extraordinary.

I don't need to worry about getting what I want or not getting what,

Because if I got what I wanted,

My life would have been so much less interesting and so much more confined because I didn't get what I want.

My life has been so much full of light and color and love and people and adventure.

Michelle,

Can we do a practice about this?

Yeah,

Let's go.

I invite you.

This is called the road of life.

Yeah.

Okay.

I invite you to take three breaths.

Clear out your inner space.

Now I invite you to think of a time where you wanted something so badly.

It was that school for your kid,

That job or promotion for you,

That house or apartment,

Him or her to say yes.

You wanted that so badly.

So you did everything right.

You researched it tactically.

You made a plan.

A plus B plus C.

You wanted that red door and it was yours.

A plus B plus C.

You go for your red door,

Grab the handle,

But it's stuck.

I mean,

How could it be stuck?

Because you'd done everything right tactically,

Strategically.

You researched it.

You might kick the door,

Rattle it.

Shocked,

Offended,

Incredulous,

Maybe even depressed.

But only because that red door is stuck.

You have no choice.

You pivot.

You pivot 30,

50,

110 degrees and over there.

Over there is a wide open yellow door,

A golden open yellow door.

You didn't know there were yellow doors.

You'd not heard of them.

Never considered yellow doors on the other side of the yellow door.

Is someone more right for you that makes your heart feel full?

Is a mentor or a boss who sees you beyond what you knew in yourself?

Is the school where you meet your life partner and find your passion?

The yellow door was not what you had wanted.

It was better and mostly better for you.

And as you sit back and you think of the stuck red door and the hairpin turn that took you to wide open yellow door,

Was there anyone there at the hairpin turn helping you along?

A trail angel,

A counselor,

A therapist,

A parent,

A grandparent,

Someone you met for two minutes at a bar or a party who said something,

The trail angel pointing you to the yellow door.

And finally,

As you sit way back now,

Stuck red door,

Hairpin turn,

Trail angel and wide open yellow door,

How are the most important parts of your life found?

Is it narrowly through tactics and strategy?

I mean,

Sure,

We have to do our part,

But are the biggest,

Most important parts of our lives where the road rises up to meet us?

Are we an open system in dialogue with the deeper nature of life,

Your spiritual path?

That was beautiful meditation.

I love that.

Thank you.

Did it resonate for you?

It did actually.

And that was one of the questions that was coming up for me is I wanted to ask you about when people say,

And you say something that I'm very aligned with,

Well,

Why is all this bad stuff happening in my life?

And I had the horrible partner and the parent that did this,

Or the kids that treated me like that,

Whatever it might be.

And there's a statement you say all the time that I say as well,

Which is life is happening for us.

So do you want to talk a little bit about that and explain that a little bit more?

Because there are many people,

And I have to say,

I have fallen into that in the past,

And I cling to it now when things are not going my way.

I'm like,

Hold on.

And I've gotten to the point where I'm not gripping on for dear life anymore.

But even I had an argument with my husband a week or so ago,

And I said,

This is interesting.

I remember sitting back.

I didn't even get that mad.

I said,

I wonder why this is happening for me right now.

Something's going to come from this.

It's more of a curiosity stance.

And trust me,

I was not like that for most of my life.

I finally have gotten to that space,

And I'm pretty good at it now.

What do you have to say about that?

Can you expand on that?

Why is this happening to me versus why is this happening for me?

And why this is happening for me has yet to be revealed.

Everything I think I want,

That red door,

What I want for myself,

For my kid,

What I want my partner to be doing,

All that is a plan in my head,

That red door.

And it's based really on today's information backwards.

It's all outdated information.

The yellow door has information that has yet to unfold before us.

It is a divine pull,

That deep sense of rightness.

I just knew I should take this job.

I just felt like he was my partner.

And I can give you examples from my life when I've listened to it and was so glad I did.

And I can give you examples from my life when I didn't listen to it,

And it was to my peril or someone else's that I love.

Our most certain form of knowing is that deep tug,

That inner wisdom,

That sense that God is telling me.

I feel like God is guiding me.

The universe wants me to know.

There's nothing as profoundly important in your life than knowing that is real and then acting on it.

What do we do when we get stuck in the opposite though?

When we get stuck in,

Why did this happen to me?

And we can't seem to get out.

So pause,

Right?

And return now with prayer and meditation.

In my life,

It's prayer.

Loving God,

Please fill my heart with love that I might serve you in love.

Loving God,

Please may I be present to your love and your guidance that I might touch all your children in love.

So it's recommissioning ourselves as souls on earth.

And that's where then when we're able to really,

I don't know the word I want,

Really live our lives by that statement,

Which is life happens for me.

And for us.

For us.

Yeah,

Truly.

Because of your experience,

You're able to heal thousands of people,

Right?

So it is for you.

It is also for others in this very beautifully,

Really a sacred symphony.

We're playing our instruments for each other.

It seems then that we can,

When we live with that,

Then that statement,

Then we can trust everything.

It's almost an easier life.

It just life becomes easier.

You mentioned synchronicities and I don't,

I have completely swapped out the term coincidence for synchronistic because nothing is not part of God's plan.

Nothing is not part of source.

Everything is like divinely inspired everything.

So when you look at the clock and it's two,

Two,

Two,

Four,

Four,

Four,

That person randomly is at the grocery store and you're there.

And you're like,

That was weird.

What a coincidence.

No.

Synchronistic.

Yes.

I'm with you.

I am entirely with you.

How could it not?

Every bit of the universe is divine.

And we have this extraordinary opportunity to show up,

Know that that's real.

I'll share with you.

I was standing in the health food store and in the health food store,

Everyone's all dressed up healthy looking,

You know,

The whole foods.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

And yet somehow waiting in line,

I felt commissioned to say,

Say it,

Say it,

Tell her how healthy she looks.

No,

I mean,

I suppose it's a breach of convention,

But I was told like from my deep inner wisdom,

Tell her how healthy she looks.

So I turned to the woman in front of me and I said,

You look so healthy.

And Michelle,

She burst out crying.

She burst out crying.

This is who we are to each other.

She said,

I'm starting chemotherapy tomorrow.

I just had a surgery to take cancer out of my body.

And I said,

You see that they took the cancer out out.

I said,

It's gone.

You are healthy.

And she said,

Thank you.

I'll go into chemotherapy.

Wow.

Knowing that this is who we are to each other.

I didn't know why that was the message.

I didn't know the woman in front of me was about to start chemotherapy.

We are given divine appointments,

So many opportunities to serve and love,

To be godly,

To be loving,

Holding,

Guiding,

And never leave anyone alone.

This is our awakened nature.

This is our awakened brain.

As we talk to God,

We feel God's love and guidance towards one another.

Yeah.

What's,

What's a day like for you with the awakened brain,

The awakened heart?

What is that like for you?

Give me an example.

Are you wildly intuitive?

Do you live like this where you're talking to people and you're getting inspiration throughout the day?

What would that,

What does that feel like and look like for you?

Michelle,

One of those beautiful things I found is when we express our awakened heart,

People love it.

And then they feel free to express their awakened heart.

And this applies,

This is my neighbor and I adore my neighbor.

And if my neighbor didn't live next door,

I'd want to be his buddy anyway.

Right?

That's not customarily how neighbors speak to each other.

And yet how wonderful to really be seen and known and matter.

It is the antidote.

It is the antithesis.

It is the antidote to loneliness because there's someone living next to you all along.

Wow.

And so many living beings.

So fellow living beings,

You know,

I talked to birds when birds,

I think it is so important to acknowledge fellow living beings.

When we hear birds sing to respond,

You know,

We don't have to pretend we're birds,

But respond honestly,

Responding your voice,

You know,

Good morning.

I'm so happy you're here.

You know,

Every living being knows when we're acknowledged and every living being is trying to connect and be in this divine symphony together.

I I'm,

I'm with you on that.

I talked to the birds and the trees and the squirrels and all of everything.

Cause it feels alive to me,

My dogs.

I mean,

You know,

We just have that mental telepathy and we just have those thoughts and I can just think something in my dog.

I look,

I mean,

He knows we walk,

I'll just think cross the street and he crosses the street.

Like he knows,

But there's also that love that we have this deep connection to it's beautiful.

So can we give our children that understanding in the same way that we just feel,

We know with fellow living beings,

Can our children born with that same natural knowing be given the authority from us as moms that knowing is real.

You really are in relationship to the,

Your little sweet dog and to the squirrels and the birds and the trees and to your classmates.

Yeah.

And if other kids don't get it,

Then you can still love them back in order to put our kids out front as knowers and as torch bearers,

Then we need to prepare them with an understanding that some children will get it and some won't,

But you love everybody.

And you love someone,

Whether or not they love you back,

You don't make yourself a doormat.

You don't allow yourself to be mistreated.

You treat yourself with respect,

But you can love someone even if they don't love you back.

What God are you asking of me now?

What are you showing me now?

Okay.

That child lied to you.

So did you learn something about not wanting to lie to other people?

Yeah.

Ooh,

That's good.

That's really good.

Everyone,

Everything's happening for us.

So when something feels bad,

And I was just talking to my niece about this the other day,

I said,

Even when people don't treat you well,

There's something in it for you.

It is tremendous opportunity.

Every time we just had a big conversation about this and she says,

Well,

She was mean again.

And I said,

Then what is in it for you?

Beautiful.

Do you know,

Carl Jung said,

Your so-called enemy is your friend,

Because they will tell you something that in a hundred years,

Your friend would never say.

So what in here can I kind of distill to be a finer person?

Why did they hook on this?

Yeah.

I love that.

What do you say to a child,

Because I know you've written another book too,

For children,

Correct?

The Spiritual Child.

Oh,

The Spiritual Child is for parents.

The Spiritual Child is based on 15 years of peer-reviewed science delivered in a package to parents as a roadmap on how we can support our child's natural spiritual core.

The Spiritual Child was picked up by the Pentagon,

Actually,

And we used the science in The Spiritual Child to support the spiritual core for three years of our soldiers,

Who of course are young,

18 through 24.

Yeah.

I wanted to ask you about when you were working,

Because we've talked a lot about children raising children,

What about kids that are bullied?

How do you navigate that?

Because how do you love back the bully?

What would you say?

Right.

So the bully is a soul on earth who has misguided and not realized her or his nature.

Yeah.

There's a soul on earth who has yet to realize his or her nature.

And how do we realize our nature in a way that is loving of ourselves,

Loving of all life?

And part of loving of ourselves is to hold our boundaries,

As you've said so beautifully,

Michelle.

Yeah.

Part of knowing our deep,

Inherent,

Sacred worth,

Our divine worth as a soul on earth,

Is honoring how we will draw the line and how others treat us.

So very often,

You know,

Sometimes,

Sometimes a bully can be stopped by directly holding the line.

Sometimes we need to go around them.

Sometimes we need to go over them.

And on rare occasion,

We need to go through them.

How do you,

What does that mean?

I mean,

So nine out,

Okay.

Out of a hundred bullies,

90% of the time we can go around them and continue with dignity.

They're not important.

It was a soul on earth.

They are on a journey and they're lost and you're on a journey and you're on a path.

When they're in their way,

Sometimes you need to go over them,

Speak to the teacher,

Speak to the principal.

It's not tattling.

It's holding your dignity.

Yeah.

Speak to another parent.

99% of the time that works,

But 1% of the time,

The bully is not stopped.

And that's where the bully must be removed because a soul on earth,

Serving God should not be obstructed by a bully.

Okay.

Yeah.

I was going to say there are,

I mean,

Obviously,

You know,

Put in a different class punish all that stuff,

Right.

Maybe sent to some form of treatment or therapy,

But the bully has no right to interfere in the path of the soulful child.

Absolutely.

No,

Right.

The bully is not authorized,

You know,

By divine creed,

The bully cannot harm the innocent child.

And so the bully,

Either whether it's treatment or some form of special education,

The bully cannot disrupt the innocent child.

That's unacceptable.

That is unethical.

And it is an obstruction of the divine path of the child.

Totally unacceptable.

Sometimes I have found over the years that parents don't want to acknowledge it.

They don't want to think it's their kid that's doing the bullying.

So they're,

They're just in denial about it.

What happens then if you're on the receiving end of that though?

If you're the parent,

Then this is the opportunity of your child's life that you see it and work with them so that they actually feel deep down inside that they are a child of God,

That they are inherently worthy.

If you're a parent and you hear that your child's bullying someone,

This is an invitation to help your child know that they are loved,

That they are guided and held by God,

Your higher power,

The source,

And they are never alone,

That what they do counts,

They are spiritually and morally accountable,

And that they are loved to realize all that they have to give and all who they really are.

It's really like you were saying,

Awakening the spiritual brain,

But awakening the spiritual heart again,

It's just waking that part of them up.

It's just not,

It's not awakened right now.

But it's in that child.

Yeah,

It's in there.

We've all got it in there.

Love conquers all.

Yes,

Ma'am.

That's what I say.

Love wins every time.

A hundred percent.

Yes.

And you know,

This is a therapist.

I hear this a lot.

Parents will say,

You know,

What do I say when it's time for bed?

How do I put it when they fail a test?

And there's no secret formula,

You know,

Word a plus word B plus word C,

Open your spiritual heart and know that love conquers all.

I just love you.

I love you,

Whether you got a D or an A,

I love you.

And so let's decide together in your path,

What your heart really wants.

Where are we going?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh,

That's great.

I want to touch on,

You know,

Michelle,

Actually,

This is a very important parenting piece.

Yeah,

Please.

Parenting culture has overemphasized achieving awareness and the language,

The language of parenting culture sounds like a broken record of accomplishment.

How'd the test go?

Did you win today?

How was practice?

Right.

Another way to greet our children is I am so excited to see you.

Can you tell me the funniest story from your day?

Can you tell me a time where you really felt God's presence?

Were you a trail angel for someone today or someone a trail angel for you today?

Did you have a moment of direct knowing?

Did you see a fellow living being do something today?

Open up the universe because your child is so excited when you do.

Wow,

I love all those questions.

Such a different a different way to speak to children than we than most of us do.

Because I definitely would say,

Hey,

How was your test today?

How'd you do?

I love those questions.

We did do the roses and thorns at dinner.

Tell us about a rose and a thorn at dinner.

But I like I love the questions you just asked.

I wish I had those when I was younger.

Well,

Michelle,

It's same mom,

Right?

Yeah,

It's not like,

Oh,

As moms were achieving awareness.

So there's a convention in our language and the parlance of parenting culture.

And we can deliberately grab the reins and steer parent culture towards awakened awareness.

Yeah.

I say to my kids now,

They're in their 20s.

I talk about life being like an Easter egg hunt,

You know,

Like when you go out and you're hunting for Easter eggs in your yard,

And you'll see one word that come from.

But if you look at life in that way,

All the gifts,

All the beauty,

You'll see these synchronistic moments again,

Or the gifts where you least expect them,

But you have to look.

And then you're surprised.

And it's such a delightful experience when that happens.

So Michelle,

That was a huge gift that you gave your children.

You told them by talking about the synchronicities of today.

Yeah,

Synchronicities are real.

Oh,

Yeah.

The universe or God is guiding us through synchronicities.

You talked about synchronicities.

When we as moms,

Mom says,

You know,

What synchronicity happened to you today?

Did you have a moment where you felt the abundant love of God?

Did you have a moment where you took a moment to reconnect to God?

When we talk,

Talk,

Talk,

Run narrative from our spiritual heart,

Our kids know the three most important things in life.

The spiritual reality is real.

There's a language and a practice for getting there and understanding the spiritual reality.

And most of all,

We talk about that here.

Our family is on a great adventure,

A sacred adventure.

Every time we open our mouth as a mother and share from our spiritual heart,

Those three core points shape the sensitive forming natural spiritual core of our child.

Running our mouth about authentic spiritual life is the golden thread that moves through everything we do.

And there's nothing else that matters that compares to a mother voicing her spiritual heart.

Kids grow up,

They go to college,

They hear so much,

Oh,

God doesn't exist.

It's all about making money.

It's all about winning.

Are you,

You know,

Prestigious enough,

You're going to follow.

But my mother said that we're rich in love.

But my mother said that God has a plan and opens doors.

My mother said,

Follow my heart to Costa Rica.

And then my life is infinitely full of color.

That's good.

Mom is the index of reality.

Mom is the index of reality.

I'm going to drop the mic again.

That's who we are.

We are ambassadors.

We are extraordinary spiritual ambassadors.

And we only have two jobs to walk the walk and talk the walk and our love towards our children.

And it doesn't matter what age.

So don't think that if they're old,

Older,

That we've missed the boat,

You can start any time,

Any day,

No missing the boat.

No,

No missing the boat.

Your child is born with an awakened brain.

Your child is right there,

Ready to go.

As the first person,

We've got to walk the walk and talk the walk of our own spiritual truth.

You know,

Not my mother father's spiritual truth,

Not the person down the road,

Spiritual truth,

Our deep,

Authentic spiritual truth.

Walk the walk,

Talk the walk.

And your child will know it's real.

There's a practice in the language and our relationship as a family is a spiritual adventure.

Good stuff.

I want to ask you one more question before we close today.

And that is on the feelings that we have of depression.

You've mentioned that a few times.

Loneliness,

This kind of thing.

If someone is struggling with depression,

What do you what do you say to them?

Depression does not mean that we are off the spiritual path or somehow missed the boat.

Depression is very often the initial phase of the struggle that opens to awakening.

Depression is part of the awakening.

But we have to say yes,

Engage and do the work.

So I might feel and have been profoundly betrayed.

I might have lost something that I thought was permanent and is gone.

I might have had a death of someone I adore.

What God do you reveal to me now?

What universe are you showing to me now?

What life are you asking of me now?

This is your spiritual journey,

Your sacred soul's path.

Yeah.

So again,

The journey becomes turning inward and going inward.

If we are someone that is struggling with depression right now or living with depression or feeling depressed,

The answers are not out there.

We oftentimes we might expect and I was someone that was very depressed,

I would say in my early 20s.

Nobody knew what I was functionally depressed.

I looked a certain way,

I had the boyfriend and all.

But I think as I look back on it,

I felt heavy,

I felt lonely,

I felt disconnected.

The more connected I became to myself,

It was everything just changed.

It just magically,

It just went,

It just started lifting and changing.

So connecting back to self saved me.

I would say connecting to the deep core as a source of knowing.

The deep inner core receives divine guidance.

The deep inner core is the source of receiving and perceiving profound sacred guidance in us,

Through us and around us.

So the synchronicities outside are guiding in your inner discernment.

I know that's real.

I felt that hit.

What universe are you showing to me now?

The authorizing of the inner wisdom,

The whole universe,

Every bit of life is rooting for you.

So then why would someone get stuck in depression,

Loneliness,

Anxiety,

All of these things?

How do we get unstuck from these things?

Yeah.

So Michelle,

We've been taught since little children that we're a closed system.

Thoughts are only thoughts in your brain and people are only randomly in your life.

We've been handed really a horrible user guide to a magnificent universe.

When we do,

As you've just said,

And trust our inner wisdom,

Perceive with open eyes,

Awaken.

Our awakened brain perceives and receives divine guidance.

We know who we really are,

Who one another really are,

Why we've been brought into each other's lives.

And we're part of a lit up world.

So start paying attention to synchronicities,

To what am I feeling on the inside,

Paying attention to and reconnecting to that awakened brain,

The awakened heart.

Yes.

And the love you give to others is effectively a step towards joining a unit of reality.

When you're kind to someone who's completely annoying,

When you pay for the guy in the Starbucks line,

When you are just two bits nice and let someone go before you,

You've stepped into the unit of reality where we're both individuals,

But we're also part of one family of life,

One whole existence.

So we're no longer lonely because we have joined the symphony.

Wow.

Okay.

Well,

Gosh,

Dr.

Lisa Miller,

This was amazing.

Thank you.

Thank you for your work.

Wonderful,

Michelle.

Thank you.

And thank you for all the people who you help to guide towards awakening.

Thank you.

And thank you so much for your work in the world.

And thank you for joining us today.

We appreciate you.

It was wonderful.

All right.

All right.

I hope everybody enjoyed that show.

Hit me up on social media.

You know,

I'm on Instagram.

I'm on YouTube.

I am on Facebook.

And I would love,

Love,

Love to hear how do you feel about this?

How do you feel about the awakened brain?

I'm telling you,

Dr.

Lisa is onto something.

And I love hearing your feedback.

So let me know.

And as always hit me up on Apple.

I love getting your five-star reviews and reading all your comments.

All right,

Friends.

That's all I've got for you today.

I'll see you right here next week.

Have a beautiful,

Beautiful week,

Everybody.