Ask Your Guides - Live - 12/13/24

Ask Your Guides! With Alison Schuh Hawsey, Jocelyn Bates, John Steen, Manal — Mattain, MeditationSpaceOnline, Melanie Underwood, Melissa Bullock - recorded LIVE - 12/13/24 - An unscripted collaboration among teachers, addressing questions from the Insight Timer community.
Please join us in the Insight Timer group: "Ask Your Guides" — grounded, guided, and always growing.

Transcript

We're going to get started. I'm going to go around and I'm going to let the teachers introduce themselves. And Kevin, I'm going to start with you. Thank you. Thank you, Violet. First, Big, Big thanks to Violet and Melanie for doing such an amazing job and creating this really unique space here on Insight Timer. It's really wonderful. So many, Many kudos to both of you. For those of you who don't know me, My name is Kevin and I've been here on Insight Timer for around just over three years. And as you can maybe tell from my name here, Meditation Space Online, Which is how I go on Insight Timer, My thing is meditation and I'm here several times a week, Regularly hosting live meditation events. Sometimes they're silent meditations, Sometimes they're guided meditations, Sometimes they're a little bit of both and usually a little bit of both. And I'm really, Really grateful for this space. I've been doing this and work or involved in meditation for over about 45 years, Actually. It kind of found me at a very crucial point in my life very, Very early on. And I'm very, Very grateful for it and have done lots of other things in life, Lots of different careers, But it's always been the meditation space that I've come back to. And then during the pandemic, I really felt that there were a lot of people that might want to be maybe engaged more in meditation, But had never felt they had the time. And then all of a sudden, All this time was there for many people. So I thought, And then I heard about Insight Timer at the same time. So it all came together and I've been here ever since and really, Really happy to be here with all these other amazing teachers. It's nice to meet some of you who I haven't seen before. And John, I've been to your meditations and Manal also, Your sessions, Beautiful sessions, Everybody's just amazing. So yes, Basically that's what I do. I'm here several times a week, Usually around the weekends. And for those of you in North America, Evening times usually, But sometimes in the morning as well. So thank you so much for having me here today. I'm really, Really, Really delighted to be here with everyone. And it's just such an incredible community, Just phenomenal. And such a beautiful little corner, You could say, Of the internet here that so many amazing people come together with that from many different backgrounds. And of course, Everyone's so different and unique, Which is so wonderful. But just to say that there's something that ties all or links all of us here, That is so beautiful and unique, And really is celebrated every moment. So thanks so much, Everyone. Thank you. That was beautiful. I wanted to add that Kevin and I had a conversation, I think it was a couple of months ago already. And it was supposed to be like a brief conversation. I think we talked for like two hours. I enjoyed that conversation so much. So thank you for being here. And now I'm going to move on to you, My super energy friend. I'm smiling so much. It just hurts. The energy in this room is absolutely amazing. Kevin, So nice to see you. And thank you for coming and joining. And Violet and Melanie, Thank you for holding the space for all of us. And I'm so excited to meet everybody. And I'm just here with all of you, Just really to get to a point of I am in life. And for us to truly, Truly know it in the egoic body. And just also know it, Sometimes knowing is involved, Or maybe trusting or knowing. Sometimes I play around with the words in the mental body. So it's one thing for your thoughts, But do you really believe it? We might try to sort of force ourself, But do you really believe it? And then to feel it, Feel it, Feel it. I love the emotional body. And then ultimately we can be it. So what I do in all of my lives, Meditations and talks is just really get us all to align in all four bodies. The being, Feeling, Knowing, And trusting of the truth of who we are, Which ultimately is I am. So I have little tricks that I picked up. Tricks is the wrong word, But just things and modalities that I pick up that ultimately help us align our four bodies. And I think one of the biggest feedback that I get about my practice and how we all come together is that I'm human, Like all of us, Like I'm human. And there's an authenticity because I struggle and I live and I hurt and I feel and I use that to be almost a springboard to understand what we're all going from. And my engineering mind and my open heart just sort of, And my curiosity and the desire to understand truth and to live the best being that I am, All come together and just sort of bring us into this beautiful space, Like the one that you created, Violet and Melanie, For us to just be together. So it's my excitement to be here and I'm so excited. Bring on the questions so we can all get to a place of I am together. I had to mute myself for a minute there. My dog started barking. Thank you for being here and I love your energy. That's why I referred to her as my super energy friend because we were kind of going back and forth in emails and I was saying how much I love her energy. And Melissa, Moving over to you. All right. I also have a dog who is rambunctious, So we will see how it goes. It's great to be here and connect with everybody. For those that I haven't connected with, My name is Melissa Bullock. I'm a meditation and kundalini yoga teacher, And I also offer embodiment coaching and intuitive energy readings. And I love Insight Timer. I started as a meditator on the platform about 10 years ago and I started teaching here about two years ago. And so it's been a beautiful cycle of how much it's enriched and nourished my life and now being able to offer guided meditations and have a course and put out different tracks and live events to be in this really sacred community. And I would say if I could sum up what I love to offer, It would be embodiment. So that grounded practice of spirituality, Where we are really embodying who we're meant to be in this lifetime and feeling empowered and feeling liberated and feeling free and being our authentic self. So I love connecting with people and helping people do just that. In my meditations, The focus for me is energy. We're often holding so much in our bodies, In our beings. And we know when we look at our arms and we have a scratch, We can see the scratch, But we're often holding all these energetic wounds in our spaces. And so I love to help people peel those layers one by one and really see each other as souls. So again, Thank you for being here and looking forward to connecting with you deeper. Beautiful. Thank you. Absolutely. John. Thank you. Hi, Everyone. Thank you so much, Violet and Melanie. It's great to be here with everyone and all the amazing teachers and this beautiful, Amazing community. It's my second time here. I did it the first time when you first started it. And I wanted to wait a while before I came back to do it again. But I just love the ingenuity of all these amazing teachers and seeing how Insight Timer is growing and changing and new teachers coming and just new modalities. Because this app, This website really changed the course of my life. I've been a teacher now here on almost a year and I still don't even like to call myself a teacher because I still feel very much like a student because I still attend lots of lives and get so much. But I'm also in San Francisco, California. I'm a certified energy healing practitioner and my lives are sort of situated around going and finding the trauma, Finding energy blocks in your body. Because I've spent my entire life trying to heal myself and I could never get anywhere until I found energy healing here on Insight Timer when they first started their lives. And just the amount of healing that I had in a short time, Finally getting to where that I needed to go and get to in my life and my healing and healing my wounds, That in those few short years I'm now here being a practitioner myself and being a teacher on Insight Timer just shows the power of energy healing that the adage goes that energy healing accelerates healing. And I have witnessed that. I've witnessed that well by the people who share about what they're receiving in my lives and what's happening with them as well. So I'm just eternally grateful to be here. And I love, Love, Love, Love this community so very much. I'm feeling like I'm going to start crying. I'm just so, So, So very grateful for this community for changing my life and enriching my life. And we are grateful to have you here, John. So thank you. Jocelyn, I'm going to move over to you. Oh, Hello, Hello. So yeah, This is a beautiful space too. I'm pretty new to Insight Timer. I've other teachers is awesome. So thank you for bringing this together. And yeah, Insight Timer was one of the places that I had a large experience of grief when I lost my parents seven days apart about three years ago. And it was Insight Timer that I brought into my life, Yoga Nidra, And really changed the course of because I was in a place of huge anxiety and panic attacks and thinking everything was everyone was going to die. I was in these places where I was insomniac and it was Insight Timer that I found Yoga Nidra. And from there, I ended up going into teacher training because it helped me so much. And so I love this community and I love to give back to it. I am I like to call myself like a cultivator of curiosity and creativity in the human experiment. I do a bunch of Yoga Nidra tracks here. I do meditations, Guided curiosities, But I'm also a soul art guide and a Kashuk records guide and a human design guide. And so I do a lot of live events on all of those. And really the one thread in the things that I do is curiosity and creativity coming together in both meditation and soul art events that I run in creative writing, Automatic writing. I kind of like to bring it all together back to that thread. So, Yeah, I really enjoy this community so much. And I am so grateful that I found it when I did because who knows where I would be if I didn't figure out how to balance my nervous system, You know, And it's been a beautiful vehicle for healing. So, Yeah. That's a great story. Thank you for sharing that. I didn't know that. I mean, I've seen you during your lives, But I didn't know your background. That's amazing. Yeah. Alison. So I feel like I'm geeking out here a little bit because I'm with some of my favorite people. I feel that way every time. It's so exciting. My name is Alison. I am, I guess the titles, I guess I could say, Is intuitive transformational life coach, Reiki master, Meditation teacher, But I'm just a student of life trying to figure it out like everyone else. And I've been through some experiences since I was a very young girl. I knew I was different because I could see things and hear things and sense things. But, You know, Those things were pushed down when I was younger. And it was when I became older and just started having my own experiences and making choices throughout life that I remember just waking up one day thinking, I can't stop this any longer. I just need to be me all the time, No matter where I am, No matter who I'm with. And so here I am. This is me all the time. I do intuitive transformational readings for people, Which is so exciting. I coach, I have a coach signature program where I will coach women from all walks of life. But the key piece of who I work with primarily are people who are done trying and they're ready to do. They're ready to take action to be authentically and vulnerably themselves. And so that's really the realm of where I work. And I love listening to stories, Like I want to sit here and hear everybody's background and take notes because it's just, I've always had this dream of writing a book called Behind the Smile to really learn about people. So who knows, It might happen. So thank you so much for having me. I hope you do that. I love it. I love the title, Love the idea. That's awesome. Thank you. Thank you. So I am Violet and I'm a tech geek who loves bringing teachers together and talk about geeking out. Every live that I'm on, I feel that way because I was on Insight Timer since 2018, Watching all of you, Loving all of you. So being able to do this now is like such a thrill for me and that's why I do it. I have no motivation other than it's a thrill for me and I love it. And I'm going to move over to Melanie, Who's going to take it away from here because she's awesome at moderating. I'm good with the behind the camera stuff. I let her do the talking. Thank you, Violet. And I do mindful cooking and intuitive baking. And sort of like Jocelyn, My pillars are really related to cultivating creativity and calm through food. Food is such a huge connector. But I was really lucky because when I was young, Most of you know, My mother was an engineer and she was the only woman of 60 men. And my mom really taught me early on to sort of own myself and be who I was and not worry about anybody else. So I think that I was so fortunate to have that experience and it really motivates me every day to help others find that space. And the way that I know how to do it is through food. And I appreciate you all being here. It's so amazing. I want to kick it off. Jessica always has the best questions. Jessica asked, What energizes you? What drains you? That is a great question. It is. John? It's a great question. Thank you. At the beginning of the pandemic, When it started, When everything shut down, I've spent my life in the gym. I was a big workout person. And so I have not gone back to the gym since. But what I've done is I take walks in nature every day. Usually at dawn. I'm a morning person. When I first get up in the morning, I start meditating for an hour. I learned that from an inside timer teacher saying it was the best to meditate. And I'm doing energy work when the sun is coming up over the horizon where you live. So I have been doing that since I heard that. And I've been taking walks in nature every single day. I get so much energy. I'm a tourist. So I get a lot of energy from nature and a lot of healing. I can't tell you how much healing that has come to me by spending time in nature, Talking to myself in nature, Listening to insights that I'm receiving. When Manal was talking about reaching that higher I am, Just last week, Sometimes I listen to podcasts when I'm hiking, And I was listening to Eckhart Tolle. And he was talking about going within and finding that deep eye. And it really resonated with me. And I have certain rituals that I do when I'm walking on different paths. And when I heard him say that, It so resonated with me. I put my hands to my heart space, And I just started speaking to God, Like, I want to find that deep eye in myself. And within seconds, A hawk appeared right in front of me on this branch in this tree, And the hawk was my first spirit animal. And I started crying. It was like, The universe is always there, Always giving messages, Always energizing us. And it was just such a beautiful moment. And they don't happen every day, But it's a place where I want to be as in nature. So that's what energizes me. Does anything drain you? Lots of things drain me. Probably the thing that drains me the most, And I'm confronting this, Is that I have had a lot of loss in the last five years on my healing and awakening journey. And right now I'm dealing, It's full front and center, Is transcending, Trying to transcend my ego and my thoughts. I'm really paying attention to almost every thought I have, And it is so freaking hard to do. And it can really, Really drain me, Because my nervous system will go right into overdrive with my thoughts. So maybe that could be the biggest, Hardest thing that we all encounter, Is our ego, And trying to transcend our thoughts and staying in the present moment instead of in the future or the past. I'm finding it very, Very challenging and difficult these last few weeks. I'm sure that that is something that resonates with everybody. Manal? John, That was fabulous. And nature and yoga and meditation and going in is similar to me, But my gut reaction when I read the question was, People. People, Both. It was like, What drains me? People. And what energizes me? It's people. And I had a teacher once, And his biggest thing was it's all about you. If anything happens, If you're triggered, Which I don't like to use that word for anybody that's my follower knows. I don't usually use that word. But if you're triggered, If anything bothers you, Whatever, It's not about them. It's about you, That you're meant to learn something from it. So it's everything about you. So I came to a point that I'm like, Well, Then why do I want people in my life? Like, Why? Why would I want anybody in my life if that person makes me upset and that person angers me and that person frustrates me? And then I realized because some of my greatest moments are with human beings. And just talking and being. And even, John, When you're talking about the loss, That's probably with humans or animals. That's people. So our greatest experiences. So I realized that people are here and the drains are our opportunity to grow and learn and expand. And that's what feeds me is growth and expansion and learning. And those same people that are helping me grow are also there to amplify my life and my relationships and love and sharing a meal like I can eat. I always talk about tasting things on my lives and sushi. Well, Having it with someone I love is so much nicer than going by myself, Although I'll enjoy it on my own. And so that was my response when I read it first. I'm like, Oh, People and people's energy. And it's both of them. So I'll stop now because I can keep going. You all know I can keep going on and on. But that was the thought I wanted to share. Oh, My God. When all our cats are both here. And literally, Those were my two answers, People and people. Oh, My goodness. Melissa. Yeah, For me, What first came through was, Just like Allison was talking about, I can't show up in any spaces anymore, Right, Without being fully me. And that's what first came through to me was those spaces where we feel like we have to edit, Or we feel like we have to shrink, Or we have or we feel like maybe it's not safe, Or accepted to bring the fullness of who we are. And that's something that I've been peeling layer by layer, Because ultimately, It is up to us, Right? We get to choose the spaces we engage in, We get to choose the people that are in our lives. And it can be really hard to be in that place where you're in a space. And you know, You're no longer meant to be in that space, And deal with all of the energy that's coming up with that. So that's what drains me is that and then what really fulfills me and, And makes me feel alive is similar to what everybody else has said, Nature, Music, I love chanting, I love yoga, I love meditation. I love just moving my body. And just shaking. I think animals are so great at that. And we need to maybe be better at shaking off the energy and really coming back to that nervous system regulation. So yeah, Thanks for asking. Allison. Again, This is why I'm geeking out because these answers are amazing. Yes. So for me, My one answer is my choices. My choices, They both energize me and they deplete me. And yesterday was like a great example. I started my day with I call it my me time, Where I go out and I walk in nature with Mother Earth. So I call her me, My me time. And I go out and I let go and put into the earth anything that is ready to be gone and transmuted into something more positive. But I was having a moment and I was making so many yes choices, Because there were people that needed things, And I needed to be here, I needed to get this done and do that, And da-da-da-da, And the massive to-do list. And then I got into a tizzy because I could feel something and I could feel being an empath. We have huge feelings, Right? And we have these connections that go distance so much, Whether it's death or distance, We have connection with people and souls and spirits. I do, At least. And I got a moment yesterday where I went from being so energized and productive to being completely drained and wanting a nap and crying. And I'm like, Who is struggling? Why is this hitting me? What is happening? I was just driving home. I mean, What is going on? And I wasn't protecting myself. And I was supposed to get on here, Actually, To do an intuitive reading session. And I thought, Oh my God, I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I have the energy to be present enough for everyone. I don't know if I have it. And then I took a moment and I paused and I thought, That's exactly what I need to do. Because when I go and I channel spirit and I allow the messages to come through, I get so energized. That's why I don't do many of these in the evening, Because I won't go to bed. I will be up all night because the energy is so huge. Because this is, To me, I call this a choice connection, Right? We're all choosing to come here into this app as a choice. We are choosing this to come here. And typically, It's because we're wanting to shift something, Right? We want something to change in our life. We want to feel something a little bit different. And I did. I'm like, I need to feel something a little bit different. I need to keep going. And so I showed up and had the most incredible session. All my aches and pains went away, My energy got huge, And I had an amazing day. So it really comes down to my choices. I could have chosen to not show up, Right, Because I was too tired, But I chose to show up for myself, Which then in turn brought me just beautiful connections with others. So that's mine. That's amazing. Jocelyn? Yeah, I think when you first posed the question, I thought to myself, Gosh, The things that energize me and drain me from day-to-day change. And it's kind of similar with people say, Well, People energize me and drain me at the same time. And I think my mind went directly to human design, Where I'm a generator, I'm a sacral generator in my strategy and authority. So I have an answer at any time to what I have the energy to do. So when I'm following my sacral response in human design, And I'm following what's lighting me up, I'm energized all day long. But the moment I don't listen to my sacral authority, And I'm not responding, And I'm saying yes to something because I feel like I have to rather than it lights me up, Or, You know, I mean, I know a lot of people are parents like me, And you're like, You got to do something for your kids. And you just, You know, Then I'm, And I love doing things for my kids, But if it doesn't resonate with my sacral response, And I still have to do it, Like pick them up, Right? That's when I get really drained. And so it's really, For me, It's about following that strategy and authority in your human design. And of course, I'm a sacral authority as a pure generator, But you can have all different strategies and authorities. And when I'm following it, I feel like I'm on that, I'm on that flow of being energized in many ways. So, Yeah. Thank you for that. Kevin? Thanks, Melanie. And really wonderful answers, By the way, Just wonderful hearing everybody's approach to this wonderful question. And thank you to who's ever asked it, Because it really does touch on many different levels. I see it in like three different kind of areas. The first one is purely physical in the sense that sometimes what feels to be very, Very kind of elusive or whatever could be just tied or linked to something very physical, Like did I, And so I do a little inventory when I notice things like this, Like did I eat enough today? Did I eat too much? Did I sleep enough? Did I sleep too much? Did I drink enough water? Did I not? All these little things sort of as a basic checklist. And then on another level, I remember when I heard about the Myers Briggs system and the way that basically there was one category, Several different categories for anyone who knows it. But one of them that I found really interesting was that of introverts and extroverts. And what is talked about here in the Myers Briggs system is that people who are extroverted are not just people who maybe have a big personality and like to be in the front, In the limelight or whatever, But they're people who kind of feel they get energy from being with other people. And when they're on their own or alone, They feel their energy maybe may go down. Conversely, Someone who's more of an introvert, When they have to be in front of a lot of people, Then they might feel their energy's being drained or going down, Whereas when they're on their own or alone, Then they feel they get recharged and rejuvenated. So that was really helpful for me, Because it really kind of highlighted the fact that we all are, We're all different and unique, Of course, And how wonderful it is that we are. But just to sort of maybe have a sense of how am I put together and who am I on that level with that. And then the third one is, Of course, Meditation. For me, I find is certainly the really rejuvenating and recharging and energy accumulating and manifesting technique or practice or lifestyle or whatever you want to look at it, That I find is really, Really certainly the most helpful in my own experience and what I observe and continue to observe in my life. And that if I don't get maybe that time sometimes, I don't get upset about it, It's just that I can see those signs sometimes that my energy's maybe going down. If I just can have some time to close my eyes, Even for a few minutes, Take a breath and just watch. And then something happens, Something always happens. And of course, To not approach it with any expectation that it should happen, But just to rather allow it to happen. So those are my thoughts on this great question. Thank you. Thank you. And Violet? So as soon as that question came up, I thought of two things. What energizes me is this, Being here with all the teachers. And what drains me is the software that helps me do this. OBS. So I just had to throw that in there because those were the two things that popped into my head. This energizes me and this software depletes me. That's funny. I mean, It's not, But you know what I mean. It's a balance. Yeah. And so I actually, I do have a question that I'm going to get to, But because we were sort of talking about it, I'm really curious. Does everybody here know what they are in human design? And I don't know a lot about it, But I love it. And Jocelyn is having a live on December 19th at 3 p. M. Eastern Standard Time. And so if you know, I'm curious, Would you share? Does everybody know? Some of you do. John? I know. Okay. So let's just share. I'm curious. You're muted. John, You're muted. I'm a Manningfesting Generator 2-4. Human design really changed my life. Can I just tell you this real quick story about it, How it changed me? So I grew up with an alcoholic mom and a lot of trauma growing up with alcoholism, And later learned that she was also a narcissist. But there was something happened in my childhood with my mom. And realizing as a Manningfesting Generator that I have all this energy, I go to different things that light me up. For my entire life, I thought it was the voice in my head, My mom saying, Well, You quit everything you do anyway. And when I read what Manningfesting Generator was about, I was like, Oh, My God, It's not what my mother told me. That's just who I am inside. So it changed me inside. That's what that did for me. And also being collaborative. I love being in groups. I played group sports my whole life. I'm an actor. I prefer doing group energy work in groups. I love being a collaborator. So there's those things that human design really shows you who you are. And it was freeing for me finding out a lot of that stuff. That is amazing, John. And I had a similar experience, Not related to my parents, But related to humanity. Because I walk into a room, And I have an experience, And I realize, Like, Oh, Because I'm a Manningfesting Generator 1-3. And it just really opened up my whole world in so many ways. And that's why I asked. And I know we were talking about it in the chat. So if you guys don't know, Definitely go to the live from Jocelyn and look it up before the live to see what you are, Because it's helpful. Melissa? Yeah, I'm currently nerding out hard on human design. It's so fascinating and so validating, Too, To just have these aha moments about yourself. I'm a Generator 6-2, And I have a sacral response. And so I'm really learning how to respond to my environment and listen to that. And that's part of why my first response was, Certain things are so draining. We're not listening to that knowing within. We're not letting ourselves be guided and following that. And so I love it and love hearing about everybody else's type. Yeah. Jocelyn? Yeah, I would just say, Yeah, For anyone who does come to the live, Genetic Matrix has a free chart. You can find free charts anywhere to find your chart ahead of time. But I'm a 4-1 pure generator, Juxtaposition of fantasy, Quad right. And actually figuring out that I was quad right was a humongous weight lifted off of me. They call the quad rights the alphs or the aliens of the PHS system in human design. And yeah, It can be so freeing. It can be so freeing to understand. You might have felt out of place your whole life, But that's part of how you're designed and to actually begin to unpack all of your energetic blueprint and your gifts and be able to use them in a way that's helpful and beautiful for you. So yeah, Follow. There's so many. And Genetic Matrix, You can get. And even just going in, Finding your basics and just going and Googling, You'll find so much information. And I find that everybody has a different take on things. So if you go find that you're a generator or a manifesting generator, Go look it up. Look at the first 20 things that you find on it and see what resonates. See what words and what pieces resonate for you. But there's many places to go for. So I briefly mentioned, I have only shared this once on my lives, But I am also an actor. I've been acting my whole life since grade school. And in 2015, I made my Hollywood debut in the Steve Jobs movie. I played Mike Markkula. But unfortunately, I haven't worked since then, Almost 10 years, Because it was filmed here in San Francisco. And now that I'm a union member, There's not a lot of union work here in San Francisco. But it's something I won't ever give up. But it's not an easy thing to do. And it's not really a hobby. It was also kind of a career as well. But it's something that I get real passionate about, Even though I haven't done it for 10 years. And I'm also a big poker player. I hosted a poker group for over 20 years. And it was one of those collaborative things that I love doing. So I love gambling. We're gonna have to do an Ask Your Guides on gambling. I love it. I had a poker group too, John. Only ladies. And I didn't know who played poker. So I kind of mixed the drinks. Allison? Yeah, I like to do many things. I'm huge outdoors. I love kayaking. That is absolutely a go-to for me. I love being in the water. I don't care if it's freezing cold and raining. I will still go. Being out on the water is just incredible with the animals. It's hard for me to sit still and just do one thing. So if I am watching a movie or something, I'm usually crocheting. I just started a paint-by-numbers group with a group of friends. So we get together once a week. And we come together. And for like four hours, We do paint-by-numbers, Which is really fun because we all love to do things creative. I originally got my degree in apparel design and costume. So I love creating things that are just not normal because I had this world of sewing and set design and painting and all the things. And so I still do a little bit of that. I'm creating a little squirrel chipmunk village right now. I decided to stop fighting them and just create something for them to have fun. I mean, Why not? So, You know, Just a few little things. I kind of want to hear a little bit more about this squirrel village. Everyone does. You can't just drop that and then be like, I love the squirrel. Okay. So there's kind of a little story that goes along with it. So this has been a while ago. I mean, This has been probably last spring, I think. Maybe at the beginning of 2024, I went for this one hike. And it was by a lake that had been drained. And I kept finding these beautiful pieces of driftwood off the lake. And I came home with like a bundle of sticks. And my family is like, What are you doing? I'm like, Why do you question me? I don't know why I do half the crap I do, Right? I'm called to bring these sticks home. They're going to be needed at some point. So I'm tired of fighting the squirrels and the chipmunks and the blackbirds and the bluebirds and all the birds. I mean, All the hawks. And it's just like, I'm Snow White in our neighborhood. Let's just, I'll just say it. There it is. It's right there. Because they come into our house sometimes, Not on purpose. Well, They probably do come on purpose. I don't let them in on purpose. And I was standing there because I have a window that looks right out where they are doing their shenanigans. And I thought, You know, I think I'm done fighting. I'm going to just start building some things for them. So I got them a Christmas tree that has, It's like a metal Christmas tree. I think it's supposed to be an inside decoration, But it's outside. And it has three trays. And I fill them with different seeds and corn and peanuts and unsalted. And now I'm building, I've taken all those, The driftwood I mentioned, And I've cut them into little pieces and I've drilled holes. And now we're making an obstacle fence that, Or bridge that goes from a fence to a tree. And in the middle is the, You know, The Christmas tree. Anyway. And so, And I've asked for a Ferris wheel. I don't know if I'll get it for Christmas, But I've asked for a Ferris wheel to put in there too. I thought that would be a lot of fun. And then in the spring, My son is going to help me build little houses. What size? If you don't get the, If you don't get the Ferris wheel, Please tell me, I will send it. And what size are these? What size is the tree? Oh, The, The Christmas tree that I got? I mean, It's almost four feet. I mean, It's pretty big. It's got a top tray, A middle tray, And a bottom tray. Very cool. I mean, Come on, You know, Stop fighting them and just feed them. Why not? I love it. Yeah. And there's my dogs. They don't love it. Oh my gosh. Now I just want to start building a squirrel community somewhere near me. I can't even, I'm like, I could do that. I could do that. I'm an artist. I love it. I'm just, I'm just, My heart is so swelling with this right now. Yeah. No, I, I just, I feel like my hobby is driving my kids around and homeschooling them. That's pretty much what I do, But I'm also a writer and an artist. And, And I also, We, We have our own little zoo actually in our house. Cause we have three dogs. We have like a tripod dog and we have a blind dog and an old dog. And we have three rats. We should probably make something for the rats. I feel like that would be, And we have a rabbit and I feel like I'm always sitting and hanging out with my animals and just like being with them. And that feels like a, A very peaceful, Beautiful, Nurturing hobby for me that I just chill out. And I, I quit them. I go in their records a lot actually, And talk with them. And and so, Yeah, That's kind of where my hobby is other than driving children around and teens around. That's pretty much my time when I'm not here. Oh my goodness. Thank you. And I love that you have chosen to look at driving your children around as a hobby. Yeah. You might as well accept it. I am blessed to drive them around Jersey. That's not easy. Melissa. That's like, How do you follow up with the squirrel? I don't, I don't even know. My hobbies just feel so now I want to know if you're recording videos of this Allison. Cause my kids watch a lot of YouTube videos and the only videos I'm really down to ever watch is like the squirrel videos where they have to do the, You know, They have to go through the series of, So I've just put it out there. If it's not already being recorded for me, I love yoga. I love time in nature. I love hiking. I'm also a mom. I have a son who is 11 and a daughter who is eight. And so I do feel like a lot of my time is, Is being a mom and doing all things mom. Um, But I do think that something that's really loud on my path right now is finding more joy and having more creativity and doing those things that we're so good at doing as a little kid. And then we just kind of adults out of us as we get older and we're still really needing that magic. So for me, I really can find that through music, Through writing, But it's an area that I want to tap into more for sure. So thanks for the question and thanks for the squirrels. Yeah, I think that's important. And Violet wrote in the chat that joy is her word for 2025 and I love it. Violet. I'm always laughing at everything and it can really come off wrong, But it's just because I'm a laugher. And so people are like, This isn't funny. And actually it's serious. And you're laughing. But now I have that same disease. I'll laugh about anything. And I'm like, Oh my gosh. But the other day we were playing categories and they said with the kids and they're all very competitive and they said, What do you laugh at? And the letter was E and I said everything. And they would not give me the point for it. I'm like, But wait, I laugh at everything. I wasn't very happy. You can see I'm still jaded. It's really hard to speak about hobbies after the squirrel, But I do. And some of my responses felt so shallow. Okay. I love reading. I love reading. I love giving. School, I'm involved in a lot of schools and right now I'm involved with Durham Nativity School, Which is a school in Durham for low socioeconomic families. It's mostly, It's all boys and it's mostly Hispanics and blacks and fabulous. It really gives privilege where privilege isn't. And it's so amazing to watch us change the course of the lives of not just the boys, But their families. They're in five, Six, Seven, And eight. And I got into that because I was on the board of my children's school elementary and was very involved in the middle and high school. So I just love giving. Oak City Cares, The neighborhood, We're all going to go on Sunday and make breakfast for the community. And so that just feeds my soul of just pulling ourselves together and just giving. And Insight Timer sort of feels like this. We're all giving. And like, Even I feel so selfish because sometimes I feel like, Wait, This is my self therapy. And I feel like I'm like, Okay guys, I'm calibrated and feel good. I don't know about all you. I feel amazing. So really like giving and like giving of like the soul, The substance of like being authentic and true. I really, For somebody that's sort of like, I do love people. I hate small talk. And somebody was saying that the other, They're like, I'm like, I just can't be surfaced. Like come in and let's talk real. Like let's talk about what's truly going on in our lives in a world. And so, And then the superficial one that I just wouldn't be fair if I don't say, I just love shopping. Just like, Let me shop for myself, Clothing, Purses, Shoes. I just love shoes for the home decor. I just love shopping. So that's a bit of the flavor of Manel. I love it. I feel like we might be sisters. Did you see what Melanie asked? If you were a Scorpio, Are you? I'm an Aries. What, What gives me Scorpio vibes? Uh, The, I don't like small talk, But I really want to get to know you because that's like piercing in on somebody's personality. Like tell me everything about you right now. Yeah. Yeah. I'm with you on that. I'm not, I'm not a big, Small talk person, Which probably makes me seem very uninterested sometimes if I'm out like with my husband and there's people engaging in a lot of small talk, I will be like looking off into the distance. Like, Get me the hell out of here. I just ask the deep probing questions. I don't. Cause you know, I'm not like you. I'm not an extrovert. I'm such an introvert that I won't ask unless the person is giving me that vibe. So I just sit in a corner and, Uh, You know, Go over my grocery list in my head. I always like to make people feel a little uncomfortable. So it's easy for me to do that. That's a great quality. I know it is. That's okay. Oh, I agree. It really is. I think, I don't know if it's Kevin who said he doesn't like to call himself a teacher or maybe John. I do call myself a teacher cause I've been teaching for 29 years. And I think that's a quality as a teacher that I have as an educator where I'm like, Hey, Expand. I'm going to give you that little push. I don't know if Caitlin is still in here, But I pushed Caitlin about something and she described me as pushy one day in a lie. But then she later wrote and was like, Oh, Hey, I'm joking. And I'm like, No, It's fine. I got you. And I said, You were stubborn. And she said you were pushy. I remember. Thanks guys. And there's nothing wrong with being stubborn. I am too. I mean, A lot of the stuff I've accomplished has been because I'm stubborn. So I do consider that to be a good quality. Anyway, Um, Kevin's page, Kevin's patiently waiting. Go on Kevin. No problem. No worries. No worries. Um, First of all, Squirrels on carousel on merry-go-round, Ferris wheels, Whatever. Now that's an image. Um, And yeah, I hadn't mentioned actually that I, What similar to what John had said, I actually didn't say today, But when he said, I don't consider myself a teacher, I could really resonate, Relate to that because I feel we're all just here in this beautiful space and everybody's contributing and everybody's really the, The teacher and the student and everything together. So it's, It's, It's really beautiful that way. And in terms of conversations, This links back with the other question about what drains you, What gives you energy? I would say definitely superficial conversations I find are kind of draining and those deep got to get to know everything about, As Melanie said, You know, Those kinds of conversations they're enriching, Enlivening, I find. So definitely, Those are the kinds of things that, That really kind of inspire me and kind of fuel me in many ways. And that's, If I was to say a hobby, I'm just living, Living is my hobby really. And just going for walks with people, Especially and meeting new people in these kinds of chance encounters or just sort of out there moments where you just find yourself talking to somebody that you've never met before, Never seen before, And may never see again, And really connecting and sharing. For me, That, That gives me such an incredible amount of joy to just really see this other being, This soul and connect, And also to see how effortless it can be. One time I'm, I was in a store and wanting to buy a shirt and this woman was standing there and I asked her a question and she told me the answer. And then we looked at each other and we just started talking. And within a minute, We were having this incredible conversation and we became friends, Just like that. Now, How, You can't make this up. How does that happen? So those are things that I find really incredible. And also, If somebody, I think earlier mentioned, If insight timer can be considered a hobby, Well, It's certainly part of my life. And what I really, Really love is just, Just sitting down here time and time again, And just being with all these beautiful people, And also to have guests to do live sessions with other people. Some of you may know Denzel O'Connell. He and I do live sessions together occasionally when the opportunity is there. And whenever there's an opportunity, I find it's really wonderful to have another person to be talking back and forth with live, In the live, And just really in just living and finding the beauty and the joy in every moment. So that's what I would contribute for hobbies and things. And I play guitar and I go to the gym and I walk and talk lots and love to hear and love to listen as well. Yes, Kevin, You do. I don't always catch your meditations, But they're really beautiful and I love it. And Elizabeth wrote in the chat, Goosebumps, Feeling all of the connections. Kevin is speaking such wisdom. It's perfection. Well, Thank you. Manal. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, That comment, Kevin, And your energy is so beautiful and just so even. I just love it. And the way that you were speaking about all those chance encounters, Almost like manifestation and serendipity. And I don't like us living life focusing on manifestation because you forget the being and the living and the beauty of life. But I love, Like you're saying, Just sort of walking through life and being and allowing and then realizing, Oh, I made that happen. So the other day we were watching, It's a bad word about Kevin. I don't know if you all know about it, Netflix. So it's like, Kevin, Something, Bad word, You or something. I don't know if anybody knows what I'm talking about. They know what I'm talking about. So on that episode, She steps on a dead cockroach and like wipes it off. And it was like really an icky scene. So yesterday when I was in my office, There was a dead, Dried up cockroach and I accidentally stepped on it. And I'm like, I manifested that. That was a terrible example of one. But it was so interesting because I saw that image and it sort of struck with me. And then it happened the next day. And it's just, I love to observe the serendipity in life and things that happen you're aware of and unaware. So I just wanted to play with what you were saying, Kevin, Because it just brought a lot of fun things to what I sort of become aware of as I live my day to day. And no, I don't have a lot of roaches in my house, But I do have the woods behind my house. We'll come to your house for dinner. Oh my goodness. It's already eight o'clock. I cannot believe it. And we usually give you these two an hour, But I have a live at nine. So we're definitely keeping it a little bit shorter. Sorry. Don't you worry. If you have to go, We'll just keep talking. All right. But then you're competing with me on my life. I won't go over two hours. Don't worry. Well, I was going to see if anybody had any questions before we wrapped it up. And if you do to put them in the chat, Also said in the chat, I first discovered Kevin last week and I randomly tuned into his live towards the end where he was singing, Chanting. And I was like, Who is this angel? So cool to get to know you more here, Kevin, Love how you guide meditation and your music. I agree, Kevin, Your energy is very angelic. Yes. And Manal is saying very even key. Yeah. Like I was saying before, I don't, I don't like to talk a lot in that time that we did the zoom and we were talking for two hours. I couldn't believe it. And I think the beauty of all that is that it really happens by itself. It's like the words say themselves. It's not like we're, Sometimes we have to consciously, Of course, Get words together and do things and manifest, Of course, Absolutely. But there's those other times when, If that open, If and when that openness is there to just let, Let the whole of existence speak as it will through you as it, As it is anyway, That's the thing is it's not that it's not, It's somewhere far away, It's already there. And that if the distractions and the coverings and overlays, As I sometimes refer to, Can just somehow lift away, It's amazing, Truly amazing what is already there in everyone. That's so beautiful. And as Elizabeth said, Sincere and genuine. So if anybody has any questions, Drop them in the chat. Otherwise, I would love for everybody in here to share how you can best be supported by people that are watching. Yeah. Like what lives do you have coming up? Any courses, Tracks, Anything at all? Hmm. Nobody wants to be supported in this group. I can start it off. Go for it. I'm just trying to find out how to raise the hand. It always takes me a little bit longer than I want to. Like, How do I do this? So I have a course on Insight Timer called Exploring the Language of Your Heart. And in that course, We really learned some intuitive energy tools to claim our space, To feel grounded and safe. And then we look at different emotions that we as humans often experience. And I don't know about you all, But for me, That has been a really hard thing to learn, To just be with my emotions unconditionally and to allow this beautiful but complex and multi-layered human experience. So I have that course. I have a few more free tracks. And then I do live events a couple of times a month. I'd love for you to check me out, Melissa Bullock. And thank you all so, So much. It was such an amazing gift to be here. Thank you. And I wrote the name of the course in the chat if anybody's interested. Jocelyn? Yeah, I do a bunch of live events. Generally, I try to do like four or five a week at least. And I have like a running creative writing live event where we do prompts. And coming up, I have an EFT event. And between Christmas and New Year's on the 26th and 27th, I'm running a mini soul art journey. But I'm doing an intention event beforehand, The day before, Where we're going to kind of jump into intentions for the new year. And then I'm running an hour-long soul art mini journey. So I'm just I'm so excited to put that out there for people. It's so much wonderful work in that. And I'm actually currently I have a bunch of courses. I have like an automatic writing course. I have a course in grief. And I have a creative writing course and an intention course. But I'm currently recording how to use EFT for yourself, Making it super simple in the moment when you're feeling things. I've been a master EFT practitioner for about 20 years. And it's something I'm putting together on EFT because I do it a lot on the on the lives, But I've been asked to do a course for it. So that should be coming out sometime in the next probably in the next in the beginning of the maybe before the new year. We'll see like it's taken a while for things to get through. But I also have a bunch of courses, A bunch of tracks, Yoga, Nidras and inspirations and guided curiosity. So yeah, I just I love this community. So come join me on a live, You know, Check out my courses or my tracks. And I totally super grateful for all of it. Yeah. Thank you, Allison. Want to ditto. I've got some lives coming up for the remainder of this month. I'm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons. The talks are on Tuesdays and it's all around desire. And I know next week is why are you questioning your desires? We're going to dive into that. And then I do intuitive readings on Thursdays. I also do have a course that's recognize, Activate and engage your intuition, Which is exactly what it says. It's just some people are just not strengthening that intuition to listen to their inner knowing. So that's what that is. And then in beginning in January, I'm going to do another journal series that will be first thing in the morning at 7 a. M. Central Time. And I will do a journal prompt every single morning and I will be live for that. And I've got other things and you can go to my bio and find the link there to all the other things that fun things that I do. So thank you so much. This has been amazing. Thank you, John. So I'm usually live twice a week, Sometimes four times a week, Usually on Tuesdays and Fridays are my regular days. And next week, My lives were since it's a week before Christmas and the holiday season, We're going to be working on the nervous system twice next week because that can really holidays can really. Disregulate our nervous systems even more so, So I do check that out, And I do have some tracks that I released in the last few weeks around the holidays, Some meditation on the holidays to have a joyful holiday and affirmations, And if you not so into the holidays or having a tough time, I have an affirmation track for those who just to navigate the holidays your own way. You don't have to be merry and bright and everything nice, Right all the time. So do check that out. And I'm thinking of planning something because my life falls on Tuesday on Christmas Eve. So I want to do something around joy and love, Which I've not done with energy healing. And then New Year's Eve, I'm thinking about doing either something, A three or four day program. And on New Year's Eve, We're probably going to be since it's the last day of the year working on karma, Clearing the karma from our energy fields. Then the next day, Probably our highest timeline on New Year's Day. And then after that going into the soul, Which has to do with karma, And really working on our soul. So those are a few things that I have not done here yet on Insight Timer. So I'm looking forward to doing that. And if you are ready in the new year to take a deep dive into exploring your life and yourself and really get into your healing journey, I released my first two courses less than two months ago. The first one is called The Path to Self-Love, Healing the Mother Wound. And the second one is The Path to Wholeness, Healing the Father Wound. And there was about 10 day courses. And I take you through the chakras, I'm merging the energy healing with the mother wound and father wound. And I've been navigating a lot of my lives around that to help people find the energy blocks in their system, The trauma that they experience as children to release that. And I take you through the chakras to do that. And it has been resonating with a lot of people, Which I'm so grateful and happy about. So if you ready to take that deep dive in the new year, Consider checking out those courses, You'll see them on my profile. Thank you all so much. And John, Don't forget, You're going to be with us New Year's Eve. Oh, Yes. Four o'clock Eastern. I'm looking forward to that, Too. Yes. Thank you. Kevin. Thanks. Thanks, Melanie. Thanks. Yes, I think probably the best way of supporting myself and all of us here is just coming to our profiles here and seeing what's offered, What's there. I have some song tracks that I've published here in my collection on Insight Timer. So if you wish to come and have a listen and leave a review for myself, For all of anyone, Any track that you listen to for any of the teachers here, That's always really appreciated. And just one little point I wanted to mention that when, If you wish to be notified, I always say this in all my live events, If you wish to be notified of future content or future live events as they're scheduled, It's important to have the notification switched on for the teacher that you're following. Sometimes it's turned off. It's not enough to just click follow that maybe that notification switch needs to be checked to make sure that it's turned on so that you're notified. And then you see, Oh, There's something happening and then go for that. And as far as regular events are concerned for myself, I'm here every week as much as I can be around the weekend. So certainly just to drop in, Say hello, Send a note, Send a message, If you wish, It's always really appreciated. And also, As it happens this weekend, I was mentioning doing sessions with other people. I have two guests as it happens this weekend. So that's published in my profile, In my collection here of upcoming live events. So basically just, Yeah, Just be with us and keep sharing and keep expressing and keep joining and keep just being the wonderful you that you are. That's really the most beautiful way that we, As we support ourselves in whatever way we can and whatever way we perceive is really authentic and genuine and really essential. We're supporting the whole world really because there's no break between me and you and everyone ultimately. And to support that in ourselves, We're automatically supporting it in the whole world. And of course, Also to share with each other and help each other whenever we can, Whenever it's a situation that arises that's relevant and that we can actually really lovingly and expandedly offer into that space. So just keep being the wonderful you and keep showing up, Basically, And just be with us. And it's a beautiful, Beautiful life that we're all able to live and that we are living. So thanks, Everyone. Thank you, Kevin. I want to just point out two things. Jocelyn, Everywhere I go, I hear about these cat headphones, Ear headphones. And Jean just wrote this in the chat. She loves them. And Sherry said something that I actually had an experience with last night. Sherry said after the last update that she had to refollow a lot of teachers. And I saw that last night on a live that all of a sudden 10, Now it's 12 people that already followed me had to refollow me. So for whatever reason, A ton of, I don't know what happened, But make sure that you're following teachers that you want to follow. So, Manal? That's a good point. I noticed a lot of my followers following me again. So I didn't really realize that now I understand what's going on. I just wanted to invite, I wanted to say thank you again to you, Melanie and Violet for bringing us all together. And it's just been so beautiful to just have the collective energy. And I just can't stop smiling. For those of you that come to my lives, You know I laugh the whole time. And I don't know how we get anything through because we're laughing the whole time. I say we, But I'm laughing the whole, I don't know how people put up with it. But today I've been like rinning from ear to ear that really, It hurts. But I just invite everybody to join the lives. We have so much fun. I tend to do them on Tuesdays, But I can flip them throughout the rest of the week. And I've been doing themes. And November, I think we talked about the five steps to surrender, Which is the steps that I have. And in this November, December, It's been about the four bodies and getting to OM. I think next Tuesday is one of the last ones we're talking about OM. And then the new year will be about new year, New you. And there'll be a Workweek four or five or six week series. I've got a couple of courses, Ho'oponopono and the Compassion Series and Meditations and Talks. So just follow, Enjoy, Laugh, Live, Grow, Have fun, Love. It's just an amazing, Amazing, Amazing community. I'm just so happy that we're all here and that I'm part of it. And I just wanted to say, I just wanted to say. Thank you. Anybody else? I don't see anybody else's hand up. OK, Well, I have a live in 45 minutes, So you can hop on there. And my live tonight, I am going to be cooking, But I am hosting a retreat. I host retreats every year. And for those of you that don't know, Insight Timer allowed teachers to share their retreats on here. So mine is on here. So I'm doing it to give you guys a little bit of a taste of what we'll be doing, Which it's very much focused around mindful cooking and eating and about sound journeys. So I'm super excited about that. It's March 28th through 30th. It's two nights. And of course, I usually have lives on Sundays, But I just finished up yesterday the 12 Days of Cookies. So I'm skipping this Sunday. And I am going to return next Sunday. And I'm super excited. Melanie, Where's your live? Or your retreat? Sorry, Not your live. My retreat is in Charlottesville, Virginia, Which is about two hours south of Washington, D. C. I know. I saw the website. Oh, Should I mention you're doing it on my birthday? Yeah. I love that. You can come. It looks like a fabulous place, Too, Where you're having it. Is that yours? That is my friend Allison's farm in Virginia. And I grew up in Virginia. She moved to Virginia when we were in high school. I did a live with her. Some of you guys saw that, And everybody loved it. Because talk about laughing. Two girls who went to high school together who've known each other's secrets their whole lives. It's just the only laughter that's happening there. Violet, What about you? Tell everybody about our New Year's Ask Your Guides. That's going to be. . . Yes. So we're going to do a little New Year's Eve Ask Your Guides. It's going to be 4 p. M. Eastern time. And we're going to be talking about a lot of stuff. I forget now what they were. No. Boundaries, Vision boards, Just a bunch of stuff that you can use. Your toolkit for 2025. So I am really looking forward to that. That's going to be a lot of fun, Because I don't go out on New Year's Eve. It's too crazy out there. So I'd rather be here. All right. Oh, Michelle is asking a question. Melanie, Do you still have. . . Yes, She does have room in her retreat still. And you can find the retreats through your link in your profile, Right? Your teacher's profile on Insight Timer? Yeah, It's a brand new feature. It's a brand new feature on Insight Timer. Yeah. So now if you go to my profile, It is actually the first thing that pops up. And yes, Misty, We are going to do vision boards. I'm sorry. I just saw Misty's comment. Go ahead. No, It's just when you open it now, It says join me. It's very cute. All Insight Timers. It looks beautiful. And the fact that you're going to be cooking and doing all that, It sounds like a lot of work. Okay. It's not. It's a lot of fun. And it's about really. . . No, No. I'm sure it's a lot of fun for everybody who goes. I'm saying for you, Like if I had to do all that, I'd be needing a retreat. I mean, Retreats are a lot of work. Anybody that's ever hosted it knows you're pretty much on 24-7. But it is a lot of fun and people really bond. I'm just going to say this and I'm going to talk about it at nine. But one of the things that people always say to me is, But what if I don't know anybody? And that's actually part of the beauty of coming to a retreat is I have goosebumps as having that experience of bonding with people. And in a way, It's refreshing to come into a space where you know no one because you don't come in with people having preconceived notions about you or any judgment. So it can often be really cathartic. Just saying. And I'll stop talking about my retreat. No, That's fine. I think retreats are amazing. I love them. I've been to retreats. I think they're awesome. Does anybody else. . . Did everybody here talk about what they're doing on Inside Timer? Because I was looking at the chat and I want to make sure nobody got missed. All right. Is there anything anybody else wants to add before we end the live? Now's your chance. Feel free. I don't see any more questions. So with that, I am going to say thank you to everybody who joined us. Thank you to these awesome, Amazing teachers. Please make sure you follow them if you're not already. Or if you are, Follow them again because you might not be. You never know. A little bit of glitching going on with the software, But it'll get there. All right. And we hope to see you New Year's Eve, 4 p. M. Eastern Time. We're going to be doing a whole bunch of getting ready for New Year's, You know, Tools. And that should be a lot of fun. All right. So thank you, Everybody. Bye, Everybody. Thank you. Happy holidays. Safe and happy holidays.