EP37: The Power of YOUR Presence with Lesley Evans

This is winning with wellness, a podcast about inspiring the wellness warrior in you. If you're feeling lost or alone in your wellness journey, or looking for new ideas and inspiration, you are in the right place, a place you can learn about all things wellness, in business life and living your host Jenny rice, we'll be bringing you inspiring stories and practical tools to improve your overall wellness, personally and professionally. Imagine what living a life of wellness would be like. Thank you for joining us today. Welcome everyone to a another episode of winning with wellness. I am blessed to be here with Lesley Evans. I am so excited to have you, Lesley, thank you for joining us.

Oh, thank you for inviting me. This is awesome. I am so

thrilled to introduce you formally. And then I cannot wait to get into the conversation. So for you guys listening, I want you to know about Leslie Leslie is an international best selling author of defunct yourself. I mean, come on, guys, the title says it all. She worked as a traditional therapist before she sought training in alternative therapies and discovered she was highly intuitive. She has developed a perfect blend of modern and magical therapies to empower the overwhelmed by teach teaching them how to shed their guilt, find your passion and live an inspired life. Well, who doesn't want all of that action in one lump sum? I know I do.

Welcome, thank you, thank you, I'm so happy to be here,

I would love to if you're open is kind of tap into because it's it's been amazing through my own personal journey of wellness connecting with people that really started their their foundation in what would be traditionalized therapies. So you know, you shared that you in like a therapist in the traditional sense. And you've tapped into this incredible gift that you have of your intuition and you've been blended to the two, can you kind of do a recap for the group that's listening and who's listening, what that journey look like,

oh, there's, you know, honestly, for me that there's a whole bunch of little journeys for I think, just for everybody, we have all of these little journeys along the way. And, and and mine really just started with that. The checklist, the checklist of everything that I thought I was supposed to have in life, you know, you go to college, graduate, married my college sweetheart, buy your house, get a job in public health and, you know, have beautiful babies and, and so I did all that. And as I was living that life that I thought I want it. I just gave so much to everyone else around me, you know, primary sports, my mom as well. And I just started to lose myself in that process. And, and it really started to change when I had this conversation with my my daughter who was then 16 having troubles with a boy which you know, what other? What are the conversations are you going to have? And really, during that conversation, as I gave her advice, I realized how much I was showing my girls that you know, we were supposed to sacrifice ourselves for the happiness of everyone around us. And I had a good little sit down with myself and I got quiet. And I thought this is not what I want my girls to learn. I don't want them to learn this piece, that everything is about self sacrifice. And so I made a lot of changes. In that time and and my husband and I have 21 years separated, we knew what we were doing was not good for any of us. And so started life anew. And you think that's where everything changed, right? Like I said, it's always a series of journeys, isn't it? And you know, like any change in life it gets, it's not always easy, even when you know it's the right thing to do. I can remember driving to work one day, I can tell you what happened, but I drove home at lunch for lunch and went back to work. And something else was thrown at me and I can remember saying I got to get through this last three and a quarter hours. Take a deep breath go inside. I did my work as a therapist. And at the end of the shift, I couldn't find my keys. There were nowhere and so I thought well you know what? So I might as well see if my car is out there. Not only was it out there, but I'd left it running for that three and a quarter hours, I just want to walk out of my vehicle and left it running. And as I sat in the car, I turned it off. And I looked, and I just remember putting my head on the steering wheel and thinking, Oh, my goodness. And as I looked up, I realized I had pushed myself until I was as empty as my now empty gas tank. And I had nothing, I had nothing and, and so I had nothing left to keep going and keep giving everybody so I went home, again, had that quiet, sit down with myself. And what I really realized is, although all the steps in therapy are really important, and they're really good to get you going those small, simple steps, what's missing from that piece? Is your purpose and your passion, like, why am I taking these steps? You know, why do I want to feel better? Or why do I want to and all of that was missing from that piece of yeah, you take these steps, and this will make you feel better. And then you do this, and this make you feel better. And it was at that point, when I was working on that for myself that I started to really hone in on my own intuition and my own purpose and passion. And really, they work so well together, blend. So well, this kind of traditional tools and steps to get going along with just knowing what your purpose and your passion are in life and really connecting to that. And so yeah, that's where that really changed for me was in those moments.

And I love that you bring forward the value and importance of and it's interesting for those that have listened to all the episodes, there's a theme, there's a theme that shows up right mindsets, big one, but understanding our purpose and our wide for the decisions that we make. And why are we doing and deep rooted not superficial stuff, right? Like the deep rooted? Why are you making this change? Or why are you stepping into this new way of being, because that helps us anchor it that helps us make it a lifestyle versus you know, just a quick fix?

Well, and that's exactly it. Because if you don't really know why you want to feel better, then it's really hard to continue those steps because it's not easy moving forward, when you've been stuck, or when you're feeling depressed or anxious, it's not easy to take those steps. And so it makes it even more important to really just, you know, be quiet with yourself and figure that purpose and that passion out for yourself to give you the the hope and and to just be able to take that step on days when it's really hard to

know, because I would agree, I think the why. And the purpose is the driver when it gets tough. Because, you know, and I think there's an illusion out there that going through the stages and going through through doing the work doing the internal work is like oh, I've decided to do the internal work. And it's like, it's so easy. That's there, there's an illusion there is there are times where it's really difficult when you can tap into the purpose of your why it will help you push through the you know, if it's too superficial, it's like, Man, I don't really care that do I care that much? I don't know.

I really need to take this next really good step toward my wellness. No, because

there's work involved. Oh my gosh, you guys that are listening. I wish we could tell you that there was like a quick fix, or, you know, the latest and greatest app or the you know, it's all about alignment, doing the work the work, you got to do the work. And when I say work, I don't want it to sound daunting. But you got to take action in it when you agree, Leslie?

Yes. And and and I'm so glad that you said it in that way. Because the work sounds so overwhelming, you know. And for me, it's really, really important that you know that yes, the work is there. And you can take it in small steps. So it's not overwhelming. The work doesn't have to seem so big. It's there and you'll get through it. Small steps, small, simple steps, and you'll get there. But you're right. It has some moments in it that you really wonder if you really want to kind of dig those. Dig into those things and that's when it's so important for that purpose and that wide to really hone in on that. Yeah.

I like to refer to where the rubber meets the road, right? It's like it's in those moments, I have a choice. And I'm going to choose to stay in action and moving down the path or I'm going to revert back. And you know, sometimes reverting back is what you need to do. But generally speaking, you know, we're going for this topic in this conversation in this moment, we're talking about action moving forward. So doesn't mean you haven't done well, if you if you were revert back, we all fall backwards, you know, yes, what you get up and you move forward again.

Well, here's and this is one thing that I make really clear in my book is that you can change at any time. So if you've gone so far on your journey, and you're ready to just take a moment or take a break, or, you know, if you notice, oh, I'm kind of doing those things that I used to do, it's okay, give yourself some grace. And you can choose at any moment to get back on taking those steps. Again, it doesn't mean that you've not, you're not doing well, just like you said, just take a moment. And then when you're ready, take the next step again,

when you think of wellness overall, because part of the passion around this podcast is inspiring people to redefine what wellness means for them. You know, I meet with my clients, I work with them determining, you know, redefine what success means for you, because we've given this we've been given this stamp of historical understanding of what success looks like, but what does it actually mean for you, and when we talk about the podcast, and the the mission behind this, it's, again, helping people redefine what wellness means to them, what does wellness mean to you?

Whole, you know, that is quite a question. And, and for me, wellness is about all of it, it for me and my life in knowing that I am living purpose filled, then I'm living my purpose. And I'm taking those small steps toward that, and feeling good about it. You know, feeling good and passionate about those things that I'm doing. But that's such a small part of wellness, there's so it's, it's really, there's so much feeling good physically, feeling good in my head, but feeling good spiritually, I think often gets missed in that piece. But it's all of it put together. And and I can tell you, I know when I'm taking better care of myself and when I'm not. And it's also being in alignment, alignment with who you are as a, you know, who you are as a person, and who you are as a as a soul in you know, being in alignment with that. So, I think really, wellness just has all of that put together. And, and it's different at any given time and your journey, I think, you know, you you look at wellness at one point, you know, when I think about when, just before I got married, my wellness was all about taking care of, you know, my physical self, and you know, making sure all of that was, and that was great. But what I wasn't doing as much was working on the inner stuff. And and so it has to be all of that together, all of it.

I love it. You know? I'm very curious, because we're going to have people listening right now, and I totally can relate with, you know, where they might be on this journey is like, how do you recommend that people get started tapping into this? You know, it's I know, it's a big broad question. But if there's some, some resources or tools or something that you like to do when you're, you know, or when you're working with a client, like how do you get people to kind of center in because there's a lot of people out there right now that are going like, I don't even know who I am. I don't know what my purpose is.

Right? No, it seems so big. It seems sometimes. And you know what it really isn't. It's, I think we keep looking at our purpose being out there somewhere. And it's this big thing. And if it's not a big thing, that's not really our purpose. And our purpose is really inside and it's when we're quiet when we start really being quiet and just feeling that but you know, I love to talk about mindfulness genuine about presence and being in your presence. And how important is that? So I would say the first steps that I would take especially feeling overwhelmed or down is to start being more present. And when I say that, that, for me, all that means is in the things you're already doing, it's not in the beginning, it's not adding an extra thing to your day, I highly recommend that when you're ready for it. Of course, you're not quite ready for that. It's about taking the time you're already using, and fitting pockets of presence or mindfulness in there. So like I've taught, you'll hear me talk about this and other places. Do you walk? How many of us walk out there? It is a bit of a trick question. We all walk, you know?

And I know the question so I can answer.

You know, we all walk or we all move depending on you know, and we all move from one spot to the other, whether it's the table to the kitchen, or from your bedroom to your bathroom or from your car to your appointment, we we all have those what I call transition steps. So it gets us from one place to the next. And it's a wonderful time to just settle down, settle down your mind and be quiet because often we find those times or when are when we're thinking about all the things we need to do in a day. And when we get to where we're going next, we're frazzled.

Mm hmm.

And so I have a little bit of a challenge for everybody just to take those moments, to really just focus on the process of walking, how your muscles move, how you're, you know, how your body balances, how you know the breeze, how it feels when you walk fast versus walking slowly, just really hone into all of those senses of that act of getting from one place to the next. So that when you get to that next place, your mind is clearer rather than in this whole chaos.

Oh my goodness, I was it definitely took me to places in my time in my life that yeah, I feel you were just a small pockets of being present in exactly what you're doing in the exact same moment can change your whole experience of your day can change the whole outlook of your day. Otherwise, you're frantic all the time.

Absolutely. And it's just your 15 seconds from going from here today. There are 30 seconds I'm not talking that you have to take a longer time. I'm just talking in those little pockets that you already have. Just slow it slow your mind down.

I love that I think about that. You know and this is a great example I think about how many times I'm cooking dinner which is where I love to pour my love into for my family. How many times I'm multitasking in that in that field you know I've got my computer I'm just finishing this last email oh I'm so attaining this. I'm just doing it. It's like

how does that go for you?

It's funny because I know you're all about the not multitasking. I actually am a huge advocate for one thought one mind like one task. So I actually I do think of you when I when I do this because it makes me laugh or something Leslie be like hey, how effective but I don't like it actually in truth. I don't enjoy it. I'm not I don't function as well. The food is good, but it doesn't have my love infused in it because I'm not actually intentional. When I'm cooking. I'm like oh god I chop the vegetables and throw them in the pan. It's not like, oh, I want them to look nice and I you know I literally pour my love into my food when I'm focused so

well and then at peace How was sitting down for supper after you'd been everywhere just before supper probably weren't as present at supper, either.

Usually the first three or four spoonfuls are like an inhale. And then I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa,

girl, you need to slow down. And that's a whole other level.

It's like, no, no years in order to help your digestion and your you know, your biome and all that stuff. Go to your food. So yeah, it's interesting. It's, I love it, you highlight that because those small pockets of awareness actually change your trajectory for the day. It's really powerful.

It is so powerful and you're not doing anything extra. You're not adding anything extra to your day. You're using what you're already doing, just to settle that down.

So did everybody hear that you don't have to add more to it more, more, more, more, just shift what you're currently doing into a new way So you can experience it. And then if you love it, which I'm pretty sure you will, you'll start putting it into, you know, bigger action. So you know, Leslie, we're getting close to the end of our time here. I can't believe how fast time goes when you're having such great conversations. Tell me, is there anything that you would love to make sure that the audience knows or hears? Is there a question I should have asked that, you know, I forgot to ask, tell me, what would you like to

see, you know, and I said this already, but I think it's really important to hear it again, that it's the small changes, then don't, don't expect it all to you know, that you're going to go from, you know, feeling overwhelmed or down or chaos to suddenly everything being all together. Like it doesn't happen like that. Give yourself grace, give yourself grace, take those small, small steps, I'm all about taking small steps, small, consistent steps will get you there every time. And always give yourself grace, when you don't take the steps like you wanted to. It's all of that.

And love that grace is important. It's so important to be kind to ourselves. As we move through life, right? We need to become our own best friend. It's kind of important.

It, it's it's very important. We all we all need to understand that we are all learning. Yeah. We're all learning in this journey. And it's okay, if we don't get it right all the time. In fact, that's part of the journey.

Well, and I think, you know, you bring up a really important point. We are unique individuals. So our journey is unique to us, it's very different from somebody else's, and we might falter or change our pathway or do different things differently than the person beside us. That doesn't mean we're doing it better or worse. We're doing it our way. And I think that's, you know, thank you for bringing that forward. So let's say I want to share with everybody you've graciously offered, and this will be available you guys in the show notes. So if you again, are not in a position to write it down, don't worry. You've offered a 20 minute complimentary session for an Akashic Record reading. For anybody that would be willing or interested in partaking in that can you explain a really quickly what an Akashic Record reading is so that people have an idea of what to expect when they book time with you? Absolutely.

So the Akasha is the quickest way I can explain it. The Akashic records are where we find your, your, the book of your soul. So where where your souls journey is recorded. And so when you meet with me for one of these, I will access your Akashic records. And in that, we get insights for you on what's important for you to know at this time, in your journey to move forward. So that's a that's about as quick of an explanation that I can do, but it's a it's just an amazing insight. And that that you can use to put into life now, to be able to take those steps forward in your journey.

And I have to just say, I've had an Akashic Record reading. And it's pretty amazing when you get to find out what your past souls journey can support you in the current one, it's a it's an amazing tool. So Leslie, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom, obviously, this beautiful gift with whoever wants to step in and take action on so thank you so much for your generosity. I appreciate you being here and sharing your passion and all wellness.

Thank you. It has been my absolute pleasure and honor.