EP59: How To Manifest Limitless Opportunities with Brooke Kekos

This is winning with wellness, a podcast about inspiring the wellness warrior in you. If you are feeling lost or alone in your wellness journey, or are 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 Ryce, 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 another episode of winning with wellness. We are excited to have you here. I am really thrilled to have Brooke Kekos join me Brooke, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me.

So you guys I'm going to share about Brooke and her background and then we're really going to get into a really authentic conversation about life legitimately. So Brooke helps those who feel alone and lost to discover their truth and stand in their personal power using your training as an intuitive life coach, rapid transformational therapist psychotherapist and hypnotherapist having spent 35 years trapped in a religious sect, indoctrination, abuse and trauma were prevalent, raised by a narcissist, okay, I can never pronounce that word but no getting tongue tied, narcissistic abusive father, she got stuck in toxic relationships cycles. This led to her to enter into a marriage for 17 years with a narcissistic abusive man. However, in 2017, Brooke found her personal truth and power and she was able to break free from both the relationship and the religion. Through her loss and trauma. Brooks intuition and her soul's calling was revealed. After 18 years as an esthetician listening to people's stories, she knew that she could do more to serve those suffering and help them on their healing path. She is currently working on her book, a speaker to help others in their own transformation. And the owner of Life Coaching goddess, her passion and purpose is to help others heal from past trauma, toxic relationships, and limiting beliefs that are no longer serving them. I'm so honored to have you here Brooke to share your story. Thank you for being with us.

I appreciate it. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited.

Oh, I'm so excited. Honestly, I have a feeling this is going to be episode one of a few. I don't think we're going to get it all covered today. I would love really if we could just tap into when when I hear your story in that synopsis. You've been through so much. And this show is really about inspiring people into wellness. You've been through your own unique journey. What does wellness mean for you?

Well, gosh, wellness honestly really means for me is complete mindset. Having the capability to have this, this mindset that you're able to come into life. And you have like this gratitude and this appreciation for waking up every day and just being alive and being able to have the gifts that you get every day. Because I think when you come from a place of living in survival mode for so long, you don't really have that wellness mindset, right? Because you're just you're in survival mode. And a lot of us these days have lived that way or are getting out of that space. And I think it's being able to say Oh, I don't need to live that way anymore. I'm able to actually consciously create my day and have a complete shift every day to just wake up feeling no matter what comes my way in that day. It doesn't matter because I'm gonna be able to overcome it.

Well and I love that you share that because mindset. How can can we dig into that? Because like you said, you weren't raised in that environment you weren't raised in so many people don't realize that they have a choice on their mindset. What led you again, I'm sure this needs to be 16 episodes long, but you know, you came from this place, how did what was the catalyst like how did you switch?

So it took me a very long time. 35 years actually 35 years of my life being involved in the religious sect that I was in you have extremely limited beliefs, your your mind controlled, you are controlled you have such a weight you live in such a way that that is all you know and that's all you do and you don't know any different because you're not allowed to expand your mind. You're not allowed to like research things for yourself. You just I was raised This is what we believe. And this is the truth and you don't look outside. Well outside of that you're not allowed to. And if you do, you're gonna have grave consequences. And so that fear was very much instilled in me. And so it was so scary for me. In 2017, obviously, will you read my bio is when I was able to break free from that cult. But when I broke free from that I still had all of those years of that programming, if you will, of those limited beliefs. So it was really scary. Like I like coming into the space, I was like, I don't know if I can do this, this is so scary. I kept kind of wanting to go back into it and say, Oh, maybe I'll just fake it, even though I know it's not true. Maybe I'll just fake it so that I can still have my friends and family because I lost all of them in this journey, right. And so I had to recreate my life literally from the ground up, and just completely do everything all over in a different way. So I think for me, I in 2017 was the beginning of my journey. And then once I realized how much trauma and how much abuse that I had survived in kind of peeling back the layers, if you will, of trying to understand all of those limiting beliefs. It really the catalyst for me was in 2020, and that is when my ex husband passed from drug addiction. And that was what if you will, that was my spiritual awakening. It was me realizing, finding my space in this universe and understanding that there's a higher power and realizing that there is so much more than I realized, because I had lost everything I you know, I kind of chalked it up to oh, there's just nothing and just saying there's just nothing out there. There's no higher power. And then when I that happened, I just I demanded answers. Like I needed the answers. And I realized the way I was living wasn't working for me. And so that's when I completely changed everything. I was like, Okay, I gotta go back to school and I need to help others in a different way. I don't want to see people suffer the way that I suffered.

It, isn't it thank you so much for sharing your rawness. It is a testament to the ability that it doesn't matter where you are, at what age what time in your journey that you have the power to pivot, if you're willing to take the step. I can't imagine how, how fearful that might have felt for you. And I just commend you on your courage and your your courageousness to move forward and now to want to help others. So if you i and there's no doubt in my mind that there's somebody listening that maybe hasn't gone through your exact experience, but is feeling trapped, maybe in a narcissistic relationship or find some self being oppressed in some way. What were some things that you did to prepare yourself or to help yourself as you move through the journey.

So when I started, when I first broke free from everything, I honestly was not helping myself. I was actually, you know, I yeah, I was actually doing the opposite of helping myself, right. Because it's kind of what we do as human beings, we don't want to feel the feelings, we don't want to go through the emotions because we're like, Oh, those are really gross and scary. And I don't want to feel that. So instead, I was suppressing everything. I was stuffing it down. I was like, Oh, I'm gonna be okay. Um, you know, I was distracting myself with anything, I could distract myself, I was literally not able to sit still, if you will. And so it was like, as long as my mind was busy, and I was keeping myself busy, I was distracting myself enough. I didn't have to deal with the emotions. I didn't have to say, Oh, this is actually really what I need to be dealing with at this moment. So I just drowned myself in, in work and taking care of my boys and anything else that could distract me. But once I started to realize that something was not right, I was like this, I can't continue this way. That's kind of what I was like, okay, things need to change, I actually got into a healthy relationship. He was a healthy partner. I was not I was still unhealthy, right? So he kind of actually led me to my own conscious, like awareness to see kind of the patterns and the behaviors that I was doing that was not working for myself, and wasn't going to work for the longevity of our relationship. So that's when I started doing okay, I gotta do some I got to do some inner work here. I need to do some therapy, you know, something like that still kind of get some I did some EMDR I tapped into that a little bit kind of helping me move through some things that had been traumatic in my lifetime. But I still was not. I was still searching like I was still struggling. I had extreme extreme Complex PTSD. So my triggers and I would constantly be taken into the past. So when I would just my mind and body would be in the past and I would be in panic mode. I'd be dissociating I would be like, you know all of the patterns of PTSD and so that living in that state Eat is so traumatic on our bodies and so exhausting and depleting. And I had been there for so long, it was just it was what my body and mind was used to. Right? So it just kept me it kept going back to what was familiar, and I just did the things that were unfamiliar, were scary for me. And I kept thinking, oh, something's gonna go wrong. I kept, like, waiting for the next thing to go wrong, right? And so then that's kind of how I started to say, Okay, I have to figure out something more. I've got to figure this out. And that's when I started to tap into you know, energy healing and understanding the subconscious mind. And you know, and then after, you know, my ex husband died, that's when I was like, Okay, I have to change careers like, because once I had realized what hypnotherapy does, and the power of the subconscious mind, all those things, I was like, I have to show other people how to do this, like, this shouldn't be a secret, like, people leave. Be afraid of hypnotherapy. It's not scary. It's not woowoo. It's like, it's literally the way our mind works. And it shouldn't be something that is hidden from people, it should be everywhere, right? It should be how therapy world works, to be honest, because it is just transforms everyone in so much faster of a time. It's so more powerful than just talking through things because you're just, you're just kind of reprogramming that mind to talk through the same things and have those same thoughts and those same patterns. It's like, we got to change the way that we look at therapy, we just say, no, no, we need to reprogram the mind. So we can get out of that same mindset and get rid of those beliefs.

Because, you know, you said it so beautifully to the reprogramming like we have create neural pathways that are solid, you're talking, you know, and you share this years, from from womb to where you were in 2017 of programming have, you know that pathway is the way you live. So of course, it's difficult, we need all the tools we can possibly get to reroute the path to something that's healthier, and more, you know, more healing. And so when you think about your journey, and where you are today, and I love that, that you share about finding a healthy partner that shares, you know, seeing that, that what healthy looks like that you're like, Ooh, I don't quite measure that it inspired you into action. You know, when you when we think of people that are listening right now, and of course, you know, ourselves, it never hurts for us to have our own reminders. What would you say were a couple of the key things that you would do to help get you on track or keep you moving in that positive healing way. Because it's easy, like you say, to go back to the old habit and suppress and push, and all those kinds of things.

Yeah, when I say that, it was not easy. I say that. So in a way that I can't even express it, the My path was not easy. And for anybody that has ever experienced something like this, where they haven't been, you know, trying to heal, and they keep kind of going back into that same pattern and that same negative thinking, right? Because that negative thinking is really where I lived, like 35 years of my life. So yeah, it was constantly taking me back into the past. And it was so exhausting for me, I had to fight my way through it, like I you know, just think of like somebody that's like in the trenches, like you're fighting your way through it, because you're realizing, you have to just keep taking yourself back to that awareness to say, no, no, that's my past talking. And then you kind of have to just make sure that you're making that distinction, right? Because every time that that was things would happen. And those things would pop up for me, I would feel it in my body and I'd be sick and I would have all these emotions and these feelings and it would take me back but I have to say no, it's okay. I'm safe. Everything is okay. That's the past is the present. And I always told myself, listen, I can't live in the past, because that's where depression and sadness is in the future is where anxiety lives, I have to be present. If that was the biggest thing that I learned in my journey was presence of me just being in that now moment. Because every time that my mind would just shift me back into the past, that's where I was like, panicking and I was freaking out and I was gone. You know, I was feeling that fear. All that fear coming back up, I had to realize no, I have to stay in this present moment in meditation was what I say saved me and so so many ways. Meditation helped me really restructure my mind. So not only was I doing the hypnotherapy and reprogramming and stuff but it was allowing my mind to be still right it hasn't been instilled in so long I was gonna say

when your your amygdala when you're, you know, you're literally probably in fight flight or freeze all the time. That is like a hyper Yeah, Uh, oh my gosh, you must have been,

Oh, I was I was I'm an all the time I was in the all the time. And I was always looking for the next thing to go wrong. And that's something to happen to me someone to hurt me something that you know something bad to happen in with those thoughts I, you know, when I finally was able to say, oh, I can be still. And I can think all of these other things, it's it took time, right? I think a lot of people think, Oh, it's just gonna happen instantly, I'm gonna start, I'm gonna start thinking the thoughts. And it's just gonna happen, right? Like a lot of people do that with manifestation, right? They're like, if I just say these affirmations, it's going to work? And I'm like, no, no, no, you're skipping, you're skipping all of the other work, you're going from A to Z, and you forgot everything in between, right? Because you got to do the inner work. And you have to do all of the programming and get out the limited beliefs before you can skip ahead and start really co creating and making your life what you want to make it and it was the same thing for me, it was like I had to be still in that moment. And realize, every time I just had to keep making that conscious awareness of saying, hey, this, this is how I'm going to actually create my life and I have to fight through this, I have to fight through it and not. Because at times your mind can make you feel like you're just going a little bit crazy. Because it's you're going from the past and future and you're trying to stay present. You know, you're juggling so many things. And you're feeling so many emotions and having to work through all of those emotions that have been stored in your body for so long. There were times where I couldn't even get out of bed. Because I hadn't dealt with my emotions. And so there would be just days of crying and feeling absolute despair. And then the next day, I'd be like, Oh, I released all of that crap. And now I'm ready to go back at it. Yeah, let's go on rallying. Let's go. I was like that, let's do this, you know. So that's kind of just the way it worked for me.

Well, and I love that you highlight the fact that you said it more than once throughout our conversation so far today, you physically could feel it. And I think many of us forget that our body tells us what we already know. It tells us and it's the cue. So listening, like do I feel good? Is it making me feel sad? Do I feel nauseous? And in listening to those cues, so that we can ask ourselves? Is this is this serving me? Is this accurate? Is this is this my truth at this point in my life, because I am going to hazard to guess. And this is when I talk to my clients as well, as I'm sure you experienced, at some point, some of those habits that you have saved your life legitimately. So in the time, they were very valuable skills to have and habits to have. But are they true for you today? And I think, you know, you highlight that so beautifully. I appreciate you sharing that. And what's interesting, and I would love to just kind of tap into this a little bit you shared. You know, there were times I wanted to go back because it was an easier thing to do and just fake it. Right? Because doing the works hard. And yeah, right. It's hard work. And, and it's can be lonely, and all the things. So sometimes, it doesn't mean you know, and I encourage people that are listening, it doesn't mean you're weak, and it doesn't mean that you're not capable. It just means you're having a moment of determining, you know, you're going to make it through this. Just trust that one, one foot in front of the other action. I love that you said that A to Z, we got to do the letters in the middle people.

Thank people, you know, you forget you forget, you know, we want to skip over the hard stuff. Right? Yeah. You know, and that's a lot of time where it was for me it was like, that's why when I was going, you know, I thought oh, gosh, would be easier if I just went back into this way. And it's a lot of times where I would learn I would self sabotage all the time. I mean, I can't even tell you how many how many times I've tried to break up with my, my current boyfriend that has been my rock and is amazing in this healthy partner that we have this beautiful relationship. But I would self sabotage it right? Because I was like, Oh, I'm gonna go back into the old patterns. I might my I just I wanted to go back into that space and be like, I can't let my guard down. Because I don't feel safe. Right. And so each time you know, thankfully, he's like, the most patient man that was just sent just straight for me. But it was like a he helped me learn that Hey, it's okay. You know, you're just as a safe place. And so finding that was really a gift for me for sure. But it's also in teaching yourself that you know, it's okay, you are safe and don't allow yourself to keep going back into that space. But it's you know, it's a fight. It's a fight you have to be ready to take if you really really want to move past those things and and actually live free. I can't even tell you that the freedom that I have have now of being able to know and believe what I want to believe and create what I want to create. And that knows nothing or Nobody is stopping me or telling me what or what I should believe, right? Because for so many years, I was programmed, you know, the same, and the same way to believe what I was supposed to believe. And then that freedom came around and I was like, Oh, I finally get to actually create my life and find out what I actually believe. And I'm and I was 35 years old when I started doing that. And I was like, This is crazy. I feel like a little kid. I'm doing this now. Wow, there's so much stuff to learn in this place. Yeah, it was it was amazing.

Well, I appreciate you sharing your courage and your you know, just to like literally a scratching of the surface of your story. We're our time is coming to a close Mark, is there anything you wish that I had asked you that I haven't that you want to make sure before we close out that the audience knows.

I think that I just like to always tell people that you know, if they're on this healing journey, be patient, give them their selves, so much compassion, and love, because I know it's not easy. But the other side is, is so beautiful. So just

worth it A.

Exactly, yeah, it some days are just not going to feel like it. And some days you're going to want to give up but just to keep going.

I love it. And you guys, those of you that are listening, Brooke has so generously offered to provide you guys a complimentary intuitive coaching session. So take her up on it. This one has been through, you know, she's walking proof of her expertise. So please take her up on that. We'll make sure that her contact informations in the show notes. You can also find her at your holistic Earth just search her up in the directory she's easy to find. So Brooke, I can't thank you enough for sharing your story with us and being so raw and honest with your experience because it's not always easy to share our own personal story. So thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. All right, you wellness warriors dig in it, you've heard it straight from Brooke's mouth, there is no Fast Pass. You need to step in and do the work and it's so rewarding. So we encourage you to find your pathway. Step into it. Join us we're here to support you.