There's a chipmunk right now sitting on the side of my flower pot with something in his hands. Lunch.

There was a bat that died on my front step.

Oh, no.

Monday. Yeah, I found it there. And I mean, I didn't touch with my bare hands or anything. I put it I wrapped it up and threw it away. But it was really cute. I was like, oh, its little face looked like a little tiny bat face. And it was very fuzzy. Furry.

Yeah.

Cute little thing.

They are cute.

I love that.

I think they're cute as well, I learned. And for those of you interested in animals, animal nuts, like we are, merlin Tuttle has an amazing website all about bats. He's dedicated his life I am a contributor to his project. I know, but bats are really necessary pollinators, which I didn't know how important they were as pollinators, because we don't think of them as pollinators. They're also really important for insect population management and other types of things. They're important for a lot of reasons, but what I didn't know is their pups, like their little ones, we think of them as like, oh, there's bats, there's tons of them everywhere, but they actually can't produce very quickly or reproduce, rather. So if bats are in a place that you don't want them, finding a way to safely remove them and put them somewhere else is ideal because it takes them a long time, sort of like elephants, to build up their family. And they're very social. They're just so important to the ecosystem. It's crazy. I mean, everything's important to the ecosystem. So the hierarchy thing isn't really a thing. But I like bats.

I really want to put a bat house yeah. I want to put a bat house in my backyard because they're every evening.

They'Re all over and they're great. They're not going to bother you like, any animal, honestly, any animal is rarely going to bother you unless it is rabid or it is feeling threatened, trapped or something.

Yeah.

This is like small animal stuff. I mean, I certainly would get as far away from a bobcat or a bear or a tiger as possible.

Bears roaming around nearby, too. Bears, yeah, bears terrify me, but they terrify me, too.

They're beautiful. And the cubs are so cute, but they're vicious. You know, a black bear can run 30 miles an hour.

Cool.

And they weigh four to 600 pounds. This is becoming a nature show. We're going to get to it in a minute. But 30 miles an hour, you see a black bear and you think you're going to outrun that thing. Good luck.

Yeah. And you have to know, like, there's different ways, different types of bears you're supposed to react differently to, like, grizzly bear. You don't run, you have to lay dead. Black bears are supposed to make a lot of noise, try and scare them. Yeah. How would I remember that? In the moment, I'd be so dead.

I know. Well, and it depends on what your neurological whatever, like if you're a flight or freeze or fight, sort of. I think I'm more of a freeze. I don't know if that's to give me time to think or what, but I think I'm more of just like a oh, crap.

Yeah, I don't ever want to encounter a bear. When I went to North Carolina, I did all the bear research I possibly could because I was like, we're going to be hiking through the mountains. My friend that lived there was like, they are so afraid of people. I don't care.

Yeah, it's spring.

What if a baby accidentally runs up on me? I don't know. Yeah, the bears. Yeah.

I mean, it can happen rarely.

It's rare or it's much more common to get struck by lightning. I learned it is easy to get.

In our heads about what might happen in nature, which segues nicely into what I wanted to talk about today.

That was a good one.

Well, so the backstory on this exercise, which I hope helps everyone tremendously, as it's helped me really tremendously, and it's helped others I know others I've coached. It's a really simple exercise, something I think would be worthwhile to build into habit of thought and practice. Meaning when you find yourself in your head, this comes to your rescue eventually without having to really try that hard. So most of us are in our heads a lot. We're like, I should do this, I got to do this, blah, blah, blah. We're anxious. We're thinking about the bear that might eat us on the camping trip two weeks from now. That's a head thing. Or like business stuff, like, well, I want to redo my website, and I need to do this, and I should get a download for my email list and accountant fun. And our heads are generally there trying to protect us. I think the head makes things more complicated because it's wired to assess all of the things that are going on in order to make sure that whatever's happening is safe. That's really old wiring. So I had a reading done by someone that I had never worked with before. And during that reading, she asked me the questions that I'm going to ask you in a second, in addition to some other questions. And when I was finished and I was looking through my notes, I noticed the super powerful change in tone that I got from each of my answers because of, I guess you would say, the brain I was answering from.

I don't know. So we have this, like, head, gut, heart. These centers in our body, part of them are related to, like, chakras sometimes it's in medicine. They've now officially decided that the gut is also sort of a working neurological brain. Yes, we have a brain, like a brain brain. But I think that these spaces have their own wisdom. So that's where this came from. Everyone's like, what are you talking about? Okay, if you're listening, do this well along with us on your own, I recommend writing it down because it just is a few sentences you have to jot down. And when you see it on paper, it's pretty insanely powerful. But think of something, Audrey, that you are in your head about a lot. It can be as personal or as businessy as you want to share on the show here and let me know when you're done. And for those of you listening, think of something that you're constantly going over in your head over and over. Lots of loops, lots of anxiety, lots of scenarios, questions to dos shoulds all the crappy stuff.

Okay, the big one lately has been how do I word it? Am I living? I feel like I'm not always living my true life, my true authentic life. We're conditioned a lot. You get kind of really stuck in that conditioning of why should we doing this or should we doing that? But I actually want to be doing this, and I want to be doing that, but how do I get from here to here? And it's a lot. So then it feels like time is going by so fast and I've wasted life and I'm still not doing this and I want to be doing that.

Yeah, the head.

That's my head. Yeah. Feel fun in here.

That's a great one. Well, and so the next step is to ask yourself the same question am I living the most authentic or aligned life? I guess we'll say that. The thing about this exercise that seems so surprising to me is that we hear these things all the time. Like, what does your gut say? But we rarely put them together. So when you ask your gut, which is usually the pragmatic truth aligned, unless you're totally trying to mess with it with your head. Like your gut doesn't lie. Your gut is just a truth center. It's like a checking in with truth. So when you ask your gut that question, what does it say?

It says, am I living my most true life? It says, not really, because I'm too worried about what other people are thinking there you go. Of me and of trying to prove myself to other people and show up a certain way. I'm too stuck in that. And it's not like necessarily, what does the Internet think of me? But maybe more like, what do my parents think of me? What do my neighbors think of me? What does my ex think of me? Just whatever.

And what's interesting is what do people think of me as a head thing but a gut thing? The way I think the gut answers questions is like I'm in my own way, like my head's in my way.

Yeah, that's what it's saying.

So like no, because my head's in my way.

Yeah, I think it's also saying I'm on the right path because I've definitely carved out a life that is leading towards where I want to be, but it's not fully there. And my gut tells me that I just could have it if I just let go of those fears of what others are thinking and try to be a certain way. Just do whatever makes me feel good.

Totally. So gut is, I'm on the right path, but my head's in the way sometimes. For those of you doing this exercise, the gut is like the most distilled version of the answer. It's really just like the truth, because the head will fill in like, well, because I'm worried about what other people think, that's the head and the gut is like, yes, I am on the right path, but my head's in the way a lot. Does that feel right? Yes, the gut will always feel like just this very basic truth. As I've already said it. Okay, last one. And we've heard this in our culture forever, at least Western culture. Like, follow your heart, follow your dreams. What does your heart say? But what's interesting is the heart is the soft, wise brain center of our bodies. And it's the one that is really aligned with, I think, the most powerful thing that we have access to, which is a love energy. So what does your heart say, Audrey?

My heart says that no matter what, I'm going to be loved by all the people that I'm even worried about.

There it is.

And it's a silly worry.

There it is that no matter what, I'm going to be loved. And so it's like if you see these answers and I would love if anyone wants to share their own with us for a future episode, because please send me an email. Am I on the right path? What am I doing? I'm going marrying myself to everybody else, blah, blah, blah. Like the brain answer and then the gut's like, I am on the right path. My brain's in the way sometimes. And then the heart's like, and I will always be loved. If you can use this exercise to people say get out of their heads. But that's so much easier said than done. Like, I need to get out of my head. I need to go sit and meditate. And then people sit down and meditate and all they do is think.

And they think about how they're not meditating. Right. Meditate. Right.

And that's a whole other conversation. But there's plenty of ways to get out of your head, of course. But this, I find, is a path, a very direct path to the truth of the matter. So when you think of the fact that you are on the right path and you have love, doesn't it feel like getting to where you want to be is just so much more open and soft? I have the love. I need. I'm on the right path. It's like you just know that your head is in the way. It's like this distilling down to this. I don't know. How do you feel? I should ask you, how does it feel in your body when you think of it that way or when you hear me say that?

It feels like a deep breath, and it feels like a cool, even stream. It just feels like, oh, okay. And I'm a visual person, so I see the path and I see the head as boulders stopping me along the path. And then when I take the head out, it's kind of like, all right, yeah, the path is clear.

It's such a great exercise. I did this for business recently, and I've been, as I said, working with coaching, using it in coaching. Let's just take it to, like, a superficial just business. Like, should I take the job or something? It's not a big emotional deep it is emotional, but it's not like a super personal thing. It's more of just, like, being in the world. Your head is probably like, well, if I do and then maybe we have to move, or, what if I don't like it? And how much am I going to pay? Your head just does all the things, and your gut's going to be like, this isn't the right opportunity, or this is the right opportunity. Your gut's going to know. Your gut always knows. And if it is the right opportunity, your heart's going to be like, I have the opportunity to meet new people and expand and connect and create. You know what I mean? Like, your heart's going to have this wonderful answer, and I think that's the joy of seeing all three of these together, because you realize the power your head has in everything you do that feels poopy.

Yeah, the head can be super annoying. I call it spiraling. Like, sometimes I just have days. I'm like, oh, my God. Stop.

Yeah.

And I have to just kind of literally physically stop myself and go outside and just change scenery and make it stop.

That comes up in tarot readings a lot. Like, if it's a hose, like, being able to kink the hose and be like, this cannot keep going because it'll just gain momentum and flood your day if you just keep letting it go. So I always tell people when this comes up in readings, if you can find a way to cut this energy stream by taking a nap or taking a shower or doing something you just love for five minutes, like listening to a song you like or getting a cup of coffee or whatever. Just something that pulls you out of the craziness and grounds you a little bit. Because it is momentum. It's like rolling a car down the hill. Oh, we were talking about that momentum. Like the Abraham stuff. Like, you can't go from this was on a previous episode. Yes, you can't go from depressed to joyful instantly because of the momentum. Yeah. And stay there. And there was an amazing analogy in one of the talks, the Abraham talks, but I love this analogy. It's like if your bad thoughts and bad mood and your head going nuts is like a car at the top of a steep hill, and you try to stand in front of that car at the bottom of the hill and stop it, good luck. You're not going to be able to just go from, like, feeling poopy to just feeling great.

You're not going to be able to stop that. So it's either cutting it off before it gains momentum, you might have a shot before it just starts to tip over the hill, or riding it out and trying to just let it ride out its course. And then in the meantime, do something like cook dinner or take a bath or whatever. And then by then, hopefully, it's stopped and you can move on to something else. I love the visual of standing at the bottom of the hill trying to stop the car.

Your hands, like, out like no pat flatten like a pancake.

Not going to stop the car.

Just let it go. Step aside. Let it go.

And one of the things just before we wrap up that this has been helpful for is just the anxiety we have in business. That's all in our heads. Like, when we're worried about how a shoot is going to go, or we're freaking out about something work related or worried about getting more clients or worried about whatever, I mean, we worry about so much in our businesses. So I encourage all of you who are worrying about something in your photo business to try this exercise and in the order of a few sentences about what your head is saying. And then what does your gut say? In as few sentences as possible. And then what is your heart saying? And getting used to listening to those last two, I think, can be life changing, actually.

We are very guilty of keeping our own selves in a prison.

It's bonkers.

Yeah. I feel like this is a way to kind of, like, help you see that the door is actually open. You're in this prison cell with the wide open door. There it is.

It's a great analogy. Well, on that note, let's wrap up.

Go free and force your day and frolic amongst the animals.

I know all is well. Oh, there's so many birds outside my window. It's the best. That's another thing. Just if your head's messing with you, just go sit outside for ten minutes. It'll change your life.

Yeah. Walk around barefoot. Sit in the sun. I have, like, a fallen apart lawn chair. I just put it in the middle of the yard and I sit there in the sun.

Yeah. Nicole and like, don't take your phone.

Just sit just throw it in the garbage.

Yes.

Well, all right.

Thank you for being up for doing that exercise live.

Yes. I didn't cry, so that's good. I could feel a little bit of it, too. It's kind of like this weird release when you get to that heart, like, I'm going to be okay. You kind of feel this like it is cry a little bit kind of feeling.

It's beautiful. I agree. I think that heart piece is really powerful and it really grounds us and reminds you that everything is probably going to be okay if you just listen to whatever that's saying and listen to your gut too. It's always trying to guide you to where you need to be sure is, which is walking out that door of your little mind prison. I like that. Not in front of the car, at the bottom of the hill.

All right.

Thank you, Audrey. I love you and I'll talk to you soon. I love you too.

Bye.

Thank you.