scientific ways to overcome anxiety + reclaim your life
THE PULSE: Well That Went Fast...
How is it the last day of January 2023?! We're not quite sure, but here we are! We're rooting you on as we enter February. There's so much more to discover + experience as we journey on!
ASTRO ENERGY FOR THE WEEK
You most likely felt the momentum in your life pickup towards the end of this month...and astrologically speaking that forward movement will continue in February (rather than all of the backwards movement in 2022).
This week there's a Full Moon on Sunday, February 5 that's really about owning who you are and stepping into the fullness of YOU, while also embracing the power of your support system around you. While it's all about shining light upon yourself, it reminded me (Robyn) of a mantra that I live by...Everyday Sequins. Keep reading!
EVERYDAY SEQUINS
I used to have a thing for literally wearing sequins on a pretty regular basis. When we all used to go into offices on a daily basis, you could probably catch me wearing sequins at least once a week. While I've dulled down my daily attire and now reserve sequins for special occasions, I keep that idea of shining + sparkling within every single day. I realized that for me wearing sequins, reminded me that not only could I shine, but I could help others shine as well. It became much more than clothing to me. Now I'm able to do that without literally needing to wear the sequins. Everyday Sequins -- it is a mantra, motto and theme in my life. I choose to shine bright and I help others shine as well. My hope for you this week is that you start to adopt Everyday Sequins in your life. This is super cheesy, but I'll say it anyway...don't let anybody dull your shine!
OPRAH DAILY: FIND THE FREQUENCY OF YOUR SOUL
I had the honor and pleasure of sharing my love for sound baths with my former Oprah world. If you haven’t tried a sound bath, I have a few reasons you might want to.
GETTING DEEP
We had no idea that a science-backed online fitness and coaching studio for women who are experiencing stress and anxiety exists. Now we do, and we want you to know too! Meet Kendall Carriere of The Deep Center in this week's podcast.
Getting Deep: Scientific Ways to Overcome Anxiety + Reclaim Your Life
Plus, Support Facing A Diagnosis
It'll come as no surprise to our fellow Seekers that meeting Kendall Carriere came as what can only be described as the universe saying, “you must meet!!” In a stream of synchronicities, we ended up on a zoom call and a soul connection was unlocked!
Kendall is a cancer survivor, anxiety and cancer coach, and the founder of The Deep Center,which is an online wellness studio for busy and multi-passionate women who struggle with anxiety. Kendall created The Deep Center to help you reclaim your power through meditation and aligned connection. Whether or not you've been on the cancer journey, have identified yourself as an overachiever or perfectionist, or if you deal with feelings of anxiety or of not being good enough, Kendall has tools for you.
Her infectious energy and scientifically backed protocols are a gift to us all.
Here are a few highlights from this week’s podcast:
Robyn + Karen: Kendall, your inspiring journey had our jaws on the floor. Tell us about the life-changing events that lead you to create The Deep Center.
Kendall Carriere: I'm sure we've all heard the expression “scratching your own itch?” Well, that's really where The Deep Center came from. For years I've been into wellness in some capacity, between being a nutrition coach and fitness instructor, teaching Yoga and Pilates. I found myself at the beginning of the pandemic with a breast cancer diagnosis. And then, just 10 days after that diagnosis, I had to close my fitness studios due to the pandemic.
We all had our own personal crisis during the lockdown, but I had this “Am I gonna die and be bankrupt at the same time?” moment. Just 10 days earlier, the skies were blue and this pandemic was just in the distance. And suddenly, I was locked down with crippling anxiety.
R+K: Talk about the Universe knocking on your door and giving you no other choice but to “walk the walk” with your fear! How did you cope?
Kendall: I'd always said that I had what I called “resting anxiety.” It was the perfectionist part of it, the overachiever, the not feeling good enough. And being high strung was always looping in the background. But then when I had this personal life crisis on top of it, it became absolutely unmanageable. And so I started to look for resources to really guide me to the other side of breast cancer.
One in eight women get breast cancer. It impacts both genders. It's the most diagnosed cancer. Because of that, I thought resources must be really detailed from people who have actually gone through it. People who could offer “how to's” at every stage of the process from their own experience. And yet I really couldn't find any. What I found was either very medical or not very applicable. And definitely not very chic. It didn't feel cool.
And then I got this ping in a meditation… this is what you need to do, you need to help other women just like you. And so I sold my studios and I launched The Deep Center.
R+K: Wow! So tell us about some The Deep Center offerings that have evolved from your personal experience with anxiety.
Kendall: I knew I wanted to create some sort of anxiety online wellbeing studio. When I was working with women going through cancer it all came back to trying to mitigate that anxiety.
The Deep Center offers a studio component that has mindful and wellbeing resources that you can log into just like Peloton and classes that you can stream on demand. For example, there are guided meditations and guided “tapping” to rehab your body. There's a class on body posturing, so that you don't start rolling your shoulders back and that you can confidently stay on your own two feet without discomfort. There are classes for neuropathy and lymphedema, the things that could potentially come after your cancer treatment. So, there’s any sort of resource that a woman might need if she's not doing a great job of handling anxiety on her own or she's navigating breast cancer.
I also recently launched a course called the Daily Health Accelerator to help women stop worrying about cancer coming back. Meaning, we can't guarantee anything, but there are things that you can do to get control of anxiety, feelings of isolation, reclaiming your physical power, and detoxing what you can in your life. Getting you those important tools in your toolbox so, at least you can control what you can control. And then I do individual coaching as well.
R+K: It sounds like these are tools that all of us can use!
Kendall: The Deep Center really is for everyone. And the majority of my clients I work with now are not women who've gone through breast cancer. They are what I like to call “recovering perfectionists.” They were just like me before breast cancer. Perfectionism and people-pleasing and, workaholism and rigidity and, it's like I see them. You don't have to go through this. You can decide now that you're worth it to invest in yourself, take the time for yourself. It doesn't take a lot of time, but you have to know the tools that you can implement. And now I feel like my mission has gotten bigger.
I'm tearing up right now because I know a lot of people do not consider their cancer journey the best thing that's ever happened to them. But in my case my path got really clear. I realized all the little stuff that we think about does not matter at all. And it's given me a purpose that I don't know that I would've found if I didn't get that diagnosis. From a relationship with the Universe and the relationship with my family and friends, everything has been richer because I had this near death experience.
R+K: Kendall, thank you so much for being so brave and taking action with what you've been given. We know you are here for an important reason and it's an honor to share you and The Deep Center with everyone!
You can find out more about Kendall Carriere at The Deep Center. You can also follow Kendall @thedeepcenter on Instagram + The Deep Center on Facebook.
SECRET POWER: The 3-Minute Morning Practice We Can All Do
Kendall helped us understand the power we all have to manage our everyday anxious life moments. Try incorporating her simple ways to reduce anxiety + to start every day off with intention and clarity. Notice + Pause: The easiest thing to do is to practice mindfulness, which is just feeling exactly what you're feeling at the time you're feeling it. If you can take time throughout the day to notice that you'll start to lower your anxiety. Here’s a simple exercise for that:
Notice - Feel into your body right where it is. So it's noticing your hands on your desk. In that one second of noticing – you're noticing your hands on your desk, or noticing yourself breathing, or sipping your drink when you’re sipping it, you are in that mindful moment.
Pause - Pausing when you notice causes your breath to slow down and it causes your body to shift into a parasympathetic state. So your nervous system starts to basically reduce in your body instantly.
The 3 Minute Morning Practice: Carve out time in the morning for routines. Starting your day off well is really the best thing that I have seen in both myself and my clients. Again, really easy steps:
Get Up Early - The house is still quiet, and it gives you time just for you. It may take some time to get used to getting up before everyone else, but Kendall says it’s worth it! Quiet time allows you to shift into a state of healing. Breathe in the peace and let the anxiety come down.
Set Your Tone - Before you get out of bed, ask yourself, “who do I want to be today?” Not what do you want to do, but who do you want to be?
Pick One Thing - Once you’re clear about who you want to be, then ask yourself, “what do I want to do today?” If I did this “one thing” today, it would make it a meaningful day. Not that whole pile, not that whole list, just one thing.
Pick a Practice You Enjoy - It's really about doing what you like to do during that morning time. So if you like to read, if you like to journal, if you like to meditate, do that.
Asking yourself two powerful questions before you start your day is enough to shift your energy and to re-shift your nervous system which can have a full-day impact.
Thanks Kendall! For even more of these great “how to’s” to detox and destress your life, check out Kendall’s Anxiety University membership community which teaches about going deep on some of these techniques and provides practical tools for dealing with anxiety in real life.
THE WEEKLY DOWNLOAD: Let Your Inner Truth Guide You
This week’s download for all of us appropriately loops us back to the power of the upcoming Full Moon on Sunday. As we said at the beginning of this newsletter, tapping into our truest selves is all about stepping into the fullness of who we are and owning it! As you will see in both of our messages...it is about being authentic in our questions. It’s also about leaning into the energy of our own frequency and trusting that everything you feel is on purpose and is guided by the inner truth of your heart.
ROBYN'S DOWNLOAD
There is a current, like electricity. It is a frequency. What does the current you are currently on feel like? How does it make you feel? Do you feel you are on the right current for yourself or do you desire to be moving or feeling differently? Do you trust the feeling? How does it sit with your soul?
We ask these questions to help you start really thinking about how you are vibrating right this very moment. What are you putting out in the world? What is the vibe? The beat of your own energy. You have to take responsibility for your own energy. Once you do this then you can start to examine how you are showing up in this world.
You are attracting whatever you are emitting. If you desire to attract something different than you need to change your frequency. You need to dig deep and recognize what you are putting out. Are you confident? Are you unsure of what you want? Clarity does not always appear to come easily. Let’s start simplifying that. What is it you desire? What will it take for you to get that? What are you currently doing that is not helping you move closer to it? What energy needs to shift? You must look within in order to change — this is not something to blame on others.
Let us first ask you if you love yourself. Do you love yourself? if your answer is a quick “No,” then you know that is where you need to start. You must first learn to answer that question with an undeniable, “YES!” so that you can get on the frequency of love. That frequency will help you start to attract all that you desire. For every person, what they desire will be extremely different and unique all unto themselves. In order to get there you must first start with the frequency of love. First love for yourself, then love for others, our planet and beyond. We must operate from that place.
This week pay attention to your frequency. Begin to fine tune it so that you can attract what you most desire.
We are sending you love now and always.
KAREN'S DOWNLOAD
“What if everything we have ever believed is wrong?”
Sometimes, this can be the place where my download questions begin. As I sit and tap into my “higher being-ness…”and call in my soul team, I admit to them sometimes that I doubt. That I am uncertain. That I feel like after all of my studying, conversations and experiences that I can get off track and get lost in the void of unknowing.
Does this happen to you too?
As a lifelong soul seeker, a proactive diver into the deep questions of the whyness of purpose, I am also often humbled by admitting that I don’t know. That as I turn over questions in my head about life and death and beingness, that the answers don’t always make sense.
And then, only and precisely then, the most annoying thing of all happens.
My soul team applauds.
That place, they say, is called the precipice of possibility, the re-learning and sometimes the un-learning. It is the place we get to really dig in to try to understand the truth of ourselves…and not of the truth from our world.
Here is what I received for this week's:
Admitting uncertainty is the first step towards true awakening. It “clears the decks” and “levels the playing field” (to use your expressions). It helps you “see the forest through the trees.”(another) It is the place where all beginnings and endings start.
It is like a conscious re-birth that comes with questioning through every day and through every lifetime.
It is expressly the reason why you are here.
You came into the world especially for the uncertainty. It is where the true immersion into your life experience offers you the chance to experience this variety - this contrast - which creates preferences.
It’s like when you go shopping and try on multiple outfits in your favorite store. You sample different colors, textures, accessories. You feel the shape of the cut - the tactical feel, the comfort or disapproval - you look in the mirror and make a judgment on how the appearance makes you FEEL.
Birth is the beginning of every belief. It is an unfolding of experience that evolves and changes. And it is ok to not be sure, to question AND to change your mind.
That is the beauty of an ever-evolving, ever questioning and ever conscious life. Always use the barometer of your heart to guide you.
It was once very wisely said, that true understanding is to “Have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing.” This is not an expression. It is truth.
A belief is just a thought you keep thinking. Live knowing that you always have all of the real answers -- they live always and authentically in your heart, not in your head.
SEEKING CENTER PODCAST SCHEDULE
DECEMBER 20: Coping with Loss: Messages of Hope + A Reading with the Other Side
JANUARY 10: Taking the WooWoo out of Wellness + Getting Your Life Back on Track
JANUARY 17: Your Witchy Bestie's Guide to Help You Create Your Own Magic
JANUARY 24: What You Need to Know About Embodiment in 2023 (Plus, Toxic Positivity + Living Multi-Dimensionally)
JANUARY 31:Getting Deep: Scientific Ways to Overcome Anxiety + Reclaim Your Life
Plus, Support Facing A Diagnosis
WE WANT TO BE FRIENDS
We want to hear from you.
Are you at a crossroads in your life? Are you seeking guidance? What do you want to hear about? What practices have you tried? Do you have a healer or practitioner or spiritual modality that we need to know about?
Email us: connect@seekingcenter.app
And follow us on instagram at @seekingcenterrobyn and @seekingcenterofficial.