When the clock strikes sixty, some might think of winding down, but not Susan. Her story of triumph as an incest survivor and a late-blooming author who published her first book at 60 is a beacon of hope for anyone thinking it's too late to reinvent themselves. In a deeply touching conversation on the Lift One Self podcast, Susan lets us into her world, sharing the pivotal role of meditation in her healing and the courage it takes to live fully in the present. Her resilience shines a light on the strength we all can find within ourselves, and the beauty of setting boundaries that honor our journey.
Trauma, a shadow that many of us carry, often whispers that we are alone, but through the power of storytelling, we find shared ground. I recount the path that led me from the world of hospitality to the vulnerability of the written word, where I tackled the difficult subject of incest in my novel. Our chat unravels the layers of healing, acknowledging the non-linear path and the necessity of professional help. At 66, Susan reflects on her personal growth, describing life as a "spiritual roller coaster," and offers sage advice on steering clear of toxic positivity, reminding us that spirituality is not about ignoring the dark but finding light within it.
We close this episode with the reminder that in our darkest times, reaching out for support and embracing self-love are acts of bravery. We discuss the unexpected comfort found in self-hugs, the release of oxytocin, and the protective embrace we can give ourselves. Susan Glennie, our guest and guide, lays out the path for those seeking solace and strength, and we discuss the importance of sharing resources like her books to aid others on their healing journeys. Join us as we share insights that may not only transform your life but could be the lifeline someone you know desperately needs.
Remember, the strongest thing you can do for yourself is to ask for help. Please help us grow by subscribing to and sharing the Lift OneSelf podcast with others. The podcast intends to dissolve the stigmas around Mental Health and create healing spaces. I appreciate you, the listener, for tuning in and my guest for sharing.
Remember, the strongest thing you can do for yourself is to ask for help. Please help us grow by subscribing to and sharing the Lift OneSelf podcast with others. The podcast intends to dissolve the stigmas around Mental Health and create healing spaces. I appreciate you, the listener, for tuning in and my guest for sharing.
When the clock strikes sixty, some might think of winding down, but not Susan. Her story of triumph as an incest survivor and a late-blooming author who published her first book at 60 is a beacon of hope for anyone thinking it's too late to reinvent themselves. In a deeply touching conversation on the Lift One Self podcast, Susan lets us into her world, sharing the pivotal role of meditation in her healing and the courage it takes to live fully in the present. Her resilience shines a light on the strength we all can find within ourselves, and the beauty of setting boundaries that honor our journey.
Trauma, a shadow that many of us carry, often whispers that we are alone, but through the power of storytelling, we find shared ground. I recount the path that led me from the world of hospitality to the vulnerability of the written word, where I tackled the difficult subject of incest in my novel. Our chat unravels the layers of healing, acknowledging the non-linear path and the necessity of professional help. At 66, Susan reflects on her personal growth, describing life as a "spiritual roller coaster," and offers sage advice on steering clear of toxic positivity, reminding us that spirituality is not about ignoring the dark but finding light within it.
We close this episode with the reminder that in our darkest times, reaching out for support and embracing self-love are acts of bravery. We discuss the unexpected comfort found in self-hugs, the release of oxytocin, and the protective embrace we can give ourselves. Susan Glennie, our guest and guide, lays out the path for those seeking solace and strength, and we discuss the importance of sharing resources like her books to aid others on their healing journeys. Join us as we share insights that may not only transform your life but could be the lifeline someone you know desperately needs.
Remember, the strongest thing you can do for yourself is to ask for help. Please help us grow by subscribing to and sharing the Lift OneSelf podcast with others. The podcast intends to dissolve the stigmas around Mental Health and create healing spaces. I appreciate you, the listener, for tuning in and my guest for sharing.
Remember, the strongest thing you can do for yourself is to ask for help. Please help us grow by subscribing to and sharing the Lift OneSelf podcast with others. The podcast intends to dissolve the stigmas around Mental Health and create healing spaces. I appreciate you, the listener, for tuning in and my guest for sharing.
It's nice meeting you. Thank you, same with you. I really appreciate when I listen to your podcast. Thank you, thank you. I do ask that anything with my personal family is off limits. I just have to put that out there in terms of it's about me and my story and I leave my siblings and other people out of it.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, yeah, of course, of course. Yeah, my space is one about safety and security, so there's, at times, people, because of the energy and the space that I hold, people feel very safe to talk, and so there's things that they speak and then, after they're like I don't want that on the podcast, I'm like no problem, it's like it was a healing for you to be able to speak about it, and this podcast isn't about. Of course I want numbers, of course I want awareness. Yet the first thing that's a priority of this podcast is safety and healing.
Speaker 1:
Yet the first thing that's a priority of this podcast is safety and healing. I truly appreciate that. It's just interesting how I have to sometimes say it, because I never assume anything in this world, so that's why I said that. But again, so I'm very grateful.
Speaker 2:
Ready to rock and roll. Yeah, you know that's that boundary work. And again, cya cover your own ass that nothing is just assumed it's. I'm making it clear how I want to be treated and what is going to be discussed, so there's no invisible um interpretations or stuff. So I really appreciate that Reminder too of the boundary work.
Speaker 1:
Thank, you Took me about 50 years to say that, but I got it out.
Speaker 2:
And you're teaching.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, you can teach a senior dog. You know, it's like you can't teach a dog old dog tricks. Yeah, yeah, well, you know, I'm proof that you can old tricks.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, yeah, well, you know I'm proof that you can. Welcome to the lift oneself podcast, where we break mental health stigmas through conversations. I'm your host, nat nat, and we dive into topics about trauma and how it impacts the nervous system. Yet we don't just leave you there. We share insights and tools of self-care, meditation and growth that help you be curious about your own biology. Your presence matters. Please like and subscribe to our podcast. Help our community grow. Let's get into this. Oh, and please remember to be kind to yourself. Welcome to the Lift One Self podcast, susan. I'm so thankful you're here with me.
Speaker 1:
I'm so, so thankful to be here with you. Natalie, too, Thank you.
Speaker 2:
Will you join me in a meditation so we can sink our hearts and drop into the now?
Speaker 1:
I'd love to Thanks.
Speaker 2:
I'm going to ask the listeners that if you are driving or running I know you've heard this in many of the podcasts please do not close your eyes. We want you to be safe while keeping others safe. Yet the other prompts that I'm going to bring us through you're able to follow that no matter what you're doing in activity. So, Susan, I'll ask you to close your eyes and get comfortable and you're going to begin breathing in and out through your nose and you're going to bring your awareness to watching your breath go in and out through your nose. Don't try to control your breath, Just observe it, allowing you to observe your biology.
Speaker 2:
What's going on inside? There may be sensations or feelings that may be coming up in the body. You're safe to feel them. You're safe to let go. You're safe to let go. Surrender the need to control, release the need to resist and just be. Be with your breath, drop into your body, Keep your awareness on your breath, still staying with your breath at your own time and at your own pace. You're going to gently open your eyes, while still staying with your breath. How is your heart doing?
Speaker 1:
It's very calm. My throat's opened up and I'm thankful for that.
Speaker 2:
Can you let the listeners know who Susan is?
Speaker 1:
Susan? That's a good question. I'm a New Englander, I love the Four Seasons and I'm also kind of an urban chick. I've lived in big cities such as Washington DC and Boston and Minneapolis, so part of me is really much of an urban chick. But as I've gotten older, sometimes cities are too overstimulating for me. So I need the country and I need to be around. When I say country, I just mean like a plot of green. So I'm also let's see who's Susan. I'm a beginning pickleball player.
Speaker 1:
I'm great at things like eating ice cream every day of the year, and I've been on a spiritual path for about two or three decades and I try to really kind of live in the moment as much as I can each day. And I'm a late bloomer and I just published my first book at around age 60, and now I'm on my third one and it just got released. It's called the Bow Tie. So for those out there that say, oh, I can't do it, I'm too old or I need to go back to school, you're never, ever, ever too old. You can always do it and it just takes a step-by-step process for anything. Whatever you want to do in life, just do it, break it down step by step, and I'm proof At age 60, I published my first book. So if I can do it, you can do it.
Speaker 2:
Thank you for that inspiration and that motivation for myself and the listeners to always remind ourselves that if you can see it, it's possible. Yes, can you let us know what that spiritual journey has been for two decades?
Speaker 1:
Well, when I was younger um, you know, I'm an incest survivor and it came out later in life mid, late, late 30s and I had horrid flashbacks and things like that, and at that time there was never any help. There wasn't really any help. It was you just kept it quiet, you didn't tell anybody, you just locked it in, and that's what I did. And then it kept coming out more and more and there was really no place to turn to. I kind of went on my own journey within and I healed a lot of myself that way through reading like Thich Nhat Hanh or you know, a lot of spiritual books or Gandhi, and I did a really lot of meditation and prayer work. I did a really lot of meditation and prayer work. That was a great release, but it still wasn't quite enough. What I did is my heart kept pounding. I worked a lot in hospitality, doing things like being a bridal attendant and from there to being a dishwasher and doing all sorts of things in the food industry. I also was a writer on the side. Then I eventually got paid as a freelancer and my heart kept pounding and it kept saying you've got to write these stories. And I ignored it and to the point where the heart just would not. You know, you've got to stop writing at the newspaper and you've got to start writing these stories. And so I did. And what I did is when I wrote the stories, they were sugar-coated, they were like a Hallmark version, and I gave them to an editor and the editor said they're just not, they're flat, something's missing. And that meant that I had to go back and I did a lot of research on the subject of incest, in the perpetrators, on the whole dynamics, and it was very hard for me. It was very hard to sleep at night because, you know, a lot of stuff came back personally, but I got through it and I redid the book from the beginning.
Speaker 1:
This is my first book. Moments of time is 16, and I redid it and I made it so that there's situations that you know will be uncomfortable for some readers. And I did it. I wrote, you know, a. It's fiction, but there are elements of Moments in Time with 16 Men that are reflective of my life. And then what I did is I got this idea to write of one of the characters in the book and I'm not going to tell you which one, and it's a spinoff. It's called the Bowtie, and I dug deeper this time again, deeper into the whole dynamics of what happens and the steps involved of healing. And it was.
Speaker 1:
The protagonist is a lovely girl, her name is jennifer grace donnelly and she's an award-winning teacher. She has to abruptly stop her teaching life mid-career because her past has come to haunt her and she's got to piece all the pieces together and she hits rock bottom. But then she climbs herself up and in her version, she does get help and she makes it. And so, with trauma you know, most of us have all of us really have had trauma of some sort, but there's trauma. And then there's some trauma that's really more severe, with a capital T.
Speaker 1:
What you do with it, it's ultimately your decision that you've got to first of all accept what happened and acknowledge it and then, little by little, take the action steps of, you know, get a professional and sometimes a professional isn't always going to work. You've got to shop around. It's not a one size fits all, it's not a one-size-fits-all, it's not what the latest TikTok says, and it's bit by bit. But it is so worth it on the other side because you really get to know yourself and you get to realize how fabulous you really are. I mean, we are all children of God. We are all. We have that element in us and that's what you want to tap into.
Speaker 1:
You want to return to your heart. It's always about returning to your heart. Your heart never lies. I could say it does lie. Let's say you're in a very romantic situation and your girlfriends are going crazy. That's, you know, that's kind of that romantic love, but generally speaking, your heart never lies. It didn't lie to me. It said you've got to keep writing, you've got to write this book, and it kept pounding. So it's really your journey and it starts with baby steps. And that's what I did. I did with the bow tie.
Speaker 2:
And it's something actually I'm really grateful for doing, because it was a healing process for me, as well as Jennifer, with yourself, because you really dived into those wounds, into hearing other people's stories that reactivated your own stories, navigating through the way that you interpreted things and then surrendering those definitions and changing those definitions and really coming back to the love within yourself.
Speaker 1:
Yet that was warrior work it was it was really like going open heart surgery, you know, emotionally, uh right, yes, and it the thing is, um, I just turned 65, oh, sorry, 66, um, about a week ago, and I really feel like I am on like another level. You know, I'm really going upward and there's times where I'm really going to mess up and I'm okay with that. But before I was like, oh my God, you know, once I'm spiritual, everything's going to fall into place. And you know, it's like, oh my God, that's the other thing is that sort of toxic positivity of spirituality. It's like I just can't do that.
Speaker 1:
You know, I'd sort of like I did go through a little bit of a phase and I thought, god, this isn't working. You know, it's like uh-uh, life is hard and it's going to throw you a lot of curve balls and you may strike out, but you got to get back. You know, you got to get back on the field, you know, and so that's what I did is I'm, you know you, constantly it's okay to hit down, slow down. It may take a week or month, you might have to slow, but you eventually got to get back and we're all going to make mistakes and we're going to learn, but that's where we learn on. I'm still evolving. I'm really kind of excited because I don't know what's going to happen in 5 to 10 years. I'm kind of really excited. But I'm. Life is a roller coaster. It's up and down and to me I could just made it up. It's a spiritual roller coaster.
Speaker 2:
It really is. It's a good description of it, and I'm thankful that you brought out the language too, that of the toxic positivity, and sometimes that spirituality makes it seem like, oh well, everything will be figured out, whatever life challenges, you're not to feel anything, everything will be blissful or peaceful, and it's like to be human is traumatic. You may have faced the childhood trauma, yet life is impermanent, so it's going to wrestle and tussle on beliefs and emotions and feelings, and I was there too at one point where there's a part where, yeah, you could use your mind to only guard yourself, to see a certain way, yet you're not allowing yourself to be experiencing the human experience.
Speaker 1:
It's just this spirituality.
Speaker 2:
And then where is the relatability with other people? Where is the vertical of depth of feeling and being in the living?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, my feeling is that people who I see like one of the most spiritual people I know is a dishwasher and she doesn't preach about it. You have to watch her and listen to her. She's amazing and to me it's always. A lot of the spiritual people I know are kind of regular, everyday people and they don't shout their spirituality, they walk it quietly and that's what I aspire to do. You know, um, because people always, oh, you know how do you do that? And it said it's. I just said like, um, how do you become spiritual? Well, you know what? It starts with the breath. That's what I say. If you want to really connect with yourself, you start with the breath.
Speaker 1:
And and in my book, the Moments in Time, with 16 Men and with the bow tie, what I have is Jennifer and her toolkit that she has and you learn what works for her. And then I also have a parallel character. She is the owner of the card shop where Jennifer works and Jennifer has kind of a flashback breakdown and the owner goes back. She doesn't know what's happened to Jennifer White. And then Jennifer, she closes the shop, she goes back and she talks to Jennifer and then Jennifer realizes that Alicia had the same experience with her stepfather, so Alicia is really like a guardian angel for her. And what's very interesting, though, is I purposely had it that what Alicia does for healing is very different than Jennifer. So I do that to show how people have to realize what works for them may not work for another person. Like jennifer was not able to get a massage, she didn't want anybody to touch her, whereas elise just says, oh, it works for me. And another thing was like jennifer did running, or she made um, origami, like this I don't know if you origami swans, she wrote her forgiveness work on that. So. And Alicia did gardening. So, again, it's this contrast that I show on purpose that makes it so that, as an individual, when you have situations that are hard in life and you want to heal, you know you can pick and choose.
Speaker 1:
And also, too, is what works 20 years ago, like for me, may not work now. So you've got to constantly like, tweak it. It's like tuning up a car. You know, if you go and your car service wants you, you've got to kind of tweak your tools, and you know I've the breath. Work constantly works for me, and that's what I, you know, like when, the beginning when we did it, that really was just very grounding. And I let people know is you can do breath work anywhere you know you can do in the elevator, you don't have to order from Amazon, you don't have to make an appointment and it's just three breaths and what it does is it slows you down. But the thing is people say, oh, I'm too busy to do the three breaths and that's what it's most.
Speaker 1:
Yes, so it's sort of like you've got to stop, pause and be aware when you're at the height of your emotions, to try to do the three breaths or as soon as you can. So it's that awareness that is really the pivotal key to changing your life is to be aware of the monkey chatter, to be aware of those ego thoughts and to say, oh, that's what they are. And it's sort of like they say I've heard this analogy. It's sort of like if you're watching a movie and you're sitting in this seat, you can look at it. All your ego thoughts are on the screen, but you can be detached from them. So that's the whole. Hope is to.
Speaker 1:
The ego is always going to be there, there, it's always going to try to be in demand and try to take the driver's seat and your god self. It's like a, it's almost. You know it's a up well, you know it's up and down. It's a fight, a battle between the two. It will god not so much, but the ego, and it's sort of like that's, it's a, it's dance and I've got to just decide who's going to be in charge. And definitely the ego is sometimes. But then I try to be aware of it and sort of just let it pacify it. You know, I kind of pacify it and not fight it, just sort of accept that. That's there. Those are some nasty thoughts and I don't need them. And it softens the ego and so you're not fighting, because when you fight with the ego it just escalates and it takes over your life.
Speaker 2:
As I saw it in my own life. The ego for me is the nervous system and its defense mechanisms. And until you start engaging with your biology, you're not even aware that you are wearing this suit of clothing. This identity and these defense mechanisms are, and it's a blessing to have these defense mechanisms. All they're doing is trying to protect you Like their main.
Speaker 2:
The main focus of the nervous system don't die, and at times the pain is so much that you want to cut off the feeling because you've suppressed your, your emotions, you've suppressed being connected to your worth, to your love, to vulnerability, and that in itself is very painful and a lot of suffering. So, really, and if you fight your defense mechanisms, you will never be able to override your biology. It's being able to work with it, being able to understand. Okay, my nervous system is activated. And, like you said, you know everybody says that they're too busy to meditate or catch their breath and it's like, well, you don't do this when you're busy. It's like you don't go learning how to swim when you're panicking, drowning. You learn step by step when you are in a calm state, so that when you're in these big hypervigilant states or triggered states, that hopefully your awareness is stretched enough that wait, there's a tool to get me out of this.
Speaker 2:
There's a tool to take me off the ledge. There's a tool that can open up the expansion Yet it's doing it consistently which can feel very mundane and wonder oh, what's the point? Yet when you, all of a sudden are in these elevated states and you can access that breath, you're like that's why I've been doing this all this time. And you're able to respond to a situation rather than the reaction, or you're able to create a space. You may not have the response yet, yet you created that space and it's, you know, a process and and it's really having that compassion. I understand that we are in a microwave society, or prime amazon, prime um, the next day, or even this day, of wanting something to just and make it all go away, and that's not what the inner work is, that's not what spirituality is.
Speaker 1:
Right. No, it's an ongoing process and it's almost the antithesis of sort of the Amazon mode like order it and get it in five minutes. It's a process. Amazon mode like order it and get it in five minutes, it's, it's, it's a process and particularly in American society it's instant gratification, is like boy, it's still prominent and you've got to realize that spirituality is almost the opposite of that. It's, it's a, it's, it's a, it's a relearning. It's a step-by-step relearning and realigning with your neurological system and your thoughts. Really, in the beginning it's more like a tune-up, and then it's a rewiring and then it's a whole different makeup.
Speaker 1:
I've noticed in the last few years that, you know, I think with COVID I just like, oh my God, I'm either going to.
Speaker 1:
You know, which is so overwhelming. I had so many situations going on with my mom and dying and just a really lot that I thought, oh my God, I've got to, either. You know, I don't know what I'm going to do. So I had to really really address this. I don't know what I'm going to do, so I had to really really address this and I was getting so stressed out, so overwhelmed, that I had to almost start over again in my spirituality, and now I've just sort of rewired myself so that I I guess the big secret is I compartmentalize, I do things in increments and I don't get so overwhelmed and that's a really good tool for me, but I used to get much more overwhelmed and that's what I'd really like for people to just take life not so much like the hamster on the hamster wheel. You know, really less is more and really just start with a breath and slowly learn about it. And when you learn about it then you can incorporate it into your life Exactly.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, my friend always reminded me at the beginning when because I almost died 10 years ago, so that's what really pushed me into the sea of spirituality and understanding the nervous system and she used to always tell me how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time? Yeah, I know you want to eat this whole big elephant and get over it, yet it is impossible to eat an elephant in one sitting. You eat it with one bite at a time and you have to chunk it down for yourself. Yet when you're impulsive and hypervigilant, it's like go, go, go, just rush and get it done, and if I get to this place, all will be okay. But you get to that place and all is not okay. It's still more and more and more and it's never ending, where it's like wait, drop into the now, not into a place that you think will bring safety. Be that safety within yourself.
Speaker 1:
Right, exactly. The journey back into the body and one of the tools, if I could. There was a quote that I want to read or passage in my book. This is the book I don't know, this is also. It's called the Bowtie and it's really cool.
Speaker 1:
Thank you. And also, too, it was featured in Reesdy, which is a indie publishing. They don't do publishing as such, but they get you to that point of publishing in England and it got Best Women's Fiction in their last newsletter. So I'm really excited because that really means a lot to me and I've gotten consistently five-star reviews. People have said that it's really moved them, and so I'm very grateful because my goal is to really empower women so that they can really take a step to do some work to heal themselves. I'm going to read you a passage, and one of the tools that Jennifer does is forgiveness work, and that's always whereas Alicia, the car shop owner, could not forgive her stepfather, but Jennifer can. So again, I'm showing you the contrast, and this is a passage. Okay, so I'm going to read it. It was golden hour as Jennifer back in. This is Portland Maine.
Speaker 1:
Back in Portland Maine, parked her car near a grassy spot, overlooking the Atlantic. She spread out her favorite blue blanket and opened her craft box. Inside were dozens of origami swans she made from her unmailed forgiveness letters that she'd written to her father, uncle and mother. There was also one paper boat in which she placed the bow tie. The tide was going out.
Speaker 1:
As she walked down to the ocean with her box of swans, she stood knee-deep in the water and gazed out at the brilliant blue horizon. She thought about what a peaceful evening it was and she felt grateful. She thought about how far she'd come and how thankful she was to be alive. Gazing down at her box of paper swans, she remembered the day now, years in the past, when she'd made them with her students, telling the kids never to forget how much they mattered. At last she was learning to listen to herself. Tears spilled down Jennifer's face as she dropped the birds in the water, one by one. The boat containing the bowtie followed. Last she gave it a little push. Jennifer watched her pain transformed into art, float toward the horizon, taking a deep, shuddering breath, she inhaled the salty ocean air and her face broke involuntarily into a smile, a real smile full of joy and peace for no one but herself in the vast open ocean. So that's Jennifer and forgiveness.
Speaker 2:
Thank you for that. Thank you for sharing that. What a beautiful gift of alchemy you have provided to people. You've taken the impurities and you've transferred them into gold and not only kept it for yourself. You're sharing it for others so that they can have that alchemy in their own life.
Speaker 1:
One thing, too, is this has been an international effort. My books, for example. I have the audio book and it was someone in Vancouver Islands reading the audio book. The cover is done by someone in South Africa and I worked with her on that, and then the editing was done by someone by England, and then one of the guys who originally started with my webpage lives in Brooklyn. So, oh, and I have others, but you know, it's kind of an international effort, so I'm just like kind of it's kind of cool.
Speaker 2:
So yeah, it is.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
And it's and that's a big thing to you know trauma. What it does to a lot of people is it makes it difficult to receive and trust. Yeah, and so you really stepping in and doing that warrior work and collaborating with all different parts of the world to allow yourself to feel soft and belonging here and connecting with so many different types of cultures and personalities.
Speaker 1:
Warrior work. Well, the other thing is that a percentage of my books sold each book sold goes to the New Horizons Domestic Violence Services in Middlesex County, connecticut. So each year I give them money because that's important to empower other women and get them some help.
Speaker 2:
Thank you. You know God, universal law, whatever name you call your higher spirit, when you surrender you really are blown away by things and you know doing the podcast is having guests like you make it so worth doing the podcast, having conversations and you know, being infected and affected by your energy to allow me that, when there's times that are challenging, to be inspired by your energy to get up and still show up. Thank you so much, natalie. Yeah, this is very touching to me because it's very close to home. Are you able to talk a little bit about how you've navigated through that? The shame.
Speaker 1:
I think what it is is it's worthiness for me. You know, I had a lot of shame, a lot of guilt, I felt disgusting, I felt gross, I felt dirty at times in my life and little by little, as I did spiritual work, I just kind of shifted and I think the big key for me was feeling worthy. That's in the last 10 to 15 years Again, as we evolve as individuals. I think when I was first starting out, maybe my late 40s, my body felt disgusting, but then as I evolved and learned, it was more growing into my own element, my heart, self. And so now you know, I do a lot of prayer work. I mean I still work very hard. I do a lot of prayer work, I do a lot of healing for myself and the world as much as I can, but I never really talk about it, but I do, you know, gratitude work and I think now it's feeling worthy. Feeling worthy, feeling loved and that I am loving.
Speaker 1:
And you know, the other big thing was feeling supported. For years I never felt supported. It was just me in the world and it was a battle and I never felt supported. It was just me in the world and it was a battle and I never felt supported because I couldn't talk to anybody about this. Um, and it's just in the last five years. Uh, my back, for example, last year, really was in pain and I knew it was emotional and it was to the point where it's like I don't know what I'm gonna do and I just went back and back and dug and dug and it was because I didn't feel supported, you know, and it really it was a metaphysical thing and I I do believe in a lot of things and I mean it was really bad and I'm in good shape.
Speaker 1:
You know, I work, I work out. It was not a physical and so I had to again. I spent a month, I had to really do a lot more healing and forgiveness work. So that's why I say it's an ongoing process and in five years you think you're doing well and then, boom, something may hit and you've got to address it. But see, one of the big things is feeling supported. And now and I sometimes have a hard time remembering the word support, what is it? And then I adjust it. I am fully supported by the universe. That's the big thing, that I'm loved and I love myself in the universe. How's my back?
Speaker 2:
Thank you for that. If there is a listener listening in that is going through their journey of any sexual trauma or incest, or trauma in that sense, what are words that you would want to leave them?
Speaker 1:
with. I would say find one person that you really trust, Just one. It's sort of like it takes one person that can really damage you. It takes one person that can love and trust you, One person to talk about the situation and make sure that it's confidential. And then two is seek some support of a hotline or help and get a professional person and make sure it's a good fit. Even when someone's really vulnerable, it's very hard. It's like you go to the emergency and it's really hard to kind of speak and vote and you don't know the doctors or nurses. Make sure it's a good fit and get help and really surround yourself with nurturing people and try, if you can, to get away from that situation as soon as you can. That isn't always the case, but as soon as you can get away. So I would say in a nutshell is A is acknowledge the situation and don't deny it.
Speaker 1:
Acknowledge that this is what happened. Two is talk to someone. It could be a grandmother, it could be a neighbor, it could be someone that you really trust. Three is seek on there's a lot of hotlines out there now Seek professional help and make sure that that person's really the professional person's really going to help you and be patient. It's going to take a while. Just be patient with yourself and really love yourself and give yourself a hug. It's really important to give yourself a hug I forget that To give yourself a hug.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, release that oxytocin for yourself. We need human touch and at least you know, um, especially when you've had sexual trauma, as you said, with the characters one person could get massages, another one couldn't get massages. That human touch feels very threatening if it's from someone else, because you don't know what their intentions are or if they're going to put you in a vulnerable state to harm you after. Yet you know your own touch and we forget to access that to remind ourselves you can feel your touch and hug yourself and feel that love and that sense of being wanted, and a surrender too.
Speaker 1:
And that sense of being wanted and a surrender too. Yes, yeah, and I just sort of started doing that, you know, like a few years ago, because I would never give myself a hug, and it's like why not, exactly?
Speaker 2:
I know the listeners are wanting to know where can I find this woman's information, so could you let them know how they can get in touch with you.
Speaker 1:
Sure, I'd love to Natalie. You can go to susanglenniecom forward slash newsletter and you can go to Amazon and my name is Susan Glennie G-L-E-N-N-E-Y and you can get one of my three books, or you can get two of them, them, or you can get all three, whatever you like, and there's audio, and then there's paperback and there's Kindle and it would really mean a lot if you purchased my book. I'd really love that and I think some of you out there would really help you with your journey.
Speaker 2:
I already have a person in mind that I'm going to send the book to and I'm also going to purchase it. Also, and for the listeners, please leave reviews. It really matters and all of her information will be in the show notes so that it's very clickable and easy, since, you know, it can be a struggle for people to do research and find out stuff. So I'm going to make it as easy as possible, because I want you to be fully supported and be encouraged that the work that you're doing makes such a difference in this world, susan. It's greatly appreciated.
Speaker 1:
I'm so thankful for you saying that. It makes me feel that it was worthwhile doing the book. When I hear people like you, you know, giving me the um support. See that again, that's the keyword support.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, yeah, thank you, dear please remember to be kind to yourself.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely.
Speaker 2:
Oh, are you willing to share what the intention was that you had in the meditation?
Speaker 1:
My intention was to it sounds a little corny, but it's. My intention was is that we are all God's children and to be really loving to everybody, and that that's what we need in the world to just be present in love that wasn't corny thank you at all.
Speaker 2:
It's very deep. It's very, very deep, very deep. Um, I want to bring you into a reflective question. Sure, I want to ask you to bring this awareness right now and to go back to your 18-year-old self. And you have three words to tell your 18-year-old self to bring you to the journey to now. What would those words be? What?
Speaker 1:
would those words be? You are so much more than what happened to you. Do not be a victim of what happened to you. You are so much more. You are a loving child of God and nothing can change that.
Speaker 2:
Beautiful, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being you, susan. Hey, you made it all the way here. I appreciate you and your time. If you found value in this conversation, please share it out. If there was somebody that popped into your mind, take action and share it out with them. It possibly may not be them that will benefit. It's that they know somebody that will benefit from listening to this conversation. So please take action and share out the podcast. You can find us on social media on Facebook, instagram and TikTok under Lift One Self, and if you want to inquire about the work that I do and the services that I provide to people, come over on my website, come into a discovery call LiftOneSelfcom. Until next time, please remember to be kind and gentle with yourself. You matter.
