Awaken Self-Love After Trauma with Leri Smith

Jennifer Norman:
Hello beautiful humans. Welcome to The Human Beauty Movement Podcast, your source for hope, healing, happiness and humanity. My name is Jennifer Norman. I'm the founder of The Human Beauty Movement and your host. This podcast is here to guide you on your journey of self love, empowerment, soul alignment and joy. With each episode, I invite beautiful humans from all corners of the globe to join me for open conversations about their life lessons and the important work that they are doing to help heal humankind. Take a moment now to subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss an episode. I'm so glad you're here, joining me for today's show.

Jennifer Norman:
If you've ever experienced trauma, then you know how it can leave deep scars that can affect almost every aspect of your life. But within each of us lies the potential to transform these wounds into sources of strength and growth. This episode will reveal how radical self love and self acceptance can be the keys to unlocking a life of joy and resilience, even after experiencing profound challenges. My guest today is Leri Smith, the visionary owner of Innergy Awareness. Leri is a metaphysical minister, a teacher, artist, energy healer and life coach. Through her work, she empowers individuals to transform their stress, anxiety and negative thinking, guiding them towards embracing limitless possibilities and creating a vibrant, authentic life they truly love. With a unique blend of meditation, spirituality, psychology and personal growth, Leri helps people step into their transcendent selves and embrace a future filled with boundless opportunities.

Jennifer Norman:
On today's show, we will be focusing on self love and self acceptance after trauma. Leri will share insights on how these powerful concepts can help you heal and transform negative experiences into opportunities for positive growth. We'll explore principles that support this journey and you'll hear inspiring personal stories of how radical self love and self acceptance have led to profound healing and joy. By tuning in, you'll gain valuable insights on how self love and self acceptance contribute to healing from trauma, Practical steps to begin cultivating self love and acceptance, the role of self expression and mindfulness in healing, and how to maintain self love during challenging times. So if you're seeking a way to move past trauma and embrace a life of joy and fulfillment, this episode is for you. So now, without further ado, I'd like to welcome Leri Smith to the show. Welcome, Leri.

Leri Smith:
Thank you. I'm glad to be here.

Jennifer Norman:
I would love for the audience to get to know you a little bit better. Can you tell us about your work?

Leri Smith:
Yes. I created Innergy Awareness and it's spelled I N N E R G Y Awareness because I believe that being aware of our inner state, keeping our focus on our inner state, is like the true path to healing, to joy, to self love, and to self acceptance.

Jennifer Norman:
Oh, beautiful. And so tell us, because you are a metaphysical practitioner, you're into spirituality and most likely you've had some hard times yourself because now you are channeling and you are helping others to really discover the gift in the trauma and move past that and see how it can actually catapult them into a better life. Can you share how mindfulness comes into play here?

Leri Smith:
Yes. So I actually experienced trauma before I was born. My dad hit my mom in her stomach and I was born early. My mom almost died. And then it was just a series of emotional, verbal, physical abuse almost every day of my life. I was like the scapegoat kid of alcoholic mom. And it created in me very like low self esteem, low self worth, to the point where no one could hear me speak. When I tried to speak, no one could hear me.

Leri Smith:
I didn't overcome that till I was 32. It left me with a series of bad relationships, a series of quitting my job, just like being completely overwhelmed by my emotions. And it really affected my life. But the one thing that I did have was this relentless drive to get better. So I started studying personal growth, I started spirituality, and that's how I became a minister. I studied energy healing and I studied psychology because I really wanted to find out, like, what is the solution to this really deep dark cloud that I couldn't get rid of. So I just knew how important it was for us to transcend that dark place. And even after I was a metaphysical minister and a prayer practitioner and I was like the top of my classes and I could connect to spirit and God every day.

Leri Smith:
I took personal growth and I did all these seminars and workshops and I was an energy healer. Like I could really feel spirit working through me to change people's lives. But I went back to school during the pandemic and became a special education teacher because I really like, my heart has always opened up. I'm a different person. I have more compassion and more love and more patience when I'm with special education students because I'm empathetic. So I can feel their struggles. And there's something in me that just wants to be 100% present with them and kind of like watch. It's hard to explain, but that's how I feel when I'm with that community.

Leri Smith:
And so as soon as I started back, when we went back into the classroom, I loved my students, they loved me. But so I started getting migraines. I started getting panic attacks, which I'd never had before. My whole body just kind of started shutting down. So I had to leave my job for after just a few months so that I could recalibrate.

Leri Smith:
But when I went back, I had the biggest panic attack of all. I go to the emergency room and I find out that I have blood clots in my lungs. And then I had an allergic reaction to all the medicine. It burned my whole GI tract, mouth all the way down. And so I had, like, no physical strength, no physical health, and no mental health. And for, like eight months, I was just in this deep, dark, dark, dark place to the point where I just wanted to give up. Like, I just didn't want to live anymore. And I have a son. And so I knew that that wasn't possibility, but I still. I gave up. In my mind, my body, my spirit. I was, like, done. I was like, I've tried everything. I've been a good person. Like, why is this happening to me?

Leri Smith:
But in that moment of, like, real, true, gave up surrender, I saw myself kind of rise above. And I was like, all my suffering was just in my thoughts. It was, like, just in my head. And I was like, wow. So I started really, like, just sitting with every single thought that I had, every single emotion that I had.

Leri Smith:
And I would just sit with it until it disappeared and dissipated. And after that, I was, like, the happiest person, like, anyone ever met. I was, like, on this relentless journey to, like, share that with people because my circumstances didn't change. It was just my perspective about it. I was able to kind of neutralize, like, stop making everything good, bad, right, wrong, good, evil. I was able to kind of see my opinions and how my opinions were affecting my life. I was able to see how all the judgments that I had and I thought I was a really good, nice person, but I was able to go in and see that I was allowing, like, this resentment of every single person and every single thing just kind of run my life. And when you can rise above, like, your life and kind of see how you're being and who you're being and what's causing it and how it's all just in your thoughts.

Leri Smith:
And you change your thoughts and your perspectives and you can have the joy that you want right now. It's just an amazing experience. And I know a lot of people don't believe that you can have that kind of experience right now, but now is the only time you have. Like, every single transformation happens right now when you get that aha moment and that idea. It's now. You're never happy in the future. You never make changes in the future. It's only now.

Leri Smith:
But we always want and hope that one day we'll be that happy in that peace and all of that. And it's like it's not going to happen one day. If doesn't happen right now, then it's not going to happen because now is all that you have. And so I really, like, believe, and I created a system where you come in with that problem, you feel that as intensely as you can without the story, and you start letting it go until you feel that peace right now. Because right now is all that you have. And there's just no other time and place like to experience that joy and peace. But now, right.

Jennifer Norman:
What a story, Leri. Oh, my goodness. I mean, from before you were born, experiencing trauma. And then no wonder, throughout the course of your life, it's hard to see self love. It's hard to get past the idea that you are a victim, because in many ways, and rightly so, a lot of people would say, yes, you have been a victim. You've been a victim of your circumstances. And in order to be able to rise out of that with a family of addiction and a lot of bad choices, in order to find better solutions, to find spirituality, to seek a greater power that is higher than you and go in that direction is not easy to do. But sometimes it comes as a last resort.

Jennifer Norman:
I know when all else fails, there's God there.

Leri Smith:
Yeah.

Jennifer Norman:
And I know that even once you're on that path, there's a lot of wild...there's still these setbacks and these doubts and these human emotions that come into play and thinking, okay, well, I've got to do something for myself. And then some choices are made more out of fear than out of self love and that empowerment of yourself. You came to this place where you're realizing the only thing that matters is this very moment right now. This is the only thing that matters. And being able to love yourself in that moment, being able to accept all that is in this very moment is very powerful.

Leri Smith:
It is powerful.

Jennifer Norman:
Yeah. I'd like to step into some of the things that you have leveraged and used in order to be able to find healing. And I know that it is a lifelong journey, but you also teach it with your practice. And so let's talk about ways to move past in the mind to calm that noise, to calm the panic, to calm that negative energy and get to a place where you can find the present moment and then also empower yourself for the future.

Leri Smith:
So I first want to talk about when you were talking about the victim. Because when I was doing like all of that personal growth and it seemed like all they wanted you to do is to not be a victim, to stop blaming people. It was so like harsh and so like masculine and so. But I was doing, I was like, I'm not victim. Trying to put like positive affirmations on top of what I was really going through. I was victimized and I had victims mentality. Like I blamed everybody. I was resentful for everything.

Leri Smith:
And people are always trying to like go around it and go past it. But once you like embrace that, yes, I was victimized. I have victims mentality. What can I do about it? How can I stop blaming people? How can I stop being resentful? How can I stop all of this negative thoughts and negative feelings and love and accept myself for who I am? And you have to really embrace instead of like trying to go around it and like be better than the victimized person. Because nobody wants to walk around as a victim, but a lot of us do. Like most of my clients have the victims mentality. I work with people that most people don't want to work with. Whenever I'm in a group, they're like, no, I don't like victims.

Leri Smith:
They're too hard. And I'm like, they are hard. I was hard. Like I went to all kinds of counselors and therapists and this and that and I was hard. It wasn't until I had that self realization of my own that I could proceed. It wasn't until I took responsibility for myself and my life that I could proceed. It wasn't until I decided that I'm willing to do what it takes to find joy. Because even if you go to a therapist every week, you still have those other six or seven days to what are you going to like be sad and upset and resentful? Are you going to take each moment to try to make yourself feel better and to feel happy? And it is moment by moment.

Leri Smith:
So what I liked about the personal growth because I was able to like make it into something that can help benefit people who have the victims mentality. I was at one point trying to like listen to all these audiobooks on building wealth and creating a business and just all that. Like I was empowered. But what they all kept saying was, your thoughts create your emotions and your emotions create your actions and your actions create your results. And I was like, that's true. But I said, how can I help my clients with that? So I turned it into something that's a little bit different and I call it tears. Your thoughts, emotions, actions, results. And so I like my clients to see that wherever you are, if you're in the thought, pause that thought, feel into it, know that it's just a thought.

Leri Smith:
I have thoughts, I'm not my thoughts. Let it go. But maybe you're already in the emotional part and you're feeling these strong emotions. You pause, you feel that emotion as strong as it goes, recognize what thoughts might be causing it, feel it till it goes and let it go. But what if you're already in the action? You've already picked up the wine or the ice cream or the chips, or you're already fighting with somebody and you pause there, feel the emotion, the thought that caused it, you let it go. But what if you've done all of it and you're in that dark? I regret that. I feel bad about myself. I shouldn't have done that.

Leri Smith:
You pause there. You pause because the self sabotage is what's going to make you suffer even more. Because our suffering is all in our thoughts and in our minds, how we feel about ourselves. So it's the same. Your thoughts, create your emotions, create your actions, create your results. But you can use it as a healing. Like if you're in your thoughts or your emotions or in your actions or in your thoughts, you still have that power to choose the Viktor Frankl quote that I always misquote. But between a stimulus and your response, that's where your power lies.

Leri Smith:
I used to read that and say that every single day. My power is between the stimulus, which means anything anybody says or does, anything I say or do, anything that happens before I react or respond, I can sit in my power, I can feel my power come down and make the choice. That's the best for me. And if I'm committed to joy, I always pick the most peaceful, the most joyous, the most loving thing that I can do. And sometimes our brains will be like, but that person was wrong and that. And our brains will want to get back and seek revenge and be vengeful. But if you've chosen joy, then you've got to choose it each moment if you really want that peace in your life. Like you said earlier, it's not easy, but it's worth it.

Leri Smith:
It's like you get to choose. Am I going to sit and be resentful and angry and sad and despair and tell everybody my sad, sad victim story for the rest of my life? Or am I going to create the life that I want? Am I going to be that joyous, abundant, happy, loving, creative person that I tell everybody I want to be, but I'm not doing it? My program actually has people go from being the victim of their lives, meaning you're in your head and you're suffering, to the creators of your life, which means you're actually taking action and being. And instead of affirmations, I created affirming. So in affirming, you're a verb, and you say, I am, and you put what you're being or doing, and you go and you be and you do that. You're allowing that creative energy that's from Source, that's from God, that created the universe, that created the solar system, that created Earth, that created all life on Earth, that created me and now creates through me. I just do that. I just go all the way from Source to now, and I know that I can create anything that I want for my life with that creative energy from the divine and from our Creator. And I go and I do that versus feeling trapped in my thoughts.

Leri Smith:
And because I work with a lot of people that have anxiety and depression, I show them that, yes, I have symptoms. I had a thought, it created heart palpitations. I had a thought, it created nausea. I had a thought, it made my shoulders tense. I had a thought, it makes me feel sleepy. But those are anxiety symptoms. You just turn them into symptoms. You just say what they are.

Leri Smith:
You don't say when I thought that and when he said that. And when you don't go and create a story about why you have those symptoms, you're like, I have heart palpitations. And sometimes they could last for an hour, but I can still let the universe create through me. I acknowledge them, I sit with them. And then I go back to being a verb and creating what I want for my life and just calling that my symptoms versus creating a whole big story around what they mean. Because when we make everything mean something, that's a trap. And I think that all of our thoughts are a trap. I try to spend as much time as I can, like, really being in the present moment and stopping my thoughts, watching them.

Leri Smith:
Your thoughts always come and go. It's when you attach to them and you start adding meaning to them and you make a story about them. And then, like, the next thing you know, you're mad at someone who's not even there because you allowed yourself to start spiraling out of control. So it's really about monitoring your thoughts. It takes time to really, like, stop those thoughts completely, but it's possible to not attach to them right now. It's possible to say, I'm going to pause those thoughts and I'm going to keep going. And when you first start, it might take a hundred times a day, it might take a thousand times, but if you're willing to find that peace, you stop them each time. And what I normally do is I'll see the thought and I'll start to listen to the silence beneath all of the sounds that I hear.

Leri Smith:
Like, I'll try to expand my hearing because that brings you into the present moment. Then you'll start being able to witness your thoughts. Like you're the sky and your thoughts are the clouds that are floating by. And you kind of can just watch them, but you don't have to attach to them and start feeling that peace and that silence. Even if your thoughts are this crazy storm, like below, you still don't have to go into them and attach to them and become them. You can still just kind of slowly watch until you are able to just be that peace in the sky whenever you want to.

Jennifer Norman:
Oh, lovely, lovely. I think it's worth mentioning that when we suffer trauma, it does throw our whole system, mind, body, soul, into a bit of chaos. And it is understandable to be in a place where you're feeling like the world is collapsing around you and within you, and you're feeling overwhelmed and you're feeling that God, everything in the world is against you. And a lot of that has to do with thinking about things in the past and attaching yourself to that place of victimhood because it is so salient. All of that power really is in that pause. And to say, do I want to live my life backwards or do I want to live my life forward? I'm going to choose in this moment to find the peace in this moment, to find my power in this moment and create, as you said, instead of being a victim of your life, being the creator of your life, creating a life that you really want to live going forward. What are the choices that you're going to make in order to lean into more joy, lean into more peace, lean into more fulfillment, self love and satisfaction, and try to leave behind all of those things that may have happened or caused the situation that you're in up until this moment. It's so powerful when you recognize that you are the creator of your life.

Jennifer Norman:
And of course, there are these sayings, when it rains, it pours. Because sometimes when you're feeling under the thumb, then all of that energy is going to just attract more negative things to your life, and it may just all of a sudden stack on top of each other. And that's when you feel like you're being buried a bit or feeling trapped. But the way to break free, just. Beloved Viktor Frankl. God bless. It's all in your mind. It's all in the perspective and how you are seeing things, how you are creating beauty out of what might have been disaster beforehand.

Jennifer Norman:
Sometimes I come across people and I hear their lives. I hear suffering stories like what you've had, and I'm like, wow. I feel the heaviness of it, but I also feel excited. I also feel excited for the opportunity to say, look where you were and look where you are now. This is amazing. Amazing. You're going to have an amazing story to tell. Like that, to me, is exciting.

Jennifer Norman:
These moments where you can say, I am going to triumph over this. Nothing can hold me back. Nothing in the world, nothing in my past defines who I am or what I'm going to become. All of that is just, I am a verb. I am a channel, I am energy that if I were to just get out of my own head and really open up my mind, open up and breathe and take in all that is here to learn from this, and all that is to just really enjoy this experience of being human, channeling that and then giving to others. Because giving to others is the way that you also serve yourself.

Leri Smith:
It is.

Jennifer Norman:
It is beautiful. Beautiful.

Leri Smith:
And I just thought of this right now. But I often tell people this, if you really want to start somewhere. I remember a minister I used to go to, he would make us all say, I'm grateful. He would say, how are you? And then we would all say, grateful with no complaints. So I sat with that because that's a cool expression. But I said, can I be grateful with no complaints? And so I challenge myself every once in a while, more often than not, to be grateful with no complaints, to spend that day in gratitude, being grateful for every circumstance of my life. And it's like, he hit me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I get to learn this.

Leri Smith:
Like, whatever it is, you go into gratitude for everything that happens in your life. And then you start not allowing yourself to have any complaints. Like, someone cut you off and you're like, thank you, thank you, thank you. Because the minute you start complaining, even if it's a small complaint, like, oh, it's too hot, then, especially if you have been traumatized, you can spiral. And that one small complaint can open up this whole can of worms that...And you'll just be trapped in your negative thoughts and that pattern that you often go to. But the no complaints means no opinions.

Leri Smith:
Like, you can't have opinions the whole day. No judgments, no convictions, no I'm really, really right and he's really, really wrong like you. And after you do it a while, you start laughing because you'll start seeing, wow, like, I have all these complaints about, like, everything, about how people are driving. You might even complain about something on TV, which there are things that we have no control over. But when you do the gratitude, like grateful with no complaints for the full day, you'll get to know yourself in a way that you've never experienced. You'll actually get to see how often you complain how strong your opinions are, how you view the world. And you'll get to see how often you are grateful for the little things in your life. Because most of us miss being grateful for things.

Leri Smith:
We might say thank you if someone gives us something, or we might say thank you if someone opens the door for us. But are we grateful that the sun came out? Are we grateful for all the preparation in our meals? Are we grateful for having the home? Are we grateful just for the air that we're breathing in that we need every single second to live? Like, you get to start, really. And that in itself brings you a kind of joy and peace and love and self acceptance. And in the way it's self acceptance because you're not judging how you think, you're actually revealing it so that you can heal it.

Jennifer Norman:
Yeah, I'd like to take that one step further because I often think that we are a flow of energy, and energy wants to move. Think of ourselves as like water. And water wants to continue rushing and flowing. And even if it comes over an obstacle, even if it comes over a rock or something in the way, it'll just find its way around it or through it or somehow it just keeps going. But if we say like no complaints or if we say stop doing this, then all of a sudden there's like a constriction in our body. And it's almost like a stopping of that flow of water, a flow of energy, and it's creating a dam, like we're damning ourselves, Right? So what I like to say is, instead of like saying don't do this or no complaints, because the word complaints sticks in your head and you don't want it. Like, the universe doesn't know 'no', the universe only knows 'yes'.

Jennifer Norman:
And so when we say that we want to progress and we want to flow and we want to say yes to something, it's like, I am grateful and I love the fact. And so, you know, replace that. It's just like, make a choice away from something, and instead of thinking about that something, think of something positive. Try to think of something energizing and something that's filled with joy. So you're grateful for this. And I love the fact that I'm here, and I love the fact and I'm enthusiastic and I want to fill with joy. It helps you to keep moving forward in a positive direction so that you are building a life that is like, you're following your bliss and you're going towards your joy, and you're building a life of happiness rather than feeling stagnant or stagnated and constricted by that which you don't want.

Jennifer Norman:
So I like to maybe even focus a little step further and help people see the difference, because there is a distinct difference that is very subtle because it's two sides of the same coin. But rather than kind of focusing on the things that you don't want, focus on the things that you actually do want in your life. Those things will help to contribute and stack on top of each other and build. And help to build a life that you love. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Leri Smith:
I love that. Thank you for saying that. I didn't even realize.

Jennifer Norman:
Yeah, it dawned on me when I asked somebody, hey, how are you doing today? And they said, oh, can't complain. And it's like, okay, you've got two words there. Can't and complain. We don't realize it. It's like they're being humble, and we know what they mean. But truly, if we think about how our language impacts how our lives are, it's like, well, I'm only doing this so that I can't complain. I'm only doing this.

Jennifer Norman:
And so I think that there was another actress when she was asked, how are you today? She said, I am successful. It's like, whoa, like, meaty. That's exciting.

Leri Smith:
I love that.

Jennifer Norman:
Yeah, yeah. Can we, like, really be....There is an art to humility, and there is a beauty to humility, but there's also stepping into your power. Like, don't be afraid to step into your power. And that leads me to this concept of self expression. Because when you're able to after or during a traumatic experience or a period where you need to work through these things, finding your own self is probably the biggest discovery that you'll ever make. Finding who your true self is and loving and accepting and embracing that and then being able to manifest the life to self express in the way that you want to is quite profound. Can you tell us a little bit about how your process helps people to express the real them that they are?

Leri Smith:
Yes. And I've been going around town doing a workshop called Phoenix Rising. You burn your old self to ashes and then you become the Creator of your life. But even in my 12 week class, we identify all of our roles that we play, all of our identities, like your race, your sexual, your being human, all of those things. You start to look at what you like and you dislike, all your opinions, your judgments, your convictions, and you really start to look at who you believe you are. Like, you look at that person that you see in the mirror that you think is you. And then we burn all of it and you're like, but I like being a mom. It's like, yeah, but you're not going to lose all the things you love, but you burn it anyways.

Leri Smith:
Because there might be a conception of what a mom is that you have and that you might be living into. Like, a mom always has to pick up their kid on time. They have to feed them. I'm just kidding. But a mom has to like give healthy meals every time. My mom has to make sure their kids are this, that like, you might have this really hard, like, idea about what it means to be a mom, which means one side of it. You're beating yourself up when you could be a good mom. You could be allowing your kids to make good choices, to be loving and compassionate and caring, but because you give them McDonald's on Tuesdays, when you have something else to do, you start beating yourself.

Leri Smith:
So we let go of everything so that when we create and we create from the divine, that we allow the divine to guide us into being what we truly are. And what we truly are is love. It's light, it's peace and joy, and it's creative and it's just beautiful and it's ecstatic. And it's just like I love when I'm connected to God. It's like one of the best feelings that I can ever experience. It's that complete. Like all your cells are aligned and you're just in bliss. Bliss is a good word.

Leri Smith:
So I help people to really let go of all their identities, their personalities, their roles, all those things that they think they are. And we connect to the divine and we just align with the divine. We get to have to let go of what we think God is. Especially if we have a religious God that's out there and we find that God, that what's inside of us. And then we know that when we create our creator self as the verb, we can start seeing like what it is that we can do. But we're guided by spirit to do them. And so we don't have to keep thinking. We learn how to look at our thoughts and our emotions and our body and our life as not who we really are.

Leri Smith:
Like you, who you really are was there at birth. It saw you as a child, it saw you as a teen, it saw you in your 20s. And it's there now. It was never injured, it was never hurt, it didn't grow old, it never ever changed. So that part of you that knows you were always there, your body changes every couple years, your thoughts change every couple of seconds, your emotions change all day long. Like that's not who you are, who you really are doesn't change. And when you can tap into that part of you, then you can start creating from that part of you, despite what your thoughts, your body, your emotions and all of that might be doing. And it could be doing anything at any moment.

Leri Smith:
And. But you still know that you can still create whatever you want for your life. And I then have people go into their traumas. Like, once you're like, you know who you are and you're connected to you the divine, you know how to monitor your thoughts and control your thoughts and emotions by releasing, not suppressing, but releasing. Then from that place, you can start healing your traumas without going into them and re traumatizing yourself and keep telling that story. We also will go into addictions, where you look at your addictions not as a bad thing, but as a guide to what you truly want. So if you're a gambler, you want prosperity. So how can I create prosperity for my life? If you're promiscuous, you say, okay, I want love and connection.

Leri Smith:
How can I get love and connection in a way that's positive for me? If you do drugs or alcohol, you want that elation, that bliss, that joy. So how can I create that in my life that works for me? So we use like addiction, our addictions as a guide of gluttony. Or you don't feel filled, so you want to fill yourself. So how can you fill your life with what you truly want? And we don't look at any part of our life as something bad, especially when you look at it from your God. Perspective, your Christ self, your amazing abilities to create your life. You look at it in a way like how can I? What did I want? What do I need? And you're able to start giving that to yourself versus I saw one your other podcast where waiting for someone to give it to you, like looking out there and waiting for it to come, you start knowing that I call our heart like the Holy Grail. Because other on that quest looking, you take that journey, that long 12 inch journey from your mind to your heart and you start living from your heart, from that love, that peace, that joy. And you know that anytime you're seeking.

Leri Smith:
That's how I found it out. I bought a book and I was like, please God, let this book be the answer to all of my craziness, please. The title is like, the title says that my life will change. And I just remember that was one of those changing moments in my life because I was like I had a thousand books and I love there was wisdom in each of them. But I got to see that anytime you're seeking, you're not going to find it. It's not out there. It's not in your therapist, it's not in your medicine. It's not in the way that others act so that you can act your best.

Leri Smith:
It's in here. And it's closer to you than your own breath. It's what animates your heart and it's what animates you. And it has all the answers. You already have all of the answers. There's no seeking out there because it's not out there. So I show people how to really know that there's a wisdom and an intelligence in them that can create that life that they love. They have to be willing and take control.

Leri Smith:
I don't like the word control, but they have to be willing to really commit to who and what they really are and to that beautiful journey that they want for their life. Despite all the stuff that will, like you were saying earlier that it will come up, you'll have stuff every single day, but it's how you perceive it and how you deal with it and how you allow it to affect you is what's going to make the difference between you getting the life you want or bringing that past back in and putting it into your future.

Jennifer Norman:
Oh my gosh. Beautiful. Beautiful. It's as if when we are self expressing, doing it from a place that is authentically our own soul center, if we were to burn everything else down to the ash, you know, if we were to remove all of the physical and all of those stories from our conveyance. I go through the same practice myself. I do the fire burning, and I encourage people to try it very safely. I have a fire pit in my backyard. And so I have a daily journaling practice where I'll write and I will excavate and I will very cathartically put everything down.

Jennifer Norman:
And then once that journal is filled, I go out to the backyard and I take the pages and I burn it. Because it's like this is no longer part of me. I've released it to the universe. I'm a new person. I am person living forward. And I don't need this anymore, frankly, I don't need anybody reading it either. But so for a safety. But if you do that, you can do this in your fireplace, if you have one at home, do it very safely.

Jennifer Norman:
Or you can write things on little scraps of paper and burn it in a candle safely. But being able to express and create your life not from a place of your trauma and those stories and of feeling an entrapment of a physical being that has just been mentally created for yourself. Doing it from a place that you are a divine expression of love, a divine expression of humanity and what life is about. And you can be that shining light for others. You can be that shining light for yourself. You can dig into that heart of yours and know that all of the answers are there and that the outward manifestations are a reflection of your inner being, but they are not validations of your inner being. They are truly your creations. And how you're manifesting your life and how you're expressing your joy.

Leri Smith:
And they only show you with your past thoughts. Everything in your life right now only shows you what you've been thinking up to that point. It has nothing to do. Yeah. With your future. So you can just use your past. Like, okay, you look at your relationships and you're like, oh, I must have been thinking this about relationship. Like, you just use it and just know that it does not dictate your future.

Leri Smith:
Even if you have nothing that you want in your life right now does not mean that you can't have everything that you want in your life in the future. It only means that you thought that way up until now.

Jennifer Norman:
True. True. And for those listening, some of this may resonate. And I often think about these as, like, you have all these lockboxes, and some of these are keys, and they may not fit. They may not resonate with you, but try them anyway. You can try any. Which one? And all of A sudden you may discover there is a key that just fits perfectly and unlocks this understanding. They're like, whoa, I never realized that that really connected for me.

Jennifer Norman:
That really landed for me. Ah, that's something that I profoundly embrace and embody and I want to try. And it really tells me more about myself than I had recognized before. So some of these things, like a fire burning practice, like meditation, hitting pause, was one of the other practices that I had. And this may not be for everyone either. But like, if there is a new day, and oftentimes it's like on New Year's Eve to New Year's or a birthday or some other profound date that you connect with, it's like, okay, this is going to be my last day on Earth. This is going to be the last day that I am alive. And the next day you wake up and you're like, I'm here. I'm a brand new person. And it's almost like you went through this kind of ego death. And then you realize, like, this is a fresh start for me. How will I want to live my life now that all of that is behind me?

Jennifer Norman:
And so I think, get yourself to that place, like, wow, like an alien dropped in and you're experiencing life as you for the first time. How cool would that be? How exciting would that be? What would you do? What would you do with your days? How would you create your life going forward? It's another way to, like, mentally reframe the goodness of what you have to offer going forward.

Leri Smith:
And I love that practice. I remember hearing someone said every night they do that. I haven't tried it, so I'd love to try it. But what I do sometimes, just so I can have that curiosity of a child, I'll say I'm like a silent video camera. I don't know. And I just look at the world like as a silent. And you start seeing, you'll just be able to see things that you've never seen. You'll get to see the beauty that's all around and there's no mental chatter in there.

Leri Smith:
And I'll do that driving sometimes too. Like, if I'm going somewhere that I don't have to be, like completely like, where am I going? But I'll just be the camera. And you can call it whatever you want, but I just look around and you start. It's just a practice of being new again. Because even if you're driving on the same road that you drive to, because I often do it, if I'm picking My son up. Like, I already know the route and all of that. And you really get to be in the moment and you really get to just be the observer. And it's just something fun that I do.

Leri Smith:
So I just want to share that.

Jennifer Norman:
Oh, that is so cool. I'll do that on nature walks sometimes where. Because a lot of times we're mindlessly thinking about, what else, you know, what am I going to make for dinner? What else do I have to do to autopilot? When you're driving, that's another thing. But if you're able to stop and even take a look at a flower or a leaf and just continue looking in it, absorbing the color, absorbing the texture, absorbing all of the little tiny veins that are in every leaf and how the beauty is of something that has actually grown from the ground. And, yeah, it just helps you to be more mindful and focus in and be present to enjoy and appreciate the majesty that is nature. And then it leads you to looking at your own hands and how incredible the body is that we've been given and just have gratitude. Gratitude for being able to breathe all of these things is really, really joyful. I would love.

Jennifer Norman:
Leri, since you are so wonderful at helping to guide meditations, would you be able to take us through a meditation now so that we can all take a moment to breathe and to just sit and enjoy this moment together that we have?

Leri Smith:
Yeah, I would love to. This is my favorite meditation. So everyone, take a deep, centering breath in. Find a comfortable place to sit with your spine upright, your feet resting on the floor, your hands in an open, receptive position. And when you're ready, you can gently close your eyes. And now take another deep, centering breath in and exhale slowly like you're blowing out a candle. Take another deep breath in and exhale. Exhale slowly.

Leri Smith:
And now bring all of your awareness to your feet. Feel how they feel on the floor. Feel the tingling inside, the life force, the cells beaming with light, jumping around. Just feel into your feet and just notice your feet and bring your awareness to your ankles and to your shins and calves. Bring all of your awareness to your knees and your thighs and just notice your legs. Just feel them beaming with life. And just feel your hips and notice your hips and how you're fully supported by your chair. And just bring your awareness to your hips.

Leri Smith:
Bring your awareness to your torso, to your lower back and abdomen. Just feel the energy in your lower back and abdomen and your upper back and your chest. And just feel your energy in your body and Just notice your body now. Notice your shoulders and your arms, your elbows, your forearms and your wrists. Just bring all your awareness to your hands and your fingertips. And just feel the tingling and the energy in your hands as you just notice your body. And notice your neck, your head, your face. Notice your teeth and your throat.

Leri Smith:
Notice your lips, your cheeks, your nose. And just notice your eyes and that space behind your eyes, your forehead and your. Your scalp. And just notice. And bring all of your awareness to your body. And now bring your awareness to any emotions or sensations or pains that you may have in your body. And just notice it. No stories.

Leri Smith:
Just bring your awareness. Is there a color to it? A texture? Is it hard, soft, gooey? Is it stuck in one place or is it moving around? And just notice any sensation, any emotions that you may have in your body. And just bring all of your awareness to any sensations in your body. And those sensations could feel good. You may feel ecstasy or love or peace. And just bring your awareness to the part of your body that is peaceful. It could be your fingertips, your toes, the tip of your nose. Just notice that you already are and have peace.

Leri Smith:
And now bring your awareness to your thoughts. You are the sky. Your thoughts are the clouds floating beneath. And just bring your awareness that I have thoughts, but I'm not my thoughts. Or you're the ocean and your thoughts are the fish swimming by. And just be the ocean and just allow your thoughts to swim by you. And just bring your awareness to the part of you that can be aware that I have thoughts and I'm not my thoughts, that I have sensations and emotions in my body, but I'm not my sensations and emotions. And that I have a body, but I'm not my body.

Leri Smith:
And bring all of your awareness to your awareness. And just notice your awareness and just be your awareness, the observer that can observe the body, that can observe the emotion, that can observe the thoughts, but it's not any of those. And now take a deep, centering breath in. And as you inhale, notice the cool air entering through your nose, nostrils. And when you exhale, bring your attention to the warm air when you exhale out of your nostrils. We'll do five of these. 1. Inhale cool air, exhale warm air.

Leri Smith:
2. Inhale cool air. Exhale warm air. 3. Inhale cool air. Exhale warm air. 4. Inhale cool air. Enhale warm air. And 5. Inhale cool air. And exhale warm air.

Leri Smith:
And now bring all of your awareness to the sensations in your body right now. To your awareness right now. Just bring all of Your awareness to your awareness of your body, emotions and thoughts. Just allow that awareness to expand like you're a giant search light out of your body to fill the room and to fill your city, to fill your state.

Leri Smith:
Just allow your awareness to expand out and out and out to fill your country, to fill the entire globe, to fill space. And just imagine you're in space and you see all of the stars in the cosmos all shining brightly. Just imagine gathering all of that light that you see and putting it into a small ball. And imagine putting that ball of light into your chest and yeah, just stuff it in. Just allow that light to penetrate through your body as you inhale through the top of your crown. Exhale through your heart space and expand that light. Inhale through your heart and exhale through the top of your head and send that light into the cosmos and heavens. Inhale, crown, exhale heart.

Leri Smith:
Inhale heart. Exhale crown and inhale crown, exhale heart. And just notice your breath as you bring yourself back into the room. Wiggle your toes and your arms as you open your eyes. But keep your awareness and look around the room as that silent watcher. Be aware and don't name anything. Just look around and what do you see? And just keep that awareness. Just notice what you notice.

Leri Smith:
Does it look peaceful and brighter? And just sit with that awareness for a few more moments and just look around. Staying empty. And just stay empty. Stay empty. And take another deep centering breath in and exhale like you're blowing out a candle. Another deep breath in and exhale slowly like you're blowing out a candle. And another deep breath in and exhale like you're blowing out a candle. And just keep your awareness.

Jennifer Norman:
Leri Smith, thank you for giving us that fresh start to our day with a meditative mindful moment. Thank you so much for being my guest. Please share with everyone how they can find you.

Leri Smith:
So I actually created a free ebook. It's called Beyond Suffering. It's how to transform any problem that you have in 10 minutes. You're actually focused on your problem. You feel into it until it's gone and you create. Create something new and so you can go to my website. It's like inner energy awareness, but it's just innergyawareness.com and download my free ebook.

Jennifer Norman:
Thank you so much for letting everybody know how they could get this beautiful resource. Leri Smith, based in Los Angeles. Please look her up. Thank you so much for being my guest on The Human Beauty Movement Podcast. And thank you for being a beautiful human.

Leri Smith:
Thank you. This is a great experience and I love that we added the meditation. I feel like I'm floating now.

Jennifer Norman:
Me too.

Leri Smith:
Thank you, thank you,

Jennifer Norman:
Thank you for listening to The Human Beauty Movement Podcast. Be sure to follow, follow rate and review us wherever you stream podcasts The Human Beauty Movement is a community based platform that cultivates the beauty of humankind. Check out our workshops, find us on social media, and share our inspiration with all the beautiful humans in your life. Learn more at thehumanbeautymovement.com. Thank you so much for being a beautiful human.