0:00 Hi, everyone.
0:00 Welcome back to the Change Your Mind Podcast.
0:03 I'm your host, Kris Ashley.
0:04 And today I have with me, Marisol Camacho who is a creative entrepreneur.
0:10 So let's find out a little bit more what that means.
0:12 Hi, I'm Kris.
0:14 When I was younger I went through trauma that caused me to feel broken and lost.
0:18 But my life changed after I had a spiritual awakening.
0:22 Since then, I've dedicated my life to studying and learning from masters all around the world that have helped me to create a life of fulfillment and abundance beyond my wildest dreams.
0:31 Now, I'm dedicated to sharing everything I've learned so that you don't have to suffer for decades.
0:36 Like I did, I've seen people's lives completely transform and I share it.
0:40 All right here.
0:43 Welcome Marisol.
0:45 Hi.
0:46 Thanks so much for having me here.
0:47 Kris.
0:48 Yeah.
0:49 Absolutely.
0:49 So, what does it mean to you to be a creative entrepreneur?
0:53 Yeah.
0:53 So definitely as someone who identifies as a creative my entire life, I have found that I have never really fit into the box of only being a coach, only being a trauma informed facilitator, only being a yoga teacher.
1:07 I always constantly have different projects going on at the same time.
1:11 But at the core of all my projects is to be myself, use my creativity and support and serve the community in a way that's possible.
1:20 So that is what it means.
1:23 And yeah, I would love to kind of hear from you if you want me to dive into that a little bit more deeper.
1:30 Yeah.
1:31 Yeah.
1:31 You know, before when we were talking, you talked a lot about the somatic methodology that you use to help people.
1:38 And I'd love for you to explain to people what somatic methodology is because, you know, so often I hear people talk about, oh, they're into somatics or they're taking somatic therapy or they're taking a somatic training.
1:50 But there's very few people that have been like, this is what it is in a really concrete way.
1:56 So I'd love it if you could just explain that to people.
1:59 Yes.
1:59 So part of my training to become a trauma informed facilitator, I trained with a licensed family and marriage like therapist, the LMFT and Somatics was a really big part of her work because she is a trauma specialist.
2:14 So being that she specialized in trauma, she taught us how to navigate trauma and go about touching on things that manifest in the mind but actually are rooted in trauma.
2:26 And so somatics is really the practice of, of getting in touch with the wisdom of the body So there's this book I remember actually seeing in my house when I was a kid and it's called feelings, buried alive, never die.
2:40 And so it's this whole theory and I, I wouldn't even call it a theory.
2:45 It's actual reality that your emotions are stored in different parts of your body.
2:51 So the whole point of somatic work is connecting to those parts of your body to release that emotion so that it actually has somewhere to go and it's no longer living in the body.
3:05 And why this is so important is because, you know, if we're thinking about emotions like anger or grief or things like that, when they've been living in the body for a really long time, they can contribute to health things that happen.
3:20 Obviously, they contribute to the way that you view the world.
3:23 But somatic work really is about liberating emotions that live in the body.
3:29 And when you're trauma informed, it's all about doing it in a way that's safe because when we are liberating emotions from the body, we're actually really connecting to the nervous system and the nervous system can only handle so much at once.
3:45 And so part of my work is creating a safe space where I'm really paying attention to like, what is your nervous system telling me by like the things that you're doing and how deep can we go based on what your nervous system can handle.
4:01 It's like very sciencey but there's this whole idea around titration.
4:06 And it's basically that we're not meant to like flood our nervous systems with too much of reliving this traumatic experiment experience.
4:16 In the book, the body keeps score.
4:18 Like our brain can't tell if it's happening right now or if it's happening like in the past, like it can't tell the difference.
4:26 So when we start to, you know, remove these layers of emotions that are potentially really rooted in traumatic experiences and we start to open that up.
4:35 Like your brain can't tell the difference between it.
4:37 Is it, is it happening right now or not?
4:39 It just feels it as if it is really happening in the moment.
4:43 Yeah.
4:43 And not only does it really feel it in the moment but the same chemicals get released in your body, the same cortisol, the same adrenaline.
4:49 So you're literally reliving the same thing over and over.
4:53 OK.
4:54 So you said it's connected to or it's rooted in various parts of the body and in your work, you have to connect to those parts of the body.
5:02 So how do you connect to those specific parts of the body?
5:05 And then two part question, how do you know where in the body?
5:08 These things are stored?
5:09 Yeah.
5:10 So there are some fun like maps that you can look up on Google if you're someone like me that likes to do research that tells you where certain emotions tend to be stored.
5:20 So for example, grief has like the association to be stored in the lungs.
5:25 I know from my like personal experience when there's kind of like some familial things around like probably relationships you have with like a brother or like a father, it can tend to be stored in like the hips.
5:36 Anyway, there's, there's charts and diagrams of, of ideas of where these emotions live typically, but every person is unique is, is what I really wanna highlight.
5:45 But the whole process of liberating these emotions is the first thing we have to do is feel safe, to feel these emotions.
5:52 We wanna make sure that our nervous system knows that it's safe for us to go to this place.
5:59 We also wanna make sure that our nervous system knows that we have a space to go to in case it, it like it, it gets too much.
6:07 So to give you an example before I lead any client into a somatic exercise, I help them set up their safe space, which is all about cultivating inner safety within the body.
6:20 It's like a, it's a visualization exercise.
6:23 I have clients that use it like in their day to day life whenever they're feeling overwhelmed or they just wanna feel that sense of inner safety.
6:30 And then from there, once I get the cue from them that like, hey, yes, I'm feeling safe and I'm feeling in my body and I'm feeling grounded, then I guide them through what I call a body scan.
6:41 So, what I'll do is I'll ask them based on the question that you brought right to our coaching session or the session that we're in today.
6:50 I want you to feel into your body.
6:53 Where do you feel that?
6:55 Right.
6:55 And so it's various answers.
6:57 Sometimes it's like, oh, I feel it in my throat and my neck.
7:00 Sometimes it's, I feel it in my stomach.
7:03 Sometimes we'll spend time exploring the emotion in that area and then it actually turns out it's in the heart.
7:09 And so you'll kind of find a similarity that the emotions tend to live in chakra points.
7:16 I know that that's, you know, getting more spiritual.
7:19 But you know, we have the root, the sacral solar plexus, heart throat, third eye in the ground.
7:26 And that is normally where I notice people are feeling their emotions mostly concentrated.
7:33 It reminds me of Chinese medicine where certain organs are associated with certain emotions.
7:39 Like, for example, the liver and gallbladder are related to anger.
7:44 And I think actually grief is related to lungs too.
7:47 So I wonder is there some crossover between Chinese medicine and somatics?
7:51 I wouldn't be surprised if there is, I feel like these days when we're thinking about like holistic practices of work, everyone is pulling from things that we've kind of known for centuries like millennia and it's now just finally starting to be tapped into and used again.
8:06 Yeah, totally.
8:07 And also what you're describing a little bit, sounds a little bit like EMDR.
8:11 Have you, do you have any experience with EMDR?
8:14 I have never had like my own personal experience with EMDR but I've heard about it.
8:19 Yeah, it's really, really incredible and life changing.
8:23 But what the, it's always with a licensed therapist and what the therapist has you do is she has you, you know, think about these specific triggers, specific memories and you go within and you think about where you feel it in your body and if there's colors associated with it, what what sensations do you feel in your body and then you tap on those.
8:48 So it sounds very, very similar as far as close your eyes go into your body.
8:53 Where do you feel this?
8:56 So it's, it's kind of interesting that it's a similar practice.
8:59 So you mentioned somatic exercises.
9:02 What are some somatic exercises?
9:04 Because again, I'm trying to demystify all of this and there's, there's every time I talk about somatics with someone, it's like, no, what are the specific things?
9:15 Tell me what the specific things are.
9:17 So, and people have a hard time articulating that.
9:19 So I'd love to hear what some exercises are.
9:21 Yeah.
9:22 So anything that puts you in your body that can be dancing that can be like having a sacred space to like punch a pillow to like scream yell that can be, that can be doing art.
9:36 Like maybe if you like to do art with your hands, like pottery.
9:40 Anything that puts you in your body and you're fully like in the experience of your body and have awareness of what's going on is what in my experience, I have found to be that somatic, that somatic experience.
9:56 I think where we kind of get the dis the, the disconnect or it gets like mystified is because we're not used to being taught, like be in your body, like we're so in our heads.
10:06 But it really is as simple as I'm gonna dance and express myself.
10:10 And that's a somatic exercise or maybe you wanna cook, right?
10:15 You're putting yourself in your body, you're using your hands, you're bringing awareness to what's happening within you and outside of you.
10:23 OK.
10:24 So I, I own a yoga company as well.
10:27 I know my listeners know that and, and to me, like the way you're describing that yoga would be a somatic exercise because we're teaching people to drop into their bodies, even to close their eyes in my classes to, to really take away that external vision so they can all their other senses come alive.
10:44 You have 11 million nerve receptors and 10 million of those are dedicated to sight alone.
10:48 So when you close your eyes, everything else lights up, including your internal vision.
10:53 So OK, but, but that's a really broad answer.
10:57 Though, right?
10:57 Like, are we telling people like, ok, just, you know, if you're listening to this and you've had trauma, just go cook or go make some pottery or go, you know, like,, what, what exercises specifically do you do?
11:11 Yes.
11:11 So, as someone who actually has experienced complex childhood trauma, the first thing I'm gonna say is, please don't venture into this by yourself, please venture into this with a licensed practitioner, facilitator or therapist.
11:23 So first thing I'm gonna say to you because I actually did have an experience with a spiritual practitioner.
11:30 that took me back to a very traumatic time in my life and they didn't know how to close me up.
11:38 And essentially, it felt like I was in flight, like I was disassociated for like three days until I was finally able to actually meet with my trauma and former facilitator.
11:48 like my teacher and she was able to bring me back into the body.
11:51 So the first thing I'm gonna say is if you know that you have trauma and you know, like you're very aware of that, seek out a licensed therapist or a certified professional, ask questions around their background and their certifications.
12:06 Because the last thing I would want like someone to do is to venture into this by themselves.
12:11 And then basically, it's like you're too activated, right?
12:15 Like we were talking about the nervous system and the body is just like, I don't know what to do and then it kind of just stays in that state of like, I don't know what to do.
12:22 So that's the first piece.
12:24 Very practical, right?
12:26 Some more tangible things that you can do it if you want, you know, EMDR is one EFT tapping is another one.
12:36 And then obviously the practice that I do, I just call it somatic practice.
12:40 It's really just tapping into the body.
12:41 It's something that I've actually, I've actually done the entire time, I've been working with individuals and helping them with their healing journeys.
12:48 And from that once, like as I said, if you are someone who just knows off the bat that you have trauma, then you will slowly start to find your activities.
13:01 So maybe that consistent activity for you that is safe and gives you that time to have awareness and process is yoga.
13:10 or maybe it is like for me, I use this video on youtube.
13:13 It's a dance practice for emotional release.
13:16 You know, like there are a lot of different things that you can begin to use.
13:21 But as I again, I really just wanna emphasize, if you do just know it is deep seeded, it's complex.
13:27 You really want to seek out the support of a licensed or certified practitioner and really ask about their qualifications in their background.
13:34 So during a session, does a practitioner just try all different kinds of somatic exercises with someone until they figure out what works.
13:44 So for me in the way that I do my work, it's all about staying in the body.
13:50 So we're just staying in the body and, and I'm following the, the emotions of the client.
13:58 And so from following the emotions, they are then able to have that own awareness for themselves to liberate it.
14:06 So then when we come out of the session, then they tell me, oh, this is what I wanna do with what I found with this emotion.
14:15 So I would say what I do and how I work with my clients, I can't speak about other practitioners is I keep them in their body in safety with themselves as we uncover these deeper emotions and give the space for those emotions to be seen, heard and acknowledged while maintaining, you know, like it's a co regulation of nervous systems and then bringing them out and asking them.
14:41 So based on what you just learned, what do you wanna do?
14:45 Right?
14:46 And this is where I would say this coaching aspect comes in.
14:49 What do you wanna do?
14:50 And sometimes the answers I don't wanna do anything.
14:52 I wanna sit with this and process this more.
14:55 And sometimes the awareness is, oh, actually, like I'm gonna put a certain type of dessert in my fridge so that my inner child knows that I'm looking after them.
15:03 It really is a, a unique experience for everyone.
15:07 OK.
15:08 So I'm I'm still having trouble following what exactly a session looks like.
15:14 So when you say you are just keeping someone in their body, you're staying in the body.
15:20 What does that mean?
15:22 Because I'm assuming these sessions are an hour.
15:24 So, you know, I, I understand you, you have them close their eyes, you you make them feel like they're in a safe space but then, and you, and you feel like where in the body they're feeling the emotions.
15:35 But what's, what's the rest of the journey here?
15:38 Yeah.
15:39 So that's the setup and the rest of the journey is client led.
15:45 So they're telling me what they're feeling in their body.
15:49 OK?
15:49 And then this is where I use coaching questions and you know that, you know, open ended questions to ask them more to get deeper and deeper until finally we get to the root and then once the root is there, there's usually like a, a massive like emotional release that happens and then we go back, you know, we asked, do you wanna do more or do you wanna come back and then based on what they choose to do, you know, I follow that direction, bring them back to a, a grounded state in their nervous system.
16:25 You know, we do some exercises that can be like tracing an object around you that can be just some really intentional, just breath work of letting your body know that you're safe.
16:34 And that's that I don't have my clients in the work that I do like, move around a bunch.
16:41 It's actually really just sitting, I guess now I think about it, they're sitting in the uncomfortableness of the emotions that they've been trying to avoid.
16:49 Ok, that's helpful.
16:51 So I think it would be really helpful for me and probably for listeners if you could give us an example of that journey and it doesn't have to be someone's real life example, you can make something up.
17:00 But when you're, when you're having them go deeper and deeper and like finding the root and then having that release, can you give an example of what that looks like or what that journey might be or what that dialogue might be?
17:11 Yeah.
17:12 So the dialogue that typically happens and I'm gonna use this one because it's like very, very common.
17:19 OK?
17:20 Someone has a money block, right?
17:23 And everyone wants to make more money and so people will come to the session and they'll want to work on money and then once we start to say, OK, so where do you feel it in the body?
17:35 Right?
17:36 They'll be like, oh my stomach and I'm like, OK, like what are you feeling similar to EMDR?
17:41 What, what colors are you seeing?
17:42 What thoughts, what words are coming up?
17:45 See them as they come up, don't think about them too much, right?
17:48 Just share with me and as they are exploring this emotion, then there comes a point where they just start to have this dialogue with themselves.
17:56 And oftentimes, I have found that when we're in that realm of money work for some people, it really actually has to do with parents and the way their parents worked with money, the way their grandparents worked with money.
18:08 And so by staying with the emotion and going deeper, they are then able to, as I say, come up with their own answers because I am a, I'm a practitioner, a facilitator who believes truly, like my client knows her answers.
18:21 My client is the medicine that they need and they know where to go.
18:25 I'm simply just facilitating and guiding them to go where they already know they need to go.
18:31 You just need some help.
18:32 Ok?
18:33 That's, that's really helpful.
18:34 So basically what you're doing is you're helping them uncover their own limiting belief because everyone has a story, right?
18:41 And you change your story, you change your life and especially when it comes to money, everyone has a story, right?
18:46 Like maybe they grew up hearing that obnoxious line, like money doesn't grunge trees or maybe they had money and their friends didn't.
18:52 So they felt shame around it or whatever it is.
18:54 So really what you're doing is you're helping them uncover a limiting belief that they have.
18:59 Yes.
19:00 What I'm helping them do is uncover trauma that's contributing to a way of thinking.
19:06 You have a belief system that was influenced by experiences.
19:10 Typically the experiences that cause us to think in a way that holds us back were not positive experiences for us, right?
19:18 Maybe they were painful, maybe they were life changing that usually has to do with trauma.
19:23 So you said a lot of really interesting things there for a moment.
19:25 I just wanna backpedal and get some explanation.
19:28 So you mentioned that you've been through something, you went to a practitioner, they walked you back to a difficult experience and then kind of left you and didn't close you up.
19:37 And I want to know what does it mean to close someone up?
19:40 How do you do that?
19:42 And can someone do that themselves if they're reliving their own past experience?
19:45 Yes, in regards to my experience of so basically, what was happening is I was going through a like meditation experience.
19:54 It was meant to be a healing meditation experience.
19:57 And they took me back to the time when my mom was really sick and I was watching her die.
20:06 And they were like saying, like, imagine if you were to like scrub that memory clean.
20:14 Like basically they were encouraging me is just like, I don't, I don't exactly know what they were doing.
20:22 And now in hindsight, all I know is that after that meditation, I felt so overwhelmed, like out of my body, I actually went to sleep until I had to like wake up and go to my next appointment.
20:36 And for three days I felt outside of my body like what is going on?
20:41 Like I didn't understand.
20:44 So when I brought that to my teacher who is trauma specialist licensed, you know, the, or the same, a different person.
20:52 Yeah, a different person, they told me, ok, this is what happens a lot with spiritual individuals who don't understand the nervous system.
21:00 They think it's great to get to the root of things, but they actually don't take you back to your safe space.
21:05 They don't take the time with you to put you in a place where you feel safe again either through, like as I was mentioning, you can do exercises with the eyes, through the nervous system.
21:16 Like you can do things with your breath or like for example, the visualization that I do to get you back in the body to get you feeling safe again.
21:27 And for me, it was like, I spent three days being disassociated because that a level of emotion that was inside of me, like that was too much for my nervous system at one time.
21:38 And so my whole thing is I do think that, you know, now when I experience like opening up things on my own, I do have the tools to bring myself back down to get my nervous system back into a regulated state.
21:55 A really good example is two weekends ago, I was in the Mescal, which is a traditional sweat lodge ceremony it's a Mexican indigenous practice.
22:04 You in the dark.
22:05 It's really hot.
22:06 And the facilitator was guiding us through this exercise to feel all of our emotions.
22:12 And I remember coming out of that exercise in the dark being like, whoa, that was a lot to unleash.
22:19 And immediately I pulled out my toolkit of OK, like, what can I focus on to just, like, calm myself down to let my body know like I'm safe, how can I start to control my breath again?
22:32 And what do I need to do to get myself back to my regulated state?
22:37 But I've been doing this for over a year now.
22:40 So I would say, yes, you can get to this, the place of being able to do it on your own after you are practicing right?
22:46 With individuals and on yourself.
22:48 However, if you're new to this, you will probably require the assistance of a certified trained facilitator or therapist to help you.
23:00 Yeah.
23:00 Yeah.
23:01 That's,, I've had a similar sit, I actually had a similar experience with a Tony at a Tony Robbins event where he took us through like a really intense thing, which was really helpful for me in the long run.
23:14 But it, then it was kind of like, ok, we're back on to the next thing and it was like, wait a minute.
23:18 Like, I, I'm still, like, shaken up from that.
23:22 Yes, I totally, I totally get what you're saying.
23:24 Luckily he had like a bunch of staff on hand and someone was able to like talk to me a little bit.
23:29 Yes.
23:30 And so this is where it's really important to understand that like while it's great that we can liberate those things, right?
23:37 Everything has its own time and integration is like golden.
23:42 So like, as you just said, oh, like we did this and it was really powerful for me and it lasted for a long time, but I was really shaken up in the moment.
23:49 What would have really been like powerful and more supportive if we're thinking about you as like, you know, a a human being in a body with a nervous system is let's take some time to just calm down after that intense, powerful exercise, right?
24:02 It's, you know, let's take some time to just connect with our breath, relax to calm down.
24:07 That's that integration period.
24:09 That really is so golden.
24:11 And then we move on to the next piece.
24:12 What I see a lot of people doing is they're just like, great.
24:15 I got to the root and now we're gonna go on to the next thing and people are just like, and basically what happens is we're, we're not healing.
24:24 What we're doing is our nervous system is just continuously being activated and activated and activated until we basically, I think of it as your candle burns out and you're like, what happened?
24:33 Like I thought I was healing.
24:36 Yeah, Yeah, totally.
24:39 It's interesting because it wasn't even an exercise that was like going into deep emotions.
24:44 It was like a visualization exercise and you know what you, what your worst case scenario would be.
24:51 And it was just like, so horrible for me that it was just like, hard to get back there.
24:57 So, OK, so when you do it, it's more about like coming back to the body, coming back to your breath, like just coming back to the present moment.
25:04 So EMDR does a similar thing which is why I was curious where she actually walks.
25:09 She II I see an EMDR practitioner because I just, I freaking love it so much.
25:15 Like I will try any modality.
25:17 I just love it.
25:18 And what she does is she has you do this, she walks you through this visualization where like you imagine a box and it could be a small box, it could be like a huge box, it could be the size of a room, whatever and you put everything away into it and lock it and it's safe and it's just there for next time when you want to open it, but it's, it's contained which compartmentalization in your mind.
25:41 And it's, it's pretty amazing how effective it is just that one little visualization.
25:47 So I think something like that or even just coming back to your breath, if someone's like in a panic state, right?
25:52 Like could be a useful tool.
25:55 Yeah, I've done a similar exercise.
26:00 They didn't call it Edmr but we were like, going through like my brain like, subconsciously, right?
26:06 And I had my eyes closed and like, it was like, as we were coming across these things, I was actually like physically moving like I was compartmentalizing them.
26:15 That individual didn't call it Edmr, but it sounds very similar to what you're explaining.
26:21 Yeah.
26:21 Yeah.
26:21 And this isn't necessarily like part of the EMTR.
26:24 It's just like how she to use your terminology like closed me up at the end after like in, in like particular intense session.
26:34 Interesting.
26:35 So is there any exercise if people want to explore this or just be able to drop into their body a little bit on their own without going into the, the deep, you know, we'll say emotional stressful part of it.
26:52 You know, what's a great somatic exercise that people listeners can just take away to practice to just get more into their body less out of their head?
27:00 Yeah.
27:01 Yeah, definitely.
27:03 So I'm actually just gonna share with you this dance for emotional release.
27:06 It's literally not super crazy.
27:09 It's like not super crazy deep.
27:10 It's literally something that I found through a course that I was in, I've shared it with so many friends and family members, even my own father and everyone just raves about it because it's just a really fun way to drop into the body, understand those emotions and just like have fun, right?
27:29 Like I think what happens is, is we think like when we're talking about deep emotions that like it has to be so serious, but there actually are so many ways that we can make it fun and we can make exploring and processing these emotions that are uncomfortable, more pleasant.
27:46 Yeah, it's all about finding what works for you.
27:47 So I'll make sure to include that link.
27:50 OK.
27:50 Yeah.
27:51 Yeah, we can put that in the show notes for sure.
27:53 Yeah.
27:54 And you know, again, it is really important to feel your repressed emotions because they can turn into muscle tension, they can turn into pain, they can turn into disease, which of course is dis ease.
28:04 So and to just regulate your nervous system again, and the good news is your brain and nervous system can always be reprogrammed.
28:12 So if things are in an incoherent state in a dysregulation, chaotic state, they can always come back down.
28:19 There's always, and there's so many methodologies.
28:21 Somatics are one of many, many paths.
28:24 So there's, there's so many ways that you can get help if you need it.
28:29 So try them all.
28:30 That's what I love to do.
28:32 So how can people get in touch with you if they want to work with you?
28:35 Yeah, definitely.
28:37 So you can visit my website which is connect with marisol.com.
28:42 I also have my own podcast where I talk to other coaches, healers and entrepreneurs about building and yeah, basically creating their new lives abroad more around the psychological and emotional experience.
28:56 But yeah, I'll make sure to give you my links for the show notes.
28:59 It's really straightforward.
29:01 Awesome.
29:02 Well, thank you so much for coming on and thanks for educating me and listeners on somatics.
29:08 I feel like I'm coming away with a much better understanding than when I came in.
29:11 So I appreciate that.
29:13 For everyone, please like share, subscribe, check out my book, change your mind to change your reality.
29:18 It's in paper, book, audio book ebook.
29:21 Also, this podcast is part of the Los Angeles Tribune Podcast network.
29:27 We do a lot of really fun stuff.
29:29 This coming weekend, I think this is episode is going to come out in a few weeks, but this coming weekend, October 14th to 16th.
29:35 I'm part of the Think and Grow Rich Summit and there's some amazing headliners, Les Brown, Mary Morrissey Bob Doyle, Neil Donald Walsh.
29:45 So come check it out.
29:47 I'm really excited to be a part of it and there's so much more that we're putting on so I can't wait to see you all.
29:52 There have a beautiful rest of your day.
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