The Vision Architect

Episode 207 - Jackie Valdez: The Power of Intuition (feel free to make it better) - Please ADD #207 at the end
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[00:00:23] Simon Vetter: Welcome to another session of the Vision Architect. I am happy to have a conversation with Jackie Valdez. Jackie, welcome to the show.

[00:00:35] Jackie Valdez: Thank you, Simon. I'm very happy to be here.

[00:00:38] Simon Vetter: Jackie, I've known her for over 15 years. I use her services. She's a, an advisor and intuitive counselor. And, uh, today we wanna talk about intuition and unpack what it is and how can we use it for our own benefit. So Jackie, um, what is an intuitive counselor and how did you get into this field?

[00:01:02] Jackie Valdez: Hmm. So, um. I've been aware that, uh, I have used my intuition since I was really very, very, very young. It's one of those things that you know, that you're a little weird or a little odd, but you're not, but there's just certain times when you just seem to kind of understand that something may happen, that maybe the people around you aren't so sure that that's going to happen.

Um, and so over the years, it taught me to trust myself more instead of like. Trusting what other people might think of me. And as that started to happen, it, my intuition started to develop a little bit more. Because intuition is made up of only two things. One is very, very deep listening, listening to sounds that your ears can't hear.

And the other aspect of it is trust. You have to trust your own self. So as I was getting a little older, like getting into my twenties. I really started to realize that I needed to really listen to my own intuition. I lived in Colorado and when I was 23 I had an intuition to come to California and uh, I got in my car with a friend of mine and we had, uh, $250 each.

We each had a sleeping bag. We each had just a little bit of, of, uh, things that went within my, in my little Mustang. We drove to California. I never went back. She did, but it was an intuition. Even though everyone, my family, my friends, everyone's like, why would you, why are you leaving? You know what, what's going on?

I had no explanation as to why, but I trusted inside. That this was, we could say my destiny, uh, that it was supposed to be, but I really wasn't thinking in those terms. I just felt compelled to go. And then once I was here. Um, you know, I had like little jobs and things like that and I, I always did, um, intuitive sessions on the side because people would ask me questions about things and after a while, um, it became bigger and, uh, but I still did it as like a, a side job, so to speak.

And then, um, one day I was working and I got fired. That day I was a signed painter and I got fired that day. On my way home, my car broke down, so I didn't have a car, I didn't have a job the week before. I had been separated from my husband. And so, you know, I was like, oh, lordy, you know, what am I gonna do?

So I called up a couple of the people that I was. Doing in intuitive sessions with at the time and told them, you know, you can tell some other people, then that's okay now. And then I never got a real job again. So I just started doing what I do and it started to develop on its own. It wasn't like I had, um, a, a vision of what it should look like or how to do it.

Um, I didn't have anybody to teach me how to do it, so I did have to rely. Myself and I decided if I just kept showing up and doing it, that I would learn more and more about how to do it. You know? And you can tell if, if people are benefiting from it because of when they come back of what they say. So their feedback taught me how to hone in better to my own intuition and to trust myself more.

[00:04:24] Simon Vetter: Yeah, let's unpack this concept of intuition. Uh, you said it's like that inner trust, like trust ourselves. Some people call it inner knowing. So there are two aspects. One is stillness and one is. Deep listening. Can you talk about the two elements and how do we foster that in a way that helps us to sometimes also, it's like listening to our gut.

[00:04:50] Jackie Valdez: Yes. Yes, absolutely.

Well, stillness is one of those things that we have to really practice because, um, I've had a meditation practice for really most of my life at this point because, 'cause I'm older now, so it's most of my life. But, um. Meditation is one of these words where we think it has to look like this or we, we have to go to classes and we have to do all these things.

But really meditation is more about, it's made up of concentration. Concentration and meditation are not the same, but deep meditation requires concentration. Concentration requires stillness. So the practice of stillness is teaching ourselves to be able to sit without anticipating, without regretting, being able to be in the moment.

And sometimes people have said to me, well, being in the moment, you know, what about the past? What about the future? The moment, the moment that you're in right now is all the moments that you've already had accumulated and the more that you, whatever's in this moment. Is going to determine what's going to unfold in the future.

So practice of stillness for me is, uh, really understanding how breath and our thoughts are the same. So a lot of times when people talk to me about meditation, they say, no, I, I don't meditate. You know, I have a fast mind. And, um, Chris, I'm like, okay. You know, and I say, well, everybody has a fast mind. And they'll tell me, no, no, no, no.

I really have a fast mind. But that is a problem. So even race car drivers, they're going fast, but they have to have a centering. There's a concentration that they've developed, a disciplined mind to stay very, very focused. They can't be thinking about what they did yesterday or what they're gonna do tomorrow.

They have to be very, very focused because what they're doing is very fast. So they have to be super, super slow, so to speak. So that stillness is built from learning to concentrate. To not let our mind run around in all of these different directions. And as we learn to do that, it helps us to be more intuitive where we begin to sense our own voice sense.

What we need to do today, how things seem to unfolding. Um, it helps us to have conversations with other people where we're not so hurried to tell them exactly all these things or to dominate the conversation or to anticipate an outcome that we want them to feel. We are more likely to trust ourself more and want to be in tune with who we really are.

Rather than how we wanna be seen. So intuition really helps us to be able to be more relaxed. To concentrate more, 'cause concentration you need for everything you do. If you're baking a cake, you have to concentrate on it. If you're driving a race car, you have to concentrate on it no matter what the task is in front of you.

The better concentration that you have, the better the outcome is going to be. So to practice stillness is really about also understanding that how we breathe is how we think. So if I'm upset, my breath is going to be, I'm exaggerating, so you can see it. If I am very depressed, my breath may hardly be there. If I'm in a place of practicing stillness, my breath is gonna be long and slow. So I tell people it's good to learn, uh, uh, proper meditation, so to speak, and different styles of meditation. I encourage everybody to, to try different kinds of meditation, to help them to find the way to steal their mind, but ultimately it comes down to long and slow because when we do that. It empties our mind. It empties our mind of our fears, of our anticipations, anxiousness, sadness, and it helps us to be in this moment, like the race car driver, you know, being in that moment no matter what's going on in their life. So we wanna help ourselves to be more in each moment so that we get the most out of it.

So each moment in the future. Gets better and better. It helps us to be able to visualize more because a lot of times when people talk about visualization, all they're doing is projecting their desires. I wanna do this, I wanna be that. I want, I want, I want, I want, I want. And then that makes you anxious and then, then your mind starts going faster and faster and faster.

And it's about really stillness and intuition is about becoming.

[00:09:39] Simon Vetter: You said like anticipation, which is, oh, I wanna do this, this, this, this. So we create a lot of anticipation

[00:09:46] Jackie Valdez: Mm-hmm. Yes.

[00:09:48] Simon Vetter: now. Um, I work a lot in companies and one of the most, uh. Relevant competencies that I help, um, people in companies establish is executive presence or leadership presence. Um, that people feel like when you work with a team, people have that presence.

And a colleague of mine has this saying, if you wanna develop presence, we need to be present. I.

[00:10:18] Jackie Valdez: Oh, I love that. Yeah.

[00:10:20] Simon Vetter: It's about being in a moment, being still being centered, and, and, and so the breath is a way to connect to being in a moment.

[00:10:30] Jackie Valdez: Mm-hmm.

[00:10:31] Simon Vetter: Can you give me some ideas or some tools, how to practice that presence and that being in a moment.

[00:10:41] Jackie Valdez: Mm-hmm.

[00:10:42] Simon Vetter: How do you do that? Do you do it uh, with sessions? Do you do it when you do things? How do

[00:10:48] Jackie Valdez: Yes. Well now it's, it's been, it's part of my life, so I don't really like, think about doing it. However, um, if we haven't practiced it before, it's more about really first of all, recognizing that you feel your heart bounding or you feel your mind kind of going all over the place, feeling a little jittery or whatever.

Seeing that and understanding that that isn't really where you wanna come from. Because your energy is scattered and you want it to be whole and focused. And presence has to do with that energy being very whole, very present. Right? So some things that we can do is of course, helping ourself to, to like.

Even just breathe three times consciously, long and slow. What that's doing is it takes that concentration to remember that we are all about breath. you can't do anything. Um, the way that you think and the way that you breathe will always be in coordination. They'll always be in coordination.

When I sit down with people, I have a little visualization that I do because, um. Because some of the people that I sit with, I, I have seen, uh, at different times over the years, and they, they have become familiar to me. However, what I do is I visualize this old fashioned, uh, oh, I forget what they call 'em, um, where in the library they have the little thing that you go to the cat card catalog.

So I visualize it, sort of like that. And when a person comes in, I kind of visualize this little drawer opening. This little origami flower unfolds and all their information is in there, like certain things that we've talked about before, because memory is part of what we're talking about with presence, but I don't think about people after they've gone because it's their information.

It's private. So in the beginning I pull that out and I'll say, oh, I, let me tell you what I remember. You know, I remember this about you, or this about you. And they'll say, whoa. But it's what I, I wanna do is I just wanna be able to tell the difference between memory and intuition. So then after we have our session, then I visualize the session going back into the drawer, and in my mind I actually hear a little click, so then I know their information is safe.

I'm not gonna be thinking about it. It's private. It belongs to them, but I know it's there and that I'll be able to access it again. So that helps me to trust that I can start where I left off and I don't have to like wonder, okay, what was that that we talked about? How's that gonna work? How do we move forward?

And I don't, and I also don't want to mix up what we've talked about with what's going on right now. So. One of the things with intuition is to help ourselves to know that intuition is not just about telling the future. It's about helping the person to understand what may be going on with them right now so that they can fulfill a better future for themselves.

And by doing that, our memories also impact how we are now and who we're becoming so past, present, and future. Uh, the, the seed of who we are has. A past every seed and DNA and that DNA is a record that says, Hey look, I lived before and here's the record of what I've been. So when that seed goes into the ground, then it can only start where it left off.

So no matter how much I visualize it being a cherry, cherry tree, it's gonna be a peach tree. 'cause that's where it started. So we all start from our past. So that's another reason why I have that is so that I know where this person is coming from.

[00:14:30] Simon Vetter: Yeah.

[00:14:30] Jackie Valdez: And where they're now.

[00:14:32] Simon Vetter: So, to full disclosure, I've known Jackie for 15 years, and I, I have intuitive sessions with you, and when I come, it's for me to, for you to hold a mirror up to me where I am energetically, and I ask myself, okay, what I experience right now is a result of all the things I have done in the past. And if I wanna create a new experience, what can I do now?

How can I think differently? How can I act differently? How can I approach things differently to create a different experience? Or if I had a great experience, again, it's a reason what I have done in the past. So

what can I do now to change the future in my experience? Now, you talked about deep listening. How do we access that skill?

[00:15:31] Jackie Valdez: Oh, okay. I'm gonna put words to something that's wordless.

[00:15:40] Simon Vetter: It's hard to describe it in in words.

[00:15:43] Jackie Valdez: Yes, because it's about silence. I'm gonna be talking about silence. So it seems kind of ironic, but deep listening is, um, purity, that's the best word I can use. It's about helping ourself to feel that there's agitation happening because something happened yesterday. 'cause something that somebody just said right now to feel that energy and you have to like, not just bypass it.

You have to move through it. So, deep listening this deep listening requires that we don't project, that we don't expect that we are here. As you use the analogy of a mirror, a mirror reflects, it doesn't judge you. You judge yourself. You know, it doesn't tell you, Hey, you, you, no, you should wear this. So deep listening is allowing it to move through you.

So when I sit with someone, I wait for it to come to me.

[00:16:53] Simon Vetter: Hmm.

[00:16:54] Jackie Valdez: I wait for it to come to me. I, I. I want to feel what's going on. A lot of times I'll feel what people want, but it isn't necessarily going to happen for them because they're too clogged and we all have that. I'm clogged. They're clogged. We're clogged.

And so deep listening is to be able to feel where there's a bump, so to speak, in the stillness and as you learn to be really, really quiet. Again, it's like you have to want to not over talk. You have to want to really feel the other person. You have to really be empty so that you can receive them, and at the risk of being misunderstood by them, you have to stay in your, in your, your own place and be really quiet.

And honestly, um, it's very relaxing. It's very relaxing. So when you we're in a conversation, you know, sometimes a, you can have a conversation with somebody and it's just kind of like this. There's this going on, and then when you leave it, that energy is still following you around. But when you're in a state of deep listening, it won't steal your energy. It won't, uh, make you feel jittery. It'll make you feel. Their energy move through you. It'll impact you, but it'll move through you. People tell me, I don't, I don't wanna be intuitive. I don't wanna feel what other people are thinking. I don't wanna feel their pain. I look at it like this. I do feel people's pain every day, and you can't, I can't help it because everybody has pain at the grocery store, anywhere we go.

I acknowledge that and I let it move through me. I, I might feel it more on one day than, than another day, but that pain is there whether you actually feel it or not. And it does affect us. I affect others. Others affect me. I want to be conscious of it. It's like if I'm taking a walk through the forest, yes, I wanna know where the bears are.

[00:19:09] Simon Vetter: Hmm.

[00:19:10] Jackie Valdez: But I also wanna know where the picnic tables and the waterfalls are, and so I can make a better choice. Because without practicing deep listening, letting things move through us, we catch things from other people. So you can go to the grocery store feeling pretty good and come out there feeling terrible.

So with deep blistering, then when you get in your car, you're like, oh, wait, I didn't feel like this when I pulled up here. Let me sit for a few moments. Before I get into traffic and make this even worse. And you feel yourself then because you begin to recognize your own vibration, who you are, what your thoughts are, which are different than other people's thoughts.

We're always, always exchanging thought energy because we don't see it with our eyes. We don't understand that we're being, uh, affected by it, but we're affected by germs and we don't see them. So it's the same

thing.

[00:20:07] Simon Vetter: we are, we are energetically, uh, uh, very, we have different layers of energy and, and there is an energetic vibration, and also a thought is a vibration.

[00:20:20] Jackie Valdez: Yes.

[00:20:21] Simon Vetter: And so there's this, it's like a radio. Uh, you cannot see the waves, but it's there. So our thoughts are like radio waves. I see this picture as a comparison.

When, when we sit at the mountain lake and it's crystal clear, you can see through it, there is stillness, you have clarity of view, and then you throw in a rock and then all the dusk gets up and it's gets cloudy.

And sometimes it's like when, when I have a monkey mind, all the thoughts are in my head and it's getting cloudy.

So I need to let everything. Settle. So I have clarity of view, a clarity of insight, clarity of of, of thinking. Um, even um, when I do coaching with executives, I have to kind of stay still and really put myself in their shoes to really listen to what's going on in their world.

[00:21:25] Jackie Valdez: Exactly. Exactly. And they, um, they're in a position where they have a lot of responsibility. And it's very important for them to, uh, learn to be more stillness because responsibility literally weighs on our shoulders, and it can actually make it so that we can't see so clearly when we feel so bound by the feeling of responsibility or bound by anticipation, again, of what others may do or may not do.

So the more that a person who has a lot of responsibility learns how to be more present, I'm gonna use your word right now, what happens is they're more inclined to have intuitive insight in what's gonna work for the group, because they'll feel the people, what they're thinking, how they're responding.

Because we can speak and, and sometimes when we speak to somebody who's in, uh, uh, an authority or, uh, in our business life, we want them to hear us in a particular way. But the person that's in charge has to learn to see past how people want to see them, and really kind of feel what that person's actually saying to them so that then they can intuitively feel, I say feel, but sense.

How to improve the work environment, how to improve things for the other person to feel confident, uh, within the workforce so that it's more productive. So the more that we learn to be still, the more productivity that we have because we do have more clarity of sight. We can see where this is a weak spot over here.

This is a strong spot over here and we can nurture the weaker spots to, to. Be more compatible with that, that is strong and have better balance. So people in leadership, whether it's in a business situation, teaching, uh, politics, whatever it is, mothers and fathers in their home, wherever there's these places of great responsibility, listening is our greatest gift of learning.

And we have to be willing to learn every moment and remember that we don't really know everything.

[00:23:44] Simon Vetter: Say that again. This is such an important line. Listening is the gift of learning

[00:23:50] Jackie Valdez: Yes, it is. Listening is how we learn, and it's not only like hearing the words of other people going into us. It's not just about us being heard. It's about listening. Listening. You don't have to be able to hear to listen if you don't have hearing. You still listen. So listen, we listen intuitively.

Everybody is intuitive. I do not know how this word intuition, um, became, uh, to be used only for people who are like me. No. Um, I'm only a person who's aware of it. But everybody has intuition. There isn't a soul on the planet that doesn't. That's why sometimes we're talking to someone and then we go, oh, oh, I see what you're saying.

Now I get it. That's intuition. So every time you have an aha moment, every artist, every poet, every, everybody. When minute you have an aha moment, you're in intuition.

[00:25:02] Simon Vetter: Hmm.

[00:25:02] Jackie Valdez: Yes. Because intuition comes out of the blue. You don't think about it. You can't think about it. You can't force it. You can't make intuition happen.

You the, you have to be perfectly still and you receive it and you receive it from yourself. It's not like somebody's giving it to you. Every person has it when, uh, you know, uh, I remember being a child and learning how to play the piano and, um, my teacher always said, okay, you have to learn this piece by heart.

She didn't say Memorize it, learn it by heart. That's intuition, because then you're not just learning where the the notes are and where the keys are. You are feeling the music, you're interpreting the music through your heart. So intuition teaches us to, to feel what's behind the words. And then we get to know the person better and we can communicate with them better.

So it is how we learn it is how we teach when we want to, when we want to just tell people what to do that's different.

[00:26:11] Simon Vetter: Now you said we have to feel into it and a feeling is an emotion

[00:26:15] Jackie Valdez: Hmm.

[00:26:16] Simon Vetter: and we have positive, negative emotions, and especially when we're in a negative emotion, we are frustrated or annoyed or impatient. How does affect our ability to be intuitive and, and have that inner knowing, and how do we shift those emotional states?

[00:26:37] Jackie Valdez: Well, this is a really big question and I love it. Um, I consider myself to be quite the emotional being. I probably cry every single day, and I don't mean I'm like weeping in my hands, but people touch me. Um, because I sit with people who are in pain, a lot people going through breakups or separations and all the different kinds of things that pe people go through, and it, it, it touches me.

So over the years, I've learned to let it move through me where I, I know it's not mine.

[00:27:19] Simon Vetter: Hmm.

[00:27:20] Jackie Valdez: belongs to the other person. So I have empathy or compassion for what they're feeling, and as that happens, it teaches me to have more empathy and more compassion for my own wellbeing. So I'm not just pushing my pain away and go, oh, get over it.

Just, just get over it. I'm allowing myself to actually go, oh, yeah, yeah, you do feel this way, but it's all right. It's all right. And sometimes I just tell myself, it's okay. It's okay. It's okay. Until I actually can come back to my center. So emotions, yes, we feel emotions, but we have to learn mindfulness, which mindfulness is a beautiful word.

It's kind of a fancy word that really means self-control. So controlling our emotions doesn't mean. This, not at all. It means really being open. Flexible and letting it move through you. When you feel anger, it starts out as a i I feel anger, like I feel it just kind of buzz around me or somebody's really angry around me.

It feels like it's hurting my skin a little bit. So when I start to feel that, I know that I can catch that from that. So whether I'm projecting it, whether I'm doing it or I'm, they're projecting it onto me. Anger is one of those things that you can feel in the grocery line. Sometimes I'll actually go to another line because of that.

'cause it can, you can really feel it and you can catch it. Um, sadness, all of our emotions are contagious and when we start to really understand that more, then we wanna take care of ourselves better, just like we would wanna take care of our immune system. So emotions are something that we have to learn to become aware of before they become full-blown.

So sadness of other people, being compassionate, understanding them. We never wanna be afraid to, to feel somebody else's pain. Know that it belongs to them, but you're feeling it and it teaches you that we all feel pain. Exactly the same. Pain is pain regardless of the circumstances.

[00:29:31] Simon Vetter: And it's part of being human, being

[00:29:33] Jackie Valdez: Yes. Yeah. And it teaches us that we've gone a little bit too far because pain always says you've gone too far.

You, you start to feel pain when, uh, the fire is too hot. You've gone too far.

[00:29:48] Simon Vetter: When do we know it's we? When we take responsibility for our own things, our own emotions, and when do we protect ourselves or let that energy from other people move through us? How do we distinguish that?

[00:30:05] Jackie Valdez: Mm, discernment. So discernment is, you know, first we have to learn to discern, is this really mine? So that's why sometimes if I go someplace and I feel pretty good and on my return home, I'm not feeling so good. I know it's my interaction with other people, but I don't go looking to see who it's. Because it really doesn't matter.

What matters is that I've been affected by it, so then I help myself to sit quietly. Um, one of the, uh, I, so every sun, the first Sunday of the month, we have a first Sunday, uh, session, and it's called Word of the Month, and I always give a virtue and a saboteur to meditate. Honor, meditate, honor means to put it in your mind and practice the virtue.

So this month it is the word service.

[00:30:58] Simon Vetter: Mm-hmm.

[00:30:59] Jackie Valdez: And the saboteur is greed. Now, what we do with that is, is that we put that word in to our mind and go, okay, today it's service. I, I am service. I am service to myself. I am being of good service to other people. We're keeping it in mind. What happens is focusing on something really positive helps you to learn to see, 'cause you're doing it consciously.

All of a sudden you'll see the word somewhere. Or somebody will say the word to you and you become very aware of that. And that's to help us to go from feeling, um, like we're hoarding, like we're not enough. Always more and more and more. Tell me how good I am. Tell me this. Tell me that. Did you say thank you to me when I gave that to you?

Instead of looking for that 'cause? 'cause that's like hoarding or being greedy. We don't really use that word except for about money, but, but it's true. We do want so much from others, but when we're giving service. It means that we give and then we forget that we gave, we don't come back and say, you know, I did this for you and I did that for you, and I did this for you and I did this for you.

Did you? Then why is it coming back to me in this way? So what we're doing is we're teaching ourself to, uh, have mantras, uh, chanting affirmations to help us to remember that words. Are so important. 'cause I hear people say words don't matter, they don't matter. Oh my gosh. That's all. We have to reflect our thoughts. So being aware of our words and how we speak consciously, helping ourselves to speak in the way that we really wanna feel makes us actually be that. We become that. So words are very, very important. We, we get so used to going, oh, that's just that blah, blah. And we speak in really not so flattering ways, but when we update ourself and we, we consciously find a way to speak positively to someone.

We're conscious that we could hurt them, that we could offend them, that we could cause conflict between us. We're going to look for a way inside of ourself to get past that emotional emotion of anger. We have to acknowledge that we have it and not feel guilty that we have it. 'cause that'll make it even worse.

But once you acknowledge that and you change how you're feeling, and by your words. Because you're consciously using your words and saying, so I just wanted to talk about what we talked about yesterday and you know, that, that, that hurt me. But I'm not saying that you did this on purpose, but I did want you to know how that felt. So when we do that, it's, it's to help us to know that we're really feeling that way. That we're feeling like, gosh, I know they didn't really realize how much that hurt and you want to. To help yourself and to help them. So we have to be very aware of our words and make sure that they're reflecting how we feel, and then that will change our emotion.

It changes us.

[00:34:09] Simon Vetter: words are powerful because they are an extension of what we think

and an extension of our intention.

[00:34:16] Jackie Valdez: yes, yes.

[00:34:19] Simon Vetter: so how do we intentionally approach an issue or a problem or a project? It starts with our thinking, and then it gets expressed to our words, and then we gotta feel it to make sure the energy is in alignment.

[00:34:36] Jackie Valdez: Exactly. So like in business, um, you may have a really, uh, you might feel inspired, which is your intuition. Inspiration is intuition. You feel inspired with a new idea and you know, you're gonna be meeting with, with your team today. So you feel inspired. You wake up and you're like, oh, I have this idea. I really wanna present it.

You know? And then you get in there and there's somebody who says something that kind of distracts you because it's. Seems a little hostile in some way. So you have to like help yourself in that moment. Awareness first. In order to make a change, we have to be aware first, oh, I had an inspiration, but now I feel a little distracted because I wanna tell this person, you know?

And we have to make that decision in a moment. In a moment, in that moment of awareness. No, let it be. Then help yourself to find your words. You have to find your words. We tell that to children, find your words and we're just big children. Find your words to express really that inspiration that you had this morning, whatever that may be.

So it's, it's takes inner strength. We have to be very strong to be very kind. It's easy to be bad. It's easy to, uh, malign. It's easy to gossip, it's easy to do all of these things, but kindness, deep inspiration to be, uh, to follow, uh, deep philosophy. It to be still requires inner strength. And that's what is really good for business is for us to earn, to be this way so that the business is always doing good for their clients or their customers.

It's not just about putting it out, putting it out, putting it out. 'cause we do get into that feeling of a rut. Just do it. Just do it. Just do it. But the more that there's awareness, there's more authenticity of humanity,

[00:36:42] Simon Vetter: Yep.

[00:36:42] Jackie Valdez: and that's a much better way to make a living.

[00:36:46] Simon Vetter: Yeah. What? Um, I see that myself, I got so much projects, tasks, and I got this client that, and I got a full schedule. What tips do you have to integrate moments of stillness and deep listening and intuition into a busy schedule?

[00:37:10] Jackie Valdez: Oh, okay. So practicing, uh, while you're, uh, doing your daily routine. So driving is one of the things that people do almost every day. A lot of people drive every single day. So how do we do it when we're driving? Because, you know, it can be very frustrating. Ah, you know, there's all kinds of things happen when we're driving.

I don't recommend meditating while you're driving, however, it's the practice of relaxing. Because when you're driving, you can feel yourself doing this. And what, what you wanna do is be aware of it.

Oh, okay. I tell myself, shh, to come back into that center because it'll make me more responsible, it'll make me have more calmness so that when I arrive where I do, I'm much more prepared to start. So if you're, uh, maybe you like to cook or you like to bake or something like that, everybody eats. And so if you're making your dinner, how are you making your dinner?

Are you cutting your carrots like this? This is what's happening. So remember, the energy in your mind moves through your hands. It to any, everything that you touch, leaves energy, leaves a mark of energy. So what's in our minds is we're cutting those carrots. It can be very, very negative and now we're consuming it again.

[00:38:38] Simon Vetter: How do we do that? When we are in a meeting and there is 10 people and there's a lot of interactions, a lot of thoughts and energy, how do we practice being present?

[00:38:52] Jackie Valdez: So what I'm gonna tell you is because having really simple, but think of it as simplistic rather than simple. First thing that um, I like to do is to be aware of my feet.

[00:39:05] Simon Vetter: Mm.

[00:39:06] Jackie Valdez: I've, uh, I practiced, uh, kung fu. I took, uh, kung fu lessons for 22 years, and this is where I learned this from, is being aware of where your feet are at all times.

So when you're in a meeting and maybe the energy's just a little kind of scattered or whatever it may be, first thing you wanna always do is feel your feet. As you feel your feet, you, you're not just feeling from here up. Because when, when we get, um, irritable or we get anxious or anything like that, we lose contact with the rest of our body.

[00:39:40] Simon Vetter: And we are not grounded.

[00:39:41] Jackie Valdez: That's right. Literally. So when you feel your feet, there is this groundedness of you staying in your body instead of getting too caught up with the energy of everybody else. And so as you stay grounded and focused, what it does is it moves from you out to the others, and it influences them to be able to do the same.

But feeling your feet, putting your tongue on the roof of your mouth, like ugh. It makes it so, it makes it so you don't talk out of turn. But when you put your tongue on the roof of your mouth, it forces you to breathe through your nose, which forces you to breathe more deeply. So two things. Tongue on the roof of your mouth.

Feet. Wiggle your toes. Wiggle your toes. You will ground yourself. You'll remember, sit in your body. Be here. You're safe. All is well. This is what's in front of you, is just what you're dealing with right now. You're well, you're good. All is well. And then it,

[00:40:44] Simon Vetter: love this concept

[00:40:46] Jackie Valdez: oh.

[00:40:46] Simon Vetter: because the feet is grounding, feeling safe, having a base, being feeling secure. And when we put the tongue on up, then we connect to the moment because we have to breathe through our.

[00:41:01] Jackie Valdez: Mm-hmm.

[00:41:02] Simon Vetter: No. So we become more present, more centered,

and we can do this anytime in a meeting.

[00:41:09] Jackie Valdez: Exactly. It's so simple. It's just so simple, you know, that we just overlook it because you know, you, you, if you're sitting there and everybody's just kind of agitated a little bit because there's a deadline and there's all these things that are happening, everybody just gets caught kind of amped up and nobody remembers that they have feet.

[00:41:26] Simon Vetter: I, I was on a, on a Zoom call with a group and I got impatient and I start tuning out and I start to open up emails and responding and I was not present anymore, so this is a great way to practice.

[00:41:40] Jackie Valdez: Yeah, because then it keeps you focused and you're helping yourself just stay there and to bear it out. So you're, you're, you're teaching yourself to bear it out with grace and dignity. You know, a moment that's hard to 'cause we, the energy that's coming from other people can make us wanna resist. And so we're gonna distract ourself in some way.

But when you learn to bear it out, it'll move through you and when you're finished, you won't feel so tired.

[00:42:05] Simon Vetter: Any other, uh, tools or recommendations that we can apply in our, in our life that is overwhelmed with stuff?

[00:42:17] Jackie Valdez: I think one of the things to remember is.

Quite often we're thinking the very worst. Um, I talk to people about worst case scenarios so much, I just call 'em WCS because we all have these worst case scenarios floating through our mind, and we're visualizing, visualizing, visualizing, visualizing the worst case scenario. And we don't think that that matters.

Sometimes

it does It does because, uh, when people talk about, uh, visualizing, you know, and they, they go, okay, I'm visualizing this, but if the worst case scenario is visualized far more than the best case scenario, this is what you're gonna be dealing with.

[00:43:01] Simon Vetter: and, and we become good atracting. What We don't want the worst case scenario.

[00:43:05] Jackie Valdez: precisely.

precisely.

[00:43:07] Simon Vetter: turn this around. It's okay. What is the best case scenario? And start visualizing it and understanding,

[00:43:13] Jackie Valdez: Exactly visualizing it and having like the word of the month. You wanna have a word or a, a mantra or affirmations, you know? Um, I am at peace, I am at peace. If peace were easy, we'd all have it. There wouldn't be any more wars. Peace is something that we have to practice, and the more we practice it, we understand that it is not.

Neutrality. No, it is inner strength. It is self-control.

[00:43:47] Simon Vetter: Yeah. Peace with ourselves.

Be at peace with ourselves.

[00:43:53] Jackie Valdez: Mm-hmm.

[00:43:54] Simon Vetter: Yeah.

That requires calmness and composure

and.

[00:43:59] Jackie Valdez: And awareness.

[00:44:00] Simon Vetter: Going back and going back to stillness and deep listening and,

[00:44:05] Jackie Valdez: Yes. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. And the, when each person starts to be more responsible for their state of peace, we have world peace. When people say, I wanna be a peacemaker, well, are you at peace with yourself?

[00:44:21] Simon Vetter: Hmm.

[00:44:22] Jackie Valdez: Be at peace with yourself. It's like helping yourself not to be so judgmental of yourself. 'cause the more we tell ourself how bad we did and all of these bad things, we're more likely to see that in others. And then it just creates more negativity everywhere. But the more we become more, uh, in a place of awareness that we don't have to speak to ourself in such a bad way. We don't have to put ourself down. We don't have to see ourself as horrible, and we don't have to pump ourself up and go, yeah, you're the greatest.

You're the greatest. It doesn't have to happen that way either.

[00:44:54] Simon Vetter: I have this concept that, um, we have thoughts, a hundred thoughts every minute or more. Uh. I wanna be conscious and aware of my thinking, my thought, and I ask myself what I think right now, is that empowering me? Does it energize me? Does it get me closer where I really want to? Or does it limiting me?

Does it take energy away? Does it move me away for when I go?

And so I, I don't say good or bad or negative or positive. It's like, does it empower me, energize me, or does it limit me? And then I. In that moment, I can always, I have the power to change my thought.

Okay, good. If I am critical of myself or I beat myself up, or why did I do this?

Or then I say, okay, good. I can change that thought. Okay, good.

[00:45:44] Jackie Valdez: Mm-hmm.

[00:45:44] Simon Vetter: What can I shift to align my thought about what I more want?

[00:45:52] Jackie Valdez: Exactly. I love the way you worded that. That was really, really good. It's very thoughtful actually. So, because you're asking yourself a question which you're gonna wanna respond. Well, yeah. Why am I doing that? Well, it doesn't matter. I am doing that and let me not do that. And yeah.

[00:46:10] Simon Vetter: Before we finish any last, um, advice for the listeners, how we can, uh, use this concept intuition in, in a effective way in our lives? I.

[00:46:22] Jackie Valdez: Be interested. Be interested in what other people actually are thinking and saying to you. Because as you learn to listen to yourself and your words, it'll help you to actually want to listen to what they're actually saying and how they're saying it. And you'll hear people put themselves down, you'll hear them do all kinds of things, and you'll be like, oh, I do that.

And we can change ourselves by learning to listen more deeply and not just be intent on making those quick assumptions about somebody.

[00:46:58] Simon Vetter: It goes back to listening is the gift of learning

[00:47:02] Jackie Valdez: Yes,

[00:47:03] Simon Vetter: and it's a gift of receiving. It's, uh, yeah, it's a very powerful concept. Thank you very much,

Jackie. Where can we find you?

[00:47:15] Jackie Valdez: Oh, I'm at Saints in training com.

[00:47:18] Simon Vetter: Very good. I attend her, uh, first month Sunday sessions and I always get something out of it. So if you're interested, check out her website since in training you will see a link in the show notes. Jackie, thank you so much for our discussions today. It's always, um, a gift to be with you and, uh. Be well and have a wonderful day.

[00:47:46] Jackie Valdez: Thank you. You be well also. Bye.