01 – Creating from Aliveness: A Path to Flow and Peaceful Success

0:03Shailia StephensSo hi and welcome to the very first episode of For You with Leah Van Lee.

0:13Lea WernliHi.

0:13Shailia StephensAnd Shaleia Stephens. And we just felt inspired to speak today in English, which, Leah, I can't even remember the first time when we spoke in English, can you?

0:29Lea WernliI think it was around Totally Human. I know it was My Secret Life, of course. When we, yeah, when we had the interviews with all the old teachers.

0:40Shailia StephensOh yeah, and then we had our English retreat. Do you remember that? And we had some really funny experiences. Um, so welcome. So we're here really just for you today, and We're going to just jump in. And we do this on our German podcast, like, really spontaneously and kind of just play and talk and have a conversation. So today what I brought, Leah, was the idea of checking in with yourself.

1:14Lea WernliHmm.

1:15Shailia StephensAnd this comes from a recent conversation that I had with Michael Neill. And we were looking in the direction of how can we stay more in the flow, or rather take ourselves less out of the flow more often.

1:41Lea WernliMm-hmm.

1:42Shailia StephensBecause what happens in life when we are showing up in the world— and we were specifically in the last 6 months, we've been looking together in his Effortless Success Mastermind. in the direction of creating success in the world. You know, he likes to talk about, um, peace of mind, um, being successful and successful inner life, or a piece of property is more like a successful outer life, like, um, the money we're making or accumulating, the things we're, you know, just creating in the world.

2:20And one of the ways that we can get into the flow is coming from a successful inner world, that, like, that deep peace of mind, that wonder about life, that, that aliveness in us. When we're in that space, life, um, life calls to us and it gives us invitations. Um, it offers us ideas and impulses, like, just these things, like, They're, they're, they're bubbly, they're, they're delicious, they're coming up this full aliveness. They're like, do you want to try this, write this book, do this podcast today?

3:01Lea WernliRight.

3:03Shailia StephensAnd we feel that aliveness within us. And it just feels juicy to kind of like, oh, what is that? Like, okay, I'm gonna go create that thing. And the next piece that often happens is we, we move into that flow of life, right?

3:22Lea WernliMm-hmm.

3:22Shailia StephensLife will give us the next little step and the next little step, and we just get onto that river and we just start flowing with life. And it's also juicy. It's just kind of, um, it's joyful. It's, it's, it's, it's just being in life and, and creating from, from that aliveness in an ongoing kind of a way.

3:49Lea WernliMm-hmm.

3:49Shailia StephensAnd sometimes what can happen is we can take ourselves out of that flow. And that can happen in any possible way. Like, we're going about our creation and we look out into the world and we think to ourselves, oh no, 3 other people are talking about the same thing. What do I have to say? Right? Like, and our doubt comes up and we might put a a break on our flow or take ourselves out of the flow, um, we might feel a little piece of wisdom inside of us saying, oh, this could be much bigger. Why don't you contact, uh, John Smith over there and do a big ask to see what happens? And you feel the wisdom to do that, but you like, no, who am I to ask John Smith?

4:42Lea WernliMm-hmm.

4:43Shailia StephensRight? And we take ourselves out of the flow. So those are some of the things we've been talking about in the last 6 months. But one of the areas that I thought was the most interesting for me personally, because I'm a person who tends to, out of an old habit of an old conditioning, I take myself out of the flow less with a doubt, less with not taking steps on my wisdom. Like, I tend to feel more confident. I tend to take, you know, do the big ask if wisdom calls me to do it. But sometimes what I do is I get into that space where that— there's a little slave driver within me that lives in my brain.

5:27Lea WernliMm-hmm.

5:28Shailia StephensAnd it's like trying to make me work harder, go faster, get bigger results. Like, it's, it's kind of pushing me in the direction of speed. And in the past, even in the, in the direction of almost burning myself out, right?

5:48Lea WernliMm-hmm.

5:49Shailia StephensAnd so it also wants me to set big goals and look at the bank account and like, like all that kind of stuff. And what we were talking about in our conversation was this idea of what if there was Um, what if there's a much more gentler, more peaceful way of being in business? And that's just the direction that we're looking in there, like creating things in the world. It could be in your life as well. And where Michael was pointing, and I thought, I've been thinking about it ever since we had the conversation, was really this idea of keeping a regular check-in with yourself.

6:37And the check-in is like, just, hmm, is there anything I can do to be kinder to myself? And it's going within, like, really to our core, to mind, connecting with the deeper intelligence that we are.

7:01Lea WernliMm-hmm.

7:02Shailia StephensAnd it's looking for just a little spark of an answer in the direction of how can this be gentler? How can this be more peaceful? How can this be kinder? And when we were having that conversation, it felt really good because who doesn't want to have a more gentler, peaceful, kinder experience of anything, right?

7:27Lea WernliMm-hmm.

7:29Shailia StephensAnd then I noticed my, my head just sort of turned on and it was like, yeah, but being kind to yourself doesn't get you results in the world.

7:38Lea WernliRight.

7:40Shailia StephensAnd where Michael has been looking for himself recently and where I'm very motivated to look in the next, you know, time is just like, what if really, really, really The kinder thing to do is also exactly the thing that's going to keep you in the flow and lead to the results you want to see in the world, or at least to something that you couldn't even have imagined that's even bigger than what you thought you wanted.

8:13Lea WernliHmm.

8:14Shailia StephensSo that's just the kickoff of the conversation, Leah. So I wonder what you heard in that. And like, do you resonate with like checking in with yourself And going the gentle path and the kind path.

8:28Lea WernliI really like the idea, and I also love it because it points in the direction of mind to me. Uh, in the direction of mental health, of, of health.

8:58Shailia StephensHmm.

8:59Lea WernliAnd often in this society, in this world, it's the gentler way. I think it's Probably to listen to what's needed in the moment. And because we overdo it in the doing aspects, and we're not listening to the voice who points towards sleep.

9:42Shailia StephensMm-hmm.

9:43Lea Wernliand health and food and, and rest. We overdo it. And to have the wisdom to, to put it into your day as a habit, as a structure, structure can be really helpful. I totally see it, and somehow probably I don't need it that much.

10:20Shailia StephensHmm.

10:24Lea WernliI often deeply trust the inner knowing of stop and go. Of now a lot and more, and then gentle and nothing, and a lot of space again. So I'm— for the last months or even probably years, I fell out of this doing, doing, doing, doing more.

11:01Shailia StephensMm-hmm.

11:03Lea Wernliinto a peaceful way of being successful in my world.

11:21Shailia StephensMhm.

11:21Lea WernliAnd So I'm not, I'm not always slow, not at all. And sometimes me too, I don't hear it, but beneath, I trust that I see and hear the wisdom that points back to where to go next and when to stop. And that's one part.

12:07Shailia StephensHmm.

12:08Lea WernliAnd the other is I have a very almost childlike approach to my business. It's You know me, and we worked together. It's not that I'm not professional or that I'm not showing up for whatever we created, but it's experimental often.

12:43Shailia StephensMm-hmm.

12:44Lea WernliLike, oh, That sounds fun. And how does it work? And oh, what, what could I do even better without always looking to punish myself if it doesn't work out the way my little mind made it up in the first place?

13:10Shailia StephensMm-hmm.

13:15Lea WernliSo I love to play with goals. I love to create things in the world. I love to, to earn money with what I do, but I'm, I'm not that attached to the outcome. So it's always, um, kind of being drawn to the, to the gentleness for my, my whole life, in a way. So, but when you were talking about it, I, I, I really saw that that's what I'm naturally doing.

14:08Shailia StephensYeah.

14:09Lea WernliI, I listen, I stop. Even with you, do you remember? Like, is it really the way to go? Um, hmm, how?

14:22Shailia StephensYeah.

14:23Lea WernliAnd maybe it is a natural way, actually. Or it would be.

14:31Shailia StephensI do think it's an, uh, it would be a natural way. And, um, I, I'll speak to what you just said if that's okay with you. Yeah, yeah, I very much experienced that when we were working together with you. And like, you know, we had our, I don't know, 2 and a half years where we were doing our projects together, and it was one of the most kind of joyful and peaceful places and ways of being in, in business that I ever experienced before. And what I noticed is when we went our separate ways, um, I like just flew kind of back into my old habits, um, from, from before even the 3 principles, right?

15:22Lea WernliMm-hmm.

15:25Shailia StephensAnd that's why I was having the conversation with Michael at all, because it really was very surprising to me, because I just assumed now I'm in this natural flow of, like you were explaining, like the play you were talking about feels like the aliveness that I was talking about, right? Just like—

15:45Lea WernliTotally.

15:45Shailia StephensCuriosity and, ooh, what's this? And what could I do here? You know, it's like no attachment to it, just just the pure joy of looking in the direction, seeing what happens, adjusting if necessary. And what I really noticed is it's like, I guess, like anything. If your strong habit was taking a drink to cover up your feelings, or if you work more or faster to counteract your insecurities, right?

16:21Lea WernliMm-hmm.

16:22Shailia StephensThat sometimes, You might trip into that space again unknowingly. And for me, what had happened in the last year, year and a half is that I was telling Michael it was kind of like the frog in the water effect. Like, you know, if you let a frog jump into cold water and then you turn the stove on and you slowly heat up the water, it won't jump out. It doesn't— it won't notice the temperature change. It'll stay in. It'll boil to death, right?

16:51Lea WernliMm-hmm.

16:53Shailia StephensAnd that's what led us to this conversation because I was like, it seems to me like a little tiny piece of my old habitual insecure thinking led me into my old habit of working too hard and too fast to counteract my insecurities. But it happened so, so gradually over time that I was like the frog in boiling water.

17:16Lea WernliMm-hmm.

17:17Shailia StephensAnd so the conversation was like, Wow, that took me off guard. I thought I would just notice that naturally. And Michael wasn't talking about the check-in as a sort of daily habit or something we should install like journaling. It wasn't about that. It was much more like he really had had an insight for himself about just checking in a little more often.

17:46Lea WernliMm-hmm.

17:48Shailia Stephensespecially for the fact that maybe he has the similar insecure thinking that leads to overworking that I have. And it just was an interesting conversation because I was thinking back to like last November, December, January, and I started to slowly be that boiling frog. And I just like, oh yeah, if I had had the insight at the time— you know, just to check in with myself. Is this gentle? Is this peaceful? Am I being kind to myself right now? I was just feeling like, yeah, that would have been really helpful.

18:30So that's kind of more of the direction. And I can so see what you're talking about, that it— I don't know if it came naturally to you before you had, like, your big insight that just kind of switched the lever and changed everything, or if you you know, it— if you always have that, or if it came now. But I see that in you, that you have that natural inclination to create from aliveness, get on the flow, not take yourself out of the flow. You do check in with yourself, but it's more of a— it comes natural to you to do that.

19:06Lea WernliYeah. And what I really would like to point out, especially because we are coming from, yeah, the concept of the 3 principles or the truth or whatever it is, that neither is the right way.

19:27Shailia StephensHmm.

19:28Lea WernliAgain, it's not, oh, Leo had a big insight into the nature of who we are and then That's how it should look like.

19:41Shailia StephensYeah.

19:41Lea WernliNot at all. That was my way, how it unfolded for me. And that's what I love. The check-in is that for my client, and it resonates with you because it's wisdom through you and something to hear for you.

20:05Shailia StephensYeah.

20:05Lea WernliAnd that's, that's the, the real magic there, that we, we have the insights and, and the direction where it points us for our lives and where in— where we are standing, and not a right path or a right Um, way to be in business. But everything, when we see more— not more, more— or when we see different points towards healthier, I'm, I'm quite sure of it. But that can look as different as we are Yeah, yeah, I 100% agree with that.

21:04Shailia StephensAbsolutely. And, um, that's why, that's why I think doing the podcast, or anytime we show up to talk about anything, um, we're always kind of talking about— well, we're either talking one of two things. We're either pointing to the truth.

21:21Lea WernliYes.

21:22Shailia StephensLike, we are alive, we are aware, we think. That is true for all human beings. Like, the universe principle of mind, the universal principle of consciousness, the universal principle of thought. Or we are sharing wisdom that's currently in our field of consciousness and resonating with us, hoping you will see something resonant for yourself, or that an insight will spark in you. But it's never about my story. It's never about Michael's story or Leah's story, ever, ever, ever.

21:59Lea WernliMm-hmm.

22:00Shailia StephensIt's, it's just one way of pointing back.

22:02Lea WernliYeah, and it's only ever true if it's alive for you, and it's, it's becoming true for you through you. So yeah, yeah, that was nice.

22:17Shailia StephensThat was so fun. So yeah, thanks for, um, listening today. To our first ever English podcast episode. We have no idea how, when, and what it's gonna go from here.

22:35Lea WernliWe'll see.

22:36Shailia StephensOr Lea, what would you want to say about that?

22:37Lea WernliYeah, I just wanted to say, yeah, a few minutes just for you.

22:42Shailia StephensA few minutes just for you. Awesome. Have a wonderful day and hear you again soon.

22:48Lea WernliBye. Bye.