"Yes! And....." :Insights from a spiritual catalyst

Darrell Snow: 00:00:05

Hey.

Darrell Snow: 00:00:05

Welcome back to another episode of A Warrior Spirit, the show where inner warriors shine in their light, presented by Praxis 33, the company that aligns your thoughts, goals and actions to create your best life.

Darrell Snow: 00:00:16

I'm your host, Darrell Snow, and today we have Michelle Albers.

Darrell Snow: 00:00:20

Michelle is a catalyst to uncovering your authentic self.

Darrell Snow: 00:00:25

And she's the owner of Jaidee, where she teaches Reiki, yoga, tarot and Zendangle.

Darrell Snow: 00:00:32

She also hosts transformative healing workshops and retreats and has her own podcast, Hypothetical Intentional.

Darrell Snow: 00:00:39

So today, get prepared to take a spiritual journey, and we welcome Michelle Albers to the show.

Darrell Snow: 00:00:47

Michelle, thank you for joining us today.

Michelle Albers: 00:00:49

Thank you so much for having me.

Michelle Albers: 00:00:50

I love that I'm here again.

Darrell Snow: 00:00:52

Here again.

Darrell Snow: 00:00:52

Yes, we, we, we love having return guests.

Darrell Snow: 00:00:57

It means that we have a lot of things to talk about and a lot of things to say.

Darrell Snow: 00:01:02

So I appreciate you.

Darrell Snow: 00:01:05

In your intro, we, we talked about that you do spiritual growth and, and you also help with emotional recovery.

Darrell Snow: 00:01:15

I've often said you're an excavator, not a construction worker.

Darrell Snow: 00:01:21

And by that I mean we both have been in the self healing space for a very long time.

Darrell Snow: 00:01:29

And a lot of coaches want to go in and just blow up your world and blow up your life, but you kind of peel it back like an onion, one layer at a time.

Darrell Snow: 00:01:38

That's why I say an excavator, you just kind of go in more like an archaeologist, uncovering each layer as they go.

Darrell Snow: 00:01:46

What brought you to this spiritual journey to help others in this fashion?

Michelle Albers: 00:01:51

Oh, gosh.

Michelle Albers: 00:01:53

I think I just got to the point where I was tired of the pain and I knew I didn't want life to keep going the way it was.

Michelle Albers: 00:02:01

And for that to happen, there needed to be a different choice.

Michelle Albers: 00:02:06

And it's funny because I think I kind of stumbled on that choice.

Michelle Albers: 00:02:08

I don't think I really knew how to find it.

Michelle Albers: 00:02:10

And yet it just sort of found.

Michelle Albers: 00:02:12

And there were just a couple big life things that happened.

Michelle Albers: 00:02:16

One was my nephew getting sick, and the other was me finding Thai massage.

Michelle Albers: 00:02:20

And that school and that community changed everything for me.

Michelle Albers: 00:02:23

And they kind of happened.

Michelle Albers: 00:02:24

Like my nephew getting sick was shortly after I found that community, which was a total blessing and godsend.

Michelle Albers: 00:02:30

So it just kind of landed there and it changed everything for me.

Michelle Albers: 00:02:33

And I realized not only who I really was, but why I'm here, I guess.

Michelle Albers: 00:02:39

I mean, that feels accurate to me.

Darrell Snow: 00:02:42

Yeah.

Darrell Snow: 00:02:43

When we talked before, we talked about your.

Darrell Snow: 00:02:45

Your.

Darrell Snow: 00:02:46

Your life.

Darrell Snow: 00:02:46

And for those who.

Darrell Snow: 00:02:48

Who want to, they can go back out on A warrior spirit.

Darrell Snow: 00:02:51

And find Michelle's interview where we talked about that.

Darrell Snow: 00:02:54

But it really was a transformational moment through your nephew's illness.

Darrell Snow: 00:02:59

And for those who didn't hear that story or haven't seen that story, can you just kind of, kind of recap what that catalyst actually looked like?

Michelle Albers: 00:03:07

Yeah.

Michelle Albers: 00:03:08

So I was deep into another Thai massage training.

Michelle Albers: 00:03:11

I don't believe I was fully certified yet.

Michelle Albers: 00:03:13

Maybe I was.

Michelle Albers: 00:03:14

No, I definitely wasn't.

Michelle Albers: 00:03:16

And in the training he.

Michelle Albers: 00:03:20

I got phone calls and I had my phone off and so on a break I listened to my phone messages and it was my nephew.

Michelle Albers: 00:03:27

They found something in my nephew's brain.

Michelle Albers: 00:03:28

We're going to the hospital, you know, meet us there as soon as you can.

Michelle Albers: 00:03:32

And so I just like had a total meltdown in the middle of a class where I knew some of the people, but I didn't know all of the people.

Michelle Albers: 00:03:39

And that just turned into a whole lot of people holding space for me and me holding space for a lot of people, like within the families and that sort of thing.

Michelle Albers: 00:03:50

And I just learned so much in that.

Michelle Albers: 00:03:53

And my nephew himself and other people involved, mostly the kids involved, were ridiculous in how they handled the journey in the most beautiful, I have faith that it's all going to be okay kind of way.

Michelle Albers: 00:04:06

And I'm not saying it wasn't a painful journey, I'm not saying it wasn't challenging, but watching, you know, a 10 year old boy go through treatments and, and the scare of we don't know what this looks like yet and we don't know the outcome and we have to take it one step at a time was absolutely terrifying.

Michelle Albers: 00:04:26

But also, I don't know, it was just such a big catalyst in my own healing.

Michelle Albers: 00:04:30

And I find it a little bit comical that it was somebody else's pain that got me to a place where I could do something for myself because I just wanted to show up differently.

Michelle Albers: 00:04:41

I didn't want to show up in a way that was not helpful to that situation.

Michelle Albers: 00:04:46

And so I just leaned in.

Michelle Albers: 00:04:49

I had no choice is how I saw it and I leaned in and I made a different choice than I ever would have made before.

Michelle Albers: 00:04:54

And you know, I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Michelle Albers: 00:04:58

And also for me, it was a huge blessing and I've told him so.

Michelle Albers: 00:05:03

Like I've, you know, learned so much and changed so much.

Michelle Albers: 00:05:06

And thank you for showing up the way you did.

Michelle Albers: 00:05:10

It's such a beautiful thing, it's such a horrific thing all at the same time.

Michelle Albers: 00:05:13

It's such a weird Dance.

Michelle Albers: 00:05:15

To dance.

Michelle Albers: 00:05:16

But I'm forever grateful for how my life changed because of all of the pain points in my life.

Michelle Albers: 00:05:23

It just.

Darrell Snow: 00:05:25

One of the things that you talked about before, about that was how you witnessed how the children.

Darrell Snow: 00:05:30

Your nephew.

Darrell Snow: 00:05:31

How old was your nephew at this time?

Michelle Albers: 00:05:33

10.

Darrell Snow: 00:05:34

Yeah.

Darrell Snow: 00:05:35

So you talked about how the attitude of the children and the calmness of the children was vastly different than the attitude of the adults and the chaos they were creating.

Darrell Snow: 00:05:48

Can you speak to that just a few minutes?

Michelle Albers: 00:05:51

Yeah.

Michelle Albers: 00:05:52

I really learned that laughter is the best medicine.

Michelle Albers: 00:05:55

I mean, the boys would be in the hospital room playing with catheters and joking about IVs and what you might put in them.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:01

They just.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:02

I.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:02

It was so many times they were in the room together giggling, and I remember thinking, none of the adults are giggling.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:08

Ever since this whole thing started, none of us have giggled maybe even once.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:12

And I just remember thinking they're somehow calm in this, or at least they perceive that way.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:18

Like they project that way.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:19

Like, I was reading them as calm.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:22

Not to say there was never pain or anything like that, but they were just calm and present.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:27

They were very much dropped into the present moment and able to laugh and giggle.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:31

And, um, everything was so matter of fact, you know, the doctor come in and say, do you know what we're doing?

Michelle Albers: 00:06:36

Do you know why we're doing it?

Michelle Albers: 00:06:37

And the answers were just like, yeah, you're going to take this thing out of my head that's causing me headaches and they're going to go away.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:42

And that was all he cared about.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:44

The headaches are going to go away.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:46

And he never questioned whether or not they'd be able to do it.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:48

He was just dropped into his faith.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:49

And I was just like, oh, my God, this is.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:51

Why am I showing up in a totally different way than this?

Michelle Albers: 00:06:55

I don't.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:55

I just.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:56

It was.

Michelle Albers: 00:06:56

It was an inspiration for me to live life in a different way.

Michelle Albers: 00:07:00

And I'm so grateful that I heard that.

Darrell Snow: 00:07:02

Yeah.

Darrell Snow: 00:07:03

And since that moment, you've also had your own spiritual connection where you now get your own downloads and your own connection, which.

Darrell Snow: 00:07:12

Which is what makes you a great coach and which makes you a great trauma healing coach, because you.

Darrell Snow: 00:07:19

You don't do it from your own space.

Darrell Snow: 00:07:23

You do it from the help of God, spirit, angels, whatever people want to call it.

Darrell Snow: 00:07:29

But it's not just you.

Darrell Snow: 00:07:31

You're very much a catalyst to that which, from personal experience and my own healing from working with you, is vastly different than how many other coaches work and operate.

Darrell Snow: 00:07:44

And it brings you a Unique perspective.

Darrell Snow: 00:07:46

So for someone who's not spiritually connected, I believe we all have the ability.

Darrell Snow: 00:07:53

Like, I believe my wife has tremendous insight and tremendous ability with the.

Darrell Snow: 00:07:58

With that connection.

Darrell Snow: 00:08:01

I used to claim that I don't, but I'm starting to learn that I do.

Darrell Snow: 00:08:05

It's just a matter of tapping into it.

Darrell Snow: 00:08:07

But when you first start connecting with your higher self or God or spirit, and you actually start doing not just the talking, but the listening, that's when some real interesting transformation comes.

Darrell Snow: 00:08:23

But it also starts to kind of freak you out a little bit.

Darrell Snow: 00:08:27

Like, oh, my brain is this hearing.

Darrell Snow: 00:08:31

Like, how do you.

Darrell Snow: 00:08:32

How did you connect with that at that time?

Darrell Snow: 00:08:35

Just stepping into it.

Michelle Albers: 00:08:37

Oh, my gosh.

Michelle Albers: 00:08:38

So it's interesting that you say that.

Michelle Albers: 00:08:40

That's how I work now.

Michelle Albers: 00:08:41

And it is.

Michelle Albers: 00:08:41

And I'm not fighting it hearing you say it, because in the room when my nephew was sick, I was.

Michelle Albers: 00:08:49

People were telling me, oh, I see a light, everything's going to be fine.

Michelle Albers: 00:08:53

I'm going to send good energy.

Michelle Albers: 00:08:55

And all of those words for me were foreign at that time.

Michelle Albers: 00:08:57

I was like, full blown.

Michelle Albers: 00:08:59

I had very specific words I used for my faith.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:01

And I resisted all of that.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:04

I mean, I was grateful for it.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:05

And I thought, well, okay, if there's any time for me to open at the possibility of good vibes and other energy that could be healing, other energy, I'm in.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:14

I'm going to.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:14

I'll do anything.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:15

I'll do whatever it takes.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:16

And so I feel like it was that.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:18

That also opened me to it.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:19

But for me, I mean, I resisted it for a long time.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:23

I avoided it for a long time.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:24

I completely was like, just oblivious to it.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:27

Like, I had.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:28

I had moments where I would get goosebumps, but they were only on the right side of my body.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:31

But I didn't really recognize that or acknowledge it.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:34

I'd be like, I don't know why I'm cold.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:36

It's not cold in here.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:37

And then I talked to one of my teachers and they were like, michelle, like, that's your guides.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:42

They're talking to you like your guardian angels, your spirit guides, God, source, creator, whatever.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:46

Your words are.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:46

Like, that's.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:47

That means, like, stop, get quiet and listen.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:50

And that was my first, like, oh, okay.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:54

And then it was a whole.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:55

It opened a door of fear and worry and what ifs.

Michelle Albers: 00:09:59

And I don't know how I feel about this.

Michelle Albers: 00:10:02

But then I started thinking about, with regard to, like a gut feeling.

Michelle Albers: 00:10:04

Like, I've had gut feelings my whole life.

Michelle Albers: 00:10:06

There are times Where I'm like, I need to get out of here, or I really don't want to be in this room, or this feels bad, and I'm going to trust that.

Michelle Albers: 00:10:12

So I could kind of blend, like, lived experience and things that I've experienced before into, like, this new thing that I was experiencing in a new and different way.

Michelle Albers: 00:10:24

And then it was just.

Michelle Albers: 00:10:26

I really had great teachers that could hold space.

Michelle Albers: 00:10:29

My one teacher, my main teacher, Tanya, the one who does Thai massage and yoga and Reiki, she.

Michelle Albers: 00:10:33

She was like, michelle, you asked so many questions, but they were all, like, mindful, and you had a purpose to them, and they were good questions.

Michelle Albers: 00:10:44

And I was like, I didn't even realize I asked that many questions.

Michelle Albers: 00:10:46

But it doesn't surprise me because I had a lot of reservations, and I was doubtful, and I was a little bit skeptical, and so it was like I needed to ask those questions.

Darrell Snow: 00:10:55

So when did your connection with.

Darrell Snow: 00:10:58

Because you.

Darrell Snow: 00:10:59

You do now teach Reiki, you teach yoga, you teach.

Darrell Snow: 00:11:02

Or you used to perform Thai massage on a more regular basis.

Darrell Snow: 00:11:07

When did you, like, step into the Thai portion of it?

Darrell Snow: 00:11:11

Because, again, I've worked with a lot of coaches, and, you know, we've seen a lot of different modalities through the spiritual journey.

Darrell Snow: 00:11:21

But one of the most transformative, if that's a word that I'm making up as I go modalities that has impacted my life and my wife's life and I know thousands of others, was the actual Thai massage and the connection to Thailand.

Darrell Snow: 00:11:39

And now you have this.

Darrell Snow: 00:11:42

You have Thailand behind you.

Darrell Snow: 00:11:44

You have this connection deep seated in that culture.

Darrell Snow: 00:11:49

What got you from that room with your nephew, questioning those words in those languages to now immersed in this whole separate culture?

Michelle Albers: 00:12:02

Yeah, I mean.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:04

I mean, the short answer is I just had so many you can't make this up moments that I had to stop fighting it.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:11

That's, like, my short answer.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:13

I just.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:14

I had to stop fighting it.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:15

God gave me no choice.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:16

It was just like, okay, I'm listening.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:18

I'm gonna stop resisting and see what happens.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:20

And, boy, I tell you, when I stopped resisting, it was like, okay, okay.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:25

It was almost hard to keep up and.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:27

And still, like, some.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:29

What I would call, like, the silliest moments of me not really listening.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:34

Like, I would do Reiki, and I would think of three.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:36

Three animals would come in every time, and I'd be like, why do I have my monkey mind going, why am I thinking about all these things?

Michelle Albers: 00:12:41

I shouldn't be thinking about animals.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:42

I'm in Reiki.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:43

And Then again, a teacher was like, michelle, they're showing you spirit guides, and here's a book that might be helpful.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:49

And this book is.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:50

I think it's Stephen Farmer's Animal Spirit Guides or something like that.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:54

And this book has, like, if monkey shows up, I say monkey, because I said monkey mind.

Michelle Albers: 00:12:59

So if monkey shows up, it means.

Michelle Albers: 00:13:00

Or it could mean call on monkey when.

Michelle Albers: 00:13:03

And then if monkey is your spirit animal.

Michelle Albers: 00:13:04

And every time I would read that book, it would, like, say a similar message, but in a new and different way to what already came in for the Reiki session.

Michelle Albers: 00:13:12

And to be clear, Reiki doesn't have to include intuitive downloads.

Michelle Albers: 00:13:14

It's just my practice does, and that's developed over time.

Michelle Albers: 00:13:18

You don't have to get intuition, but for me, I have to actively turn it off if I don't want it.

Michelle Albers: 00:13:24

So.

Michelle Albers: 00:13:24

And I'm like, well, if I have this resource, why would I not use it?

Michelle Albers: 00:13:26

It's another tool in my toolbox, and I'm going to.

Michelle Albers: 00:13:28

I'm going to explore that.

Michelle Albers: 00:13:30

So.

Darrell Snow: 00:13:31

Yeah, but to get to Thailand, because there's a ton of Reiki.

Darrell Snow: 00:13:36

There's a ton of Reiki people, Reiki masters.

Darrell Snow: 00:13:38

My wife is a Reiki master.

Darrell Snow: 00:13:41

We work in that world, in that realm.

Darrell Snow: 00:13:44

But the Thai connection is the unique piece.

Michelle Albers: 00:13:48

Yeah, sorry, I answered a different thing.

Darrell Snow: 00:13:51

That's okay.

Darrell Snow: 00:13:52

You know, it's.

Darrell Snow: 00:13:53

We go where the flow is.

Darrell Snow: 00:13:55

Right.

Darrell Snow: 00:13:56

So.

Darrell Snow: 00:13:56

But how did.

Darrell Snow: 00:13:57

How did you connect with Thailand specifically and dive into that world?

Darrell Snow: 00:14:02

Because I know that changed your life.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:04

It changed everything for me.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:06

And it's my first trip to Thailand.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:08

Happened all around the same time when all these other things were happening.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:12

And Master Pichette.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:14

Ajahn Pichette is my teacher's teacher over there.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:17

He's since passed last year.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:18

I think it was last year.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:20

But he worked on me for, like, over two hours.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:24

And I had an emotional release that I didn't even understand what was happening.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:27

I was bawling, I was making these crazy noises, and it was like I was there in the room, but I was also, like, outside of myself witnessing what was happening in that room.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:36

And that was like my, okay, something's happening here again.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:42

Stop questioning Thai massage and what it might be.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:44

I mean, I definitely had a lot of.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:46

I was new in my journey then, so I questioned whether or not I was supposed to be a Thai massage practitioner, but I knew Thai massage was supposed to be part of my life, and I was going to explore all the different ways it could be.

Michelle Albers: 00:14:57

And it turns out I was Supposed to be a practitioner, and I still occasionally will bring it in and.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:03

But it's more of like a, you know, oh, hey, I have this resource.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:07

I'm being called to do it.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:08

You know, no, no charge.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:10

We'll just add it to what we're doing, which is what I do with all my tools.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:14

It's like you get coaching with me and we see where we go.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:16

But Thai, and then Thailand itself, I mean, we landed in Thailand.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:21

Never really been that far away from home.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:24

Didn't know what to expect.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:26

Was alone, but with my teacher in a group.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:28

But my sister was supposed to go with me, and she ended up not going because of all the other things that were happening.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:33

And I was told by several different people, you need to go.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:37

You're.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:38

You can't do anything at home, so you need to be there.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:40

And, boy, were they right.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:41

I mean, it changed my whole life.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:43

Thailand feels different energetically.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:46

The culture is different.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:47

The people show up in a very different way than we do here.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:50

That's my perspective.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:52

Perspective.

Michelle Albers: 00:15:52

But everything about that trip changed me in the best way, and it challenged me.

Michelle Albers: 00:16:00

And it.

Michelle Albers: 00:16:00

It.

Michelle Albers: 00:16:01

I said yes to a lot of things I wouldn't normally say yes to.

Michelle Albers: 00:16:04

Just simple things of like, hey, I'm gonna go explore this on my own.

Michelle Albers: 00:16:07

I was not in on my own.

Michelle Albers: 00:16:08

I very was much.

Michelle Albers: 00:16:09

I was codependent and didn't like to do things on my own.

Michelle Albers: 00:16:12

And it turns out like, my true nature is, yeah, I'm gonna do this alone for most things.

Darrell Snow: 00:16:18

Now.

Darrell Snow: 00:16:19

A few months ago, you got back from Thailand, you took a group of people over there this time, and you took them to some of the experiences and homes and people that you knew and.

Darrell Snow: 00:16:30

And all that.

Darrell Snow: 00:16:32

What was it like going the first time with a group of people you didn't really know versus now taking a group of people who you're affiliated with and associated with and having that experience.

Darrell Snow: 00:16:44

How.

Darrell Snow: 00:16:44

How was that energetically and spiritually different for you?

Michelle Albers: 00:16:49

Yeah, I mean, the first time, I would say, my teacher and I developed, we deepened our connection for sure.

Michelle Albers: 00:16:54

And that was very helpful for me in a very healthy way.

Michelle Albers: 00:16:58

So that first time I was there to train, I was there to drop in, and I was there to, I don't know, make myself better and power up, so to speak, so I could navigate what was happening back home when I got back, but also just for myself.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:12

I mean, ultimately, that's where it starts.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:15

The.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:15

The last time I went, and there was a gap in between there where I went without my teacher and I wasn't there for the purpose of training.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:21

I was there, you know, with my kids and a couple friends.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:25

And that trip was different.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:26

And that's when we met the people that we connected with again this time.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:30

And bringing a group.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:31

I was a little hesitant.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:33

I'm not gonna lie.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:34

I was like, thailand is my happy place.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:36

Thailand is my reset.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:37

And when I'm there, I'm there to either study for myself or to, you know, the most, the farther I stretched was to bring my kids.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:45

And I didn't know how it was going to be, and I didn't know what to expect.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:51

And I wasn't even sure exactly, other than the key things that I knew we were offering, sure where the rest of it would go.

Michelle Albers: 00:17:57

And I wasn't sure how the people that were coming with us would drop in and how they would feel about it and how much support they would need.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:04

And it turned out to be a magical experience where our host, too, man, they went over and above.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:10

I mean, the chef there is incredible.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:13

And I could tell that he was holding back at first.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:15

I mean, he didn't know it then, but as the course of the trip went on, you could tell he realized that we were people that were.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:20

We wanted to experience Thai food, Thai culture, like, don't American it up for us.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:26

We don't want that.

Darrell Snow: 00:18:28

Don't dumb down Thailand for us.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:30

Yeah, we want what you eat.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:33

We want how you eat it.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:34

Teach us, show us.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:35

We might not enjoy everything, but we're gonna give it a go.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:37

And it was so just like, the sensory stuff there is incredible.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:43

I mean, the food is amazing.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:45

It's a busy, chaotic, but also in this somehow peaceful way.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:50

I don't.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:51

It's very hard to explain.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:52

I mean, when people say, you know, what's the weather like?

Michelle Albers: 00:18:55

Well, it's three showers a day.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:56

Hot.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:56

Like.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:56

I don't know how to say it other than cool.

Michelle Albers: 00:18:59

Season is three showers a day.

Michelle Albers: 00:19:00

Hot.

Michelle Albers: 00:19:01

It's just hot.

Michelle Albers: 00:19:02

But for some reason, even as someone who can sometimes struggle in the heat, I.

Michelle Albers: 00:19:06

It doesn't.

Michelle Albers: 00:19:07

It doesn't bother me.

Michelle Albers: 00:19:08

It just becomes.

Michelle Albers: 00:19:09

It's just part of it, and it's good.

Darrell Snow: 00:19:12

And that was in November.

Darrell Snow: 00:19:13

That's not even in, like.

Michelle Albers: 00:19:15

That's the cool America.

Darrell Snow: 00:19:16

Yeah.

Darrell Snow: 00:19:17

When.

Darrell Snow: 00:19:17

When we think of hot, we think of August.

Darrell Snow: 00:19:20

That was actually in November.

Darrell Snow: 00:19:21

And you were three.

Darrell Snow: 00:19:23

Three showers hot.

Michelle Albers: 00:19:24

Yep, yep, yep.

Michelle Albers: 00:19:26

It's just.

Michelle Albers: 00:19:26

It's.

Darrell Snow: 00:19:27

How do you think?

Darrell Snow: 00:19:31

As I mentioned before, I think we all have the ability to connect.

Darrell Snow: 00:19:34

I think many of us choose to Shut it off or ignore it.

Darrell Snow: 00:19:39

Or we, we, we hear that intuitive guidance and we kind of second guess it or question it or play it off as something else.

Darrell Snow: 00:19:50

How do you think people should go about trying to actually integrate their own connection with whatever their spiritual journey is?

Darrell Snow: 00:20:02

Because it's not a one size fits all, but it is a one spirit fits all.

Darrell Snow: 00:20:08

So how do you, how do you think people can really start to embrace that union?

Michelle Albers: 00:20:19

I think there's a lot of, a lot of steps, but they're simple, if that makes sense.

Michelle Albers: 00:20:24

So start.

Michelle Albers: 00:20:25

Step one is ask what, what you're, what you want.

Michelle Albers: 00:20:28

Like, how are you willing to show up?

Michelle Albers: 00:20:29

What, what is, what is it that you're.

Michelle Albers: 00:20:32

Are you looking to connect with your highest self?

Michelle Albers: 00:20:34

Are you looking to connect with your creator?

Michelle Albers: 00:20:37

Are you looking to connect with guardian angels and spirit guides?

Michelle Albers: 00:20:40

Are you open to that?

Michelle Albers: 00:20:41

Looking like whatever it is and you can figure it out later.

Michelle Albers: 00:20:44

I mean, for all I know, it's all the same thing, right?

Michelle Albers: 00:20:46

Maybe it's all our highest self, or maybe it's all our creator and we, our human experience requires things to show up in different ways so that we can understand and be more productive and dropped in for ourselves and for others.

Michelle Albers: 00:20:59

I don't know.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:00

So just explore what you're open to.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:03

And then you have to listen.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:05

You have to create time and space to get quiet and listen.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:08

I mean, when I was go, go, go and I would get the goosebumps, I didn't, I was just like, oh, I have goosebumps, whatever.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:14

But like to be inquisitive, why do I have the goosebumps?

Michelle Albers: 00:21:17

Where are they coming from?

Michelle Albers: 00:21:18

If I close my eyes and listen, is there another message?

Michelle Albers: 00:21:20

Is there something else here for me?

Michelle Albers: 00:21:23

Am I getting in my own way, trying to control everything?

Michelle Albers: 00:21:26

Am I willing to just ask my ego to step aside for just a couple minutes?

Michelle Albers: 00:21:30

I can pick it back up in a minute.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:32

You know, that's the same thing like with Thailand.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:33

For me.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:33

I preemptively like leave my backpack at home.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:37

You know what I mean?

Michelle Albers: 00:21:37

My backpack, meaning my, my chores, my obligations, which I don't really have a lot of obligations.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:42

I kind of show up in this world by choice.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:44

And so it's.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:45

But like the things that I want to do and, and that are part of my day to day life that are not bringing with me there.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:51

I intentionally leave here so that I can pick them up when I get back.

Michelle Albers: 00:21:56

But when I'm in Thailand, I'm trapped into Thailand and I get to experience that and I'm Paused.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:01

And I'm listen, listening.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:02

And I'm.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:03

It's almost like a childlike wonder.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:05

Like I'm observing and I'm listening and I'm intentional and I'm open to being surprised because I'll tell you, I get surprised all the time.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:13

I'm like, oh, wait, they're show.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:14

They my spirit guide.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:15

They're showing me something in a different way.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:18

I'm not sure what this means, but it feels, it feels holy, it feels divine.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:22

So I'm gonna explore it from that perspective and if I find out that's not true, that's okay.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:28

Be inquisitive.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:29

Be like, you're learning, you're learning to walk again, right?

Michelle Albers: 00:22:33

And so it's just, you're learning to walk in a new and different way with new and different tools, with new and different support.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:38

And I'm telling you that directile to divine is like ridiculous.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:43

I used to hope, hope, pray, and now I'm like, let me get quiet and listen.

Michelle Albers: 00:22:48

And honestly, sometimes I don't like what I get.

Darrell Snow: 00:22:50

Well, we're not all.

Darrell Snow: 00:22:51

I mean, it's like, yeah, it's like any conversation, you don't always like the response that you get on the other side.

Darrell Snow: 00:22:58

And I heard a long time ago, prayer is us talking to God, and meditation or being quiet is us listening to God.

Darrell Snow: 00:23:09

And you know, we spend so much time talking, we spend very little time listening.

Darrell Snow: 00:23:15

And then we wonder why our life is in chaos.

Darrell Snow: 00:23:18

And you know, this show is a perfect example of this.

Darrell Snow: 00:23:21

I mean, I heard and I say that tapping the back of my head, hearing that little voice, which is, you know, what I consider my God voice.

Darrell Snow: 00:23:30

I heard I was supposed to do this show, supposed to start this platform.

Darrell Snow: 00:23:34

And at the time I didn't own a microphone and I didn't own a camera.

Darrell Snow: 00:23:38

So naturally I said, yes.

Darrell Snow: 00:23:41

No, I said, are you kidding?

Darrell Snow: 00:23:43

What the hell, right?

Darrell Snow: 00:23:44

So.

Darrell Snow: 00:23:45

But then the voice got louder, the voice got louder, the voice got louder.

Darrell Snow: 00:23:50

And those spiritual two by fours are a whole lot easier when you listen to them on the beginning of the stick, not the end of the stick.

Darrell Snow: 00:23:58

I started this show and it was designed to give a voice to the voiceless, make their mess their message and make it a survival guide for others.

Darrell Snow: 00:24:06

That's exactly how I heard it in the first two years of the show.

Darrell Snow: 00:24:10

That's exactly what it was.

Darrell Snow: 00:24:12

And now for year three, I've been told, heard that I can take it to the next level and we can have these more in depth conversations about things that are, you know, not Necessarily always talked about, you know, the spiritual realm and our connection with God and how we interact with spirit isn't something everybody just brings to the table of conversation.

Darrell Snow: 00:24:34

Like, Thanksgiving probably was different at households who did versus those who didn't, you know?

Michelle Albers: 00:24:40

Right.

Michelle Albers: 00:24:42

Yeah.

Darrell Snow: 00:24:43

So.

Darrell Snow: 00:24:44

Yeah, yeah, go ahead.

Michelle Albers: 00:24:45

Well, I was just gonna say, circling back to what you said about, like, listening and instead of, you know, talking, I think it's a beautiful thing when you can do both.

Michelle Albers: 00:24:55

When you can listen and then be inquisitive.

Michelle Albers: 00:24:57

Because, like, for me, it's like, I'll listen, but then I'll ask.

Michelle Albers: 00:24:59

I'm like, okay, but like, let me make sure I'm clear on this.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:03

I'm not sure I understand.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:04

Or wait, is there more?

Michelle Albers: 00:25:05

Or what?

Michelle Albers: 00:25:06

I'm not.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:06

What do you mean?

Michelle Albers: 00:25:07

Or, you know, I can say, is this that?

Michelle Albers: 00:25:10

And then listen for my goosebumps or listen for it.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:12

Like, my chest gets tight when it's a no.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:14

So I know my yeses.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:15

And my nose, that's another piece to your spiritual journey.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:18

You know, think of, like, truths.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:20

And it can be simple.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:21

Like, my name is Michelle.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:22

My body feels relaxed, open.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:25

But if I say my name is Ralph, like, I get that ping.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:28

My voice, even, like, my throat gets a little thing.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:30

It's like, that's not.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:31

That's not my truth.

Michelle Albers: 00:25:33

And so if you're just seeking truth, then you can ask and you know what the visceral clues are in your body, then it gets easier because you learn how you're being communicated with.

Darrell Snow: 00:25:45

And, well, it's supposed to be a dialogue.

Darrell Snow: 00:25:47

It's not supposed to be a monologue.

Darrell Snow: 00:25:49

And, you know, it's.

Darrell Snow: 00:25:50

It's, you know, part of.

Darrell Snow: 00:25:53

In my, in practice, 33, one of my three pillars is co create.

Darrell Snow: 00:25:57

And it's co create for a reason.

Darrell Snow: 00:25:59

Because, you know, and people who've listened to the show or heard me talk will.

Darrell Snow: 00:26:04

Will hear this analogy a lot.

Darrell Snow: 00:26:07

You know, we ask for the cake, but God rarely gives us the final wedding cake piece.

Darrell Snow: 00:26:15

He gives us the eggs, the batter, the butter, the bowl.

Darrell Snow: 00:26:18

We have to, you know, some assembly required.

Darrell Snow: 00:26:20

We have to do our part, you know, and I always say, I can give you a shovel, but you're never going to get a hole unless you put your foot to it.

Darrell Snow: 00:26:28

You have to co create your life.

Darrell Snow: 00:26:30

And part of that is the listening.

Darrell Snow: 00:26:33

Then not just hearing it, but acting upon it.

Darrell Snow: 00:26:37

Because it would have been very easy for you in those moments where you connected and learned your connection.

Darrell Snow: 00:26:43

It would have been very easy for you to go, that's Interesting.

Darrell Snow: 00:26:47

And then leave it there and not do anything about it.

Michelle Albers: 00:26:50

Yeah.

Michelle Albers: 00:26:50

And there were times I did.

Michelle Albers: 00:26:51

And that's when the spiritual two by four thing came in.

Michelle Albers: 00:26:53

I mean, I'm creating a spiritual two by four deck.

Michelle Albers: 00:26:55

Like, this is great, but also painful, but also like, can we help people with this maybe?

Darrell Snow: 00:27:00

Yeah.

Michelle Albers: 00:27:01

You know?

Darrell Snow: 00:27:01

Yeah.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:02

And.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:03

And this show is a.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:04

This show is a great example of it.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:06

I mean, we've.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:06

I've had a hundred and some episodes now, two years going into year three, worth of.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:13

Worth of stuff.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:14

And it's because eventually I stopped saying no to what I was being told to do.

Michelle Albers: 00:27:22

Right.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:22

You know, and congratulations.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:25

Helping others.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:27

Yeah.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:27

It's way less painful to get on a camera and talk to Michelle than it is to hear that banging in my head going, you need to do this.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:35

Right.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:36

Which becomes to the forehead, which is why my hairline has receded, you know, half a mile.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:41

It was all that impatience and not listening.

Michelle Albers: 00:27:46

Is that what all these grays are about?

Michelle Albers: 00:27:48

Is that what that is?

Darrell Snow: 00:27:49

We get it that way.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:51

You also have a podcast called Hypothetically Intentional.

Darrell Snow: 00:27:56

Hi for short.

Darrell Snow: 00:28:00

How did that come about?

Darrell Snow: 00:28:01

Because I know for those of us who are reluctant to do it, it wasn't just an overnight, oh, yeah, I'll do it.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:08

No, Gosh, that was such a strange thing.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:10

And it's evolved into something totally different.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:12

But in conversations with people, being guests on other podcasts and talking with other people, several people were like, you and your son should start a podcast.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:23

And I was like, haha, you know, kind of just blowing it off, not really thinking too much of it.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:28

And then it was like, you should start a podcast.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:30

You and your son should start a podcast.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:31

I would listen to that podcast.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:32

You should start a podcast.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:33

And I'm like, oh, this is one of those things.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:35

Like, you know, sometimes the spiritual hits are not coming from like, your.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:40

Your goosebumps.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:40

Sometimes it's from other humans, like earth angels telling you things.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:43

And it's like, I was so not listening.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:45

I was just like, like, I need another thing to do.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:47

I'm not doing that.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:49

And then Andrew and I were talking and I was like, hey, you want to start a podcast?

Michelle Albers: 00:28:55

And he was like, sure, I'll do that.

Michelle Albers: 00:28:57

And I was like, wait, what?

Michelle Albers: 00:28:58

I was not expecting a yes.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:01

And so we talked about it.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:03

We talked about what it might look like.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:05

We agreed at that point, like, this isn't a.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:07

This isn't a Michelle J.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:09

D Choose yourself thing.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:11

This is a mom and son chatting about, like, deep, deep things.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:16

And so we Would take turns finding something to sort of unpack or talk about.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:21

And then we would record.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:23

And gosh, I love that time with my boy.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:26

And then every now and again, my older boy Jake would come on and be a guest and.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:31

And we'd have other guests every now and again.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:33

And anytime the boys couldn't go, I would have a guest speaker or a guest, you know, someone to come in.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:39

And over time, I mean, my boys are in their 20s.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:43

They're either, you know, just graduating college or full blown in their careers.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:48

And that's kind of what happened is Andrew got a job and his life got busier and busier.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:53

And he's like, mom, I don't really have a lot of time anymore.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:55

And I'm like, it's totally okay.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:56

I get it.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:57

I love the time we had.

Michelle Albers: 00:29:59

We did a wrap up.

Michelle Albers: 00:30:00

We started on Mother's Day, we did a wrap up one year later on Mother's Day with Andrew back again.

Michelle Albers: 00:30:05

And, you know, those are there forever.

Michelle Albers: 00:30:08

I get to revisit anytime I want.

Michelle Albers: 00:30:10

And I love that.

Darrell Snow: 00:30:11

You know what I love when I would tune into your show, hearing the everyday conversation and the everyday perspective between our generation and our children's generation.

Darrell Snow: 00:30:25

And Elsa and I talk about this all the time.

Darrell Snow: 00:30:27

One of the greatest gifts we feel blessed with is the fact that our adult children want to come back and hold conversation with us.

Darrell Snow: 00:30:36

They want to come and be a part of our lives as adults and not just run away.

Darrell Snow: 00:30:43

So what was interesting about your show was to hear the age difference and the viewpoint of life difference from their standpoint.

Darrell Snow: 00:30:54

It was really a fascinating.

Darrell Snow: 00:30:55

Of course, being a psychology major, it fascinates me, but it was really a really cool insight.

Darrell Snow: 00:31:03

And I remember one of your shows where I forget which one of your boys, but he was talking about something that he had written when he was like 8 or 11 or something like that, and how that writing was viewed differently from his viewpoint of writing it, from your viewpoint as a mother reading it.

Darrell Snow: 00:31:28

And just even something that simple was fascinating to me.

Michelle Albers: 00:31:33

Yeah.

Michelle Albers: 00:31:34

And to have those conversations with your kid, I never would have known that if we wouldn't have recorded that.

Michelle Albers: 00:31:38

Do you know what I mean?

Michelle Albers: 00:31:39

Like, there's so many things where it's like, oh, you know, now when they're in their 20s to have those conversations.

Michelle Albers: 00:31:44

It's interesting because my perspective and theirs were very different.

Michelle Albers: 00:31:47

And I always.

Michelle Albers: 00:31:48

There was a chunk of time in my healing where I was like, oh my gosh, I wish I would have known this and been healed this, you know, or gotten to this point before I became a mom because I kind of sucked a lot of the times.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:00

I mean, I use those words with them and they're like, mom, no, you didn't.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:03

And I was like, I kind of yelled a lot.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:05

I feel like I had a really short views.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:07

I feel like I was pretty miserable in my skin, which couldn't have felt good for you guys.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:10

And they were just like, you know, we had a great conversation around that.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:14

But, you know, it's funny how as we heal the tendency to look back and maybe, you know, wish we could have done it different.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:20

And I.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:21

And I don't hang there, but I have that, like, ping of acknowledgement, like, okay, I'm doing life better now.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:26

That's a good thing.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:27

And here's the thing, like, our relationship is evolving, and I'm so grateful.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:32

Like you said, my boys actually, like, want to spend time together and are actively having conversations with me, and I'm having them with them, and we have a beautiful friendship.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:44

And I'm still their mom and they're still my kids.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:47

And I don't know, it's one of the things I'm most grateful for because I just think we're not meant to do this life alone.

Michelle Albers: 00:32:55

And if, I don't know I did something right as a mom, if they're still in my life, you know.

Darrell Snow: 00:33:01

Yeah.

Darrell Snow: 00:33:01

And I think all parents have it.

Michelle Albers: 00:33:04

Yeah, I do believe I did something bad.

Michelle Albers: 00:33:06

It's just.

Michelle Albers: 00:33:07

I mean, sometimes things happen and that's the way it goes.

Michelle Albers: 00:33:09

And we definitely have, like, we see each other more often sometimes than others.

Michelle Albers: 00:33:12

And.

Michelle Albers: 00:33:13

But I don't take that as like a slap to the face or anything.

Michelle Albers: 00:33:15

It's just life, you know, we're doing our thing.

Michelle Albers: 00:33:17

And that's beautiful.

Darrell Snow: 00:33:18

Yeah.

Darrell Snow: 00:33:19

And I do believe a lot of parents have that guilt and regret, you know, and we look back, or at least I do, because I had an abusive childhood.

Darrell Snow: 00:33:27

You know, nothing was happening.

Darrell Snow: 00:33:29

And I don't know that any of us skate through with a perfect childhood.

Darrell Snow: 00:33:33

But if I look back, generational.

Darrell Snow: 00:33:36

Rarely along the generational line did people have the equipment, mentally, emotionally, internally to facilitate the kind of growth that they're able to do now.

Darrell Snow: 00:33:52

I think there are pieces of evolution that allow the next generation to be a little more healed than the previous generation.

Darrell Snow: 00:34:03

And the fact that we are able to have these kind of internal, emotional conversations with our kids that our parents and our grandparents couldn't have or didn't have is going to make them better earlier and them better parents earlier and Generate two generations down the line, a much different life than we were given.

Darrell Snow: 00:34:30

You know, I look at my daughter at age 25 and how far she's come in her own healing journey, simply because she's had the safety of two parents who are open to those type of discussions that those two parents didn't have with those two, with their parents.

Darrell Snow: 00:34:47

You know, generationally, we're allowing more evolution in our emotional healing, in our traumas.

Darrell Snow: 00:34:58

And I think that's an important place for society to get to, which is weird because in that evolution, we've kind of still lost our humanity, which is kind of a weird dichotomy.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:12

Yeah.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:13

And I believe in ancestral healing, and I believe it goes forward and backward.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:16

And so I feel like all the work anyone, any person in all of time chooses to do affects all things.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:26

You know, it affects the lineage.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:29

And I think, you know, that's.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:32

That's my spiritual perspective in the reiki work that I do and the Thai massage work that I do.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:36

I mean, when I was crying on the Thai massage mat in Chiang Mai, Thailand, actually Hongdong, Thailand, and that was not about present day.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:44

I mean, Pichette would be.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:45

He would touch a spot, he would point.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:47

I feel him touch on my body.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:48

And he was teaching.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:49

I was a teaching moment, you know, and he'd say, not today, not now.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:52

Long, long time ago, Many lifetimes.

Michelle Albers: 00:35:54

And I was like, what is happening right now?

Michelle Albers: 00:35:57

And then he would, like, push and go, and I would wail.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:00

And it wasn't because it hurt.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:01

There was no pain in my body.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:02

It was just this emotional release of energy of.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:06

I don't know who I mean.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:07

I think I was crying for me, but I think I was crying for so much more than that.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:11

And it was just powerful and, like, humanness doesn't have adequate words and ways to describe it, but it was a very spiritual, intense, like, spirit, like human and divine braided together in that experience for me.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:29

And it was like this aha.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:31

Of.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:32

Well, first of all, holy shit, anything is possible.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:35

And second of all, when we can have both and be open to that experience, I was mortified on some level.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:44

Like, there was a piece of me that was like, I am bawling in a room.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:47

I need a tissue.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:48

I feel so uncomfortable.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:49

I feel very vulnerable.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:50

I don't know these people.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:51

And then there was another piece of me that was all in, like, yes, please.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:54

Oh, my gosh.

Michelle Albers: 00:36:55

This is the most magical thing that has ever happened, most spiritual thing that has ever happened, most healing thing that has ever happened in my Entire life, and I'm not even sure I understand what's happening, but I don't need to.

Michelle Albers: 00:37:07

I even asked Tanya afterwards.

Michelle Albers: 00:37:08

I said, I feel like I'm supposed to know what I just let go.

Michelle Albers: 00:37:11

Like, how do I know what I need more healing on if I don't, like, label this somehow?

Michelle Albers: 00:37:16

And she's like, don't label it.

Michelle Albers: 00:37:18

Let it be.

Michelle Albers: 00:37:19

Whatever it was, it went.

Michelle Albers: 00:37:20

You don't have to call it back.

Michelle Albers: 00:37:21

Like, you've released it.

Michelle Albers: 00:37:22

Let it go.

Michelle Albers: 00:37:23

And I was like, okay, that's an interesting perspective and one that I wouldn't have considered.

Michelle Albers: 00:37:28

You know, I was super logical in my healing at that time.

Darrell Snow: 00:37:31

Yeah.

Darrell Snow: 00:37:31

And I've been very cognizant of my own logic throughout my entire life, because logic kept me safe, emotions kept me in trouble.

Darrell Snow: 00:37:40

But one of the analogies that I use with my clients is, like, if you go into the refrigerator and there's something that's in the back of the refrigerator that is now moldy and ugly and obviously, you know, rotting, you don't take it out of the refrigerator and go, gee, I wonder what this used to be.

Darrell Snow: 00:38:04

You go, no, gee, this has to go in the garbage.

Darrell Snow: 00:38:07

And you just throw it away.

Darrell Snow: 00:38:08

Right.

Darrell Snow: 00:38:08

You don't sit and analyze it.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:10

Right.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:11

Certainly don't smell it.

Darrell Snow: 00:38:12

Yeah.

Darrell Snow: 00:38:13

And that's exactly what you're.

Darrell Snow: 00:38:14

What you're talking about.

Darrell Snow: 00:38:15

We don't need to always label.

Darrell Snow: 00:38:19

Sometimes we just need to let go.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:21

Well, you don't need to remember it to heal it.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:24

That's the other thing I learned that time, because it's like, I got done.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:26

I literally cried for two hours, and I went to the bathroom to clean up, and I came back, and one of the students, I think he was from France, he looked at me.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:34

He goes, your eyes, they're.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:36

They're brighter.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:37

He's like, your neck, it's longer.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:40

He said, you look younger.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:42

And I was like, I've been crying for two hours.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:45

Like, what?

Michelle Albers: 00:38:47

And I was like, huh?

Michelle Albers: 00:38:49

You know, I, like, thought of that and then looked in the mirror and was like, whoa.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:53

Holy crap.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:54

Like, he's not wrong.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:56

I look different.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:56

I feel different.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:57

I am different.

Michelle Albers: 00:38:59

But I'm me, You know, we just got rid of some of that.

Michelle Albers: 00:39:01

Like you said, the archaeology thing.

Michelle Albers: 00:39:02

We're just getting rid of some of the clutter that's not.

Michelle Albers: 00:39:05

Not mine anymore.

Michelle Albers: 00:39:06

It's not supposed to be mine anymore, and I get to let it go.

Darrell Snow: 00:39:09

Yeah.

Darrell Snow: 00:39:10

There's two things that.

Darrell Snow: 00:39:12

There's a ton that I love and admire about you, but there's two things that.

Darrell Snow: 00:39:15

That I learned specifically.

Darrell Snow: 00:39:20

But many of us go yes or yes because whatever.

Darrell Snow: 00:39:27

You often go yes.

Darrell Snow: 00:39:29

And so you don't discount or eliminate whatever the other option or opportunity is, but you open space for it can also be more.

Darrell Snow: 00:39:42

Yes, that can be true.

Darrell Snow: 00:39:44

And this can also be true.

Darrell Snow: 00:39:47

Where did you learn to develop that mentality?

Darrell Snow: 00:39:50

And then I'll get to the other thing that you say that I.

Darrell Snow: 00:39:52

Wow.

Michelle Albers: 00:39:53

That'S a big question.

Michelle Albers: 00:39:54

I'm not sure I know.

Michelle Albers: 00:39:55

I think.

Michelle Albers: 00:39:56

Well, here's the thing.

Michelle Albers: 00:39:57

I think I'm.

Michelle Albers: 00:39:58

I am.

Michelle Albers: 00:39:59

I was gonna say was, but I am.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:00

I'm a very stubborn person.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:02

And so I was very quick to shut down and say no.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:05

And over time in my healing, I learned that me being stubborn in that way and shutting down and saying no was not serving any good.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:13

And so I just learned that having an exploration and a willing to be inquisitive and willing to understand that it can be yes and.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:20

And.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:20

There doesn't have to be a finite there.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:22

It can be limitless or at least, you know, I don't know.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:26

It can be unknown.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:26

And that's okay.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:27

I didn't like unknown.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:28

I didn't like change.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:30

I didn't like, you know, not understanding what was going to happen.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:33

I didn't like not being prepared.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:34

All of those things are very, you know, trauma protecting qualities that were there.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:39

Now my stubbornness is like a driver.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:40

I'm proud.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:41

Like, yeah, I'm stubborn in a great way.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:43

Not in a keep me stuck kind of way.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:44

So I used to hate that word.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:45

I used to find it offensive, even, like, to be called stubborn.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:48

It was like, oh, I'm the problem child.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:49

I get it.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:50

You.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:50

And it's like, it's not.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:52

I don't even think that's what they meant, but that's how I took it.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:54

You know, at that time, I was not okay.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:57

And now.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:58

Yeah, yes.

Michelle Albers: 00:40:59

And it just helps me remember that there always can be an and.

Michelle Albers: 00:41:02

And it reminds me to not pretend I know.

Michelle Albers: 00:41:07

Like, I don't know.

Michelle Albers: 00:41:09

I don't know.

Michelle Albers: 00:41:09

I could be wrong about all the things.

Michelle Albers: 00:41:11

I only know what feels true and congruent and like, in my integrity now.

Michelle Albers: 00:41:16

And that's.

Michelle Albers: 00:41:16

That's how I want to show up.

Michelle Albers: 00:41:17

That is my intention in every moment is to.

Michelle Albers: 00:41:22

To just be open to learning and to understand that I'm going to live aligned with what feels true today.

Michelle Albers: 00:41:30

And that might change tomorrow.

Michelle Albers: 00:41:31

Heck, it might change in a minute.

Michelle Albers: 00:41:33

When you say something that I'm like, oh, never considered that possibility that's cool.

Michelle Albers: 00:41:38

So that's it.

Darrell Snow: 00:41:39

I mean, yeah, the.

Darrell Snow: 00:41:41

The.

Darrell Snow: 00:41:41

And portion allows openness for possibilities that we don't even often consider.

Darrell Snow: 00:41:49

And that's one of the things that I love, but one of the other things that you say that I really embrace and have said to many other people.

Darrell Snow: 00:42:01

When it comes to the traumas and the things that we hold on to, many of us hang on to things like, it's a badge of honor.

Darrell Snow: 00:42:09

Like, it's okay to wear it.

Darrell Snow: 00:42:12

Like, oh, I endured it, and I survived it.

Darrell Snow: 00:42:14

Well, okay.

Darrell Snow: 00:42:17

But what you say is that it causes issues in your tissues.

Darrell Snow: 00:42:23

And the issues in your tissues, from personal experience, having seen it and having seen you help release it in people I love and care about, it does transform how they look, how they feel, how they carry, how they walk, everything.

Darrell Snow: 00:42:42

Because now not only have they released the trauma, but they've released the weight of that trauma from their own physical body.

Darrell Snow: 00:42:52

How did you cultivate that ideation?

Michelle Albers: 00:42:56

Oh, that was 100% pichette.

Michelle Albers: 00:42:58

That was Pichette, without a doubt.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:00

We would have Dharma talks before we would do the work, you know, the Thai massage work.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:04

And he just talked all the time about backpack.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:07

Backpack.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:07

Emotions.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:08

Too much thinking.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:09

Emotions.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:09

They.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:10

You know, and then when he would work with people, he'd like, you know, go to their hip and be like, emotion.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:14

Too much thinking, you know, and he just made it clear that, like, we are putting this stuff in our body and we're making life harder than it has to be.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:23

That was the other thing that was so, like, he just.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:25

You know, he'd be like, headache, helicopter mind.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:29

And backpack.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:30

Backpack.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:30

7, 11.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:31

No need.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:31

Backpacks.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:32

Stop.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:32

You know, and he just.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:33

He talked, like, how.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:36

All.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:36

You know, he.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:37

He would make comments like, you know, you put on mascara and then you cry and then black.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:42

Why.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:42

Why you do this?

Michelle Albers: 00:43:43

You know, and it's.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:44

He just.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:44

He.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:45

He would say it in these most endearing ways, and sometimes there was a bit lost in translation.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:48

And it would take me, you know, two weeks later, I'd be like, oh, that's what he meant.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:51

I get it now, you know, or Tanya and I would talk or the group would talk and figure out what he was saying.

Michelle Albers: 00:43:56

But he was very clear that, you know, only one who knows.

Michelle Albers: 00:44:02

And he doesn't have a certificate.

Michelle Albers: 00:44:04

He also was not big into certificates.

Michelle Albers: 00:44:05

He's like, you know, I understand.

Michelle Albers: 00:44:07

Like, we need certificates to prove that we've done the work.

Michelle Albers: 00:44:11

But he's like, if.

Michelle Albers: 00:44:12

If you're attached to having certificate after certificate after certificate, you're into the knowing and not into the being.

Michelle Albers: 00:44:20

And he was very much into the being.

Michelle Albers: 00:44:24

How are you showing up?

Darrell Snow: 00:44:25

Yeah, I am close to 60 by the time this airs.

Darrell Snow: 00:44:34

And I have done 58 years of knowing, one year of doing.

Darrell Snow: 00:44:43

Although I've done a lot and I've accomplished a lot, you understand?

Darrell Snow: 00:44:48

You know, I am a lifelong sage, I'm a lifelong learner.

Darrell Snow: 00:44:53

I have knowledge in many areas.

Darrell Snow: 00:44:57

But putting those into practical use wasn't always my strongest suit because I was more fascinated with the knowing.

Darrell Snow: 00:45:06

Like, I have a license to be a private investigator.

Darrell Snow: 00:45:09

I have a real estate license, I have a securities license.

Darrell Snow: 00:45:12

I have a master's in psychology.

Darrell Snow: 00:45:15

I have a lot of these degrees and certifications of knowledge, but I'm not a PI.

Darrell Snow: 00:45:24

I'm not a, I was a realtor for eight years, but I'm not, I don't sell securities anymore.

Darrell Snow: 00:45:29

I did, but, you know, so I've gone through life accumulating a lot of knowledge.

Darrell Snow: 00:45:36

I've only recently started to implement that knowledge that's in my heart to bring forth to this world.

Michelle Albers: 00:45:43

And yeah, we clear.

Michelle Albers: 00:45:45

Me too.

Darrell Snow: 00:45:45

I think a lot of people get hung up.

Darrell Snow: 00:45:48

I think that's why we get hung up on the, the minutia, the details, you know, what software do I need?

Darrell Snow: 00:45:55

What, what legal pad do I need?

Darrell Snow: 00:45:57

What paper do I need?

Darrell Snow: 00:46:00

What certification do I need to hang on the wall?

Darrell Snow: 00:46:03

No, no, nobody cares about any of that.

Darrell Snow: 00:46:07

They care about can you show up in the world in the way you're supposed to and can you have the impact that is your God given right to have?

Michelle Albers: 00:46:19

Yeah, I mean, and over time, because I'm, I'm the same.

Michelle Albers: 00:46:22

In fact, one of the girls in, in my, I think it was my yoga teacher training, she would like giggle.

Michelle Albers: 00:46:26

Oh, what are you taking now, Michelle?

Michelle Albers: 00:46:27

What certificate are you getting?

Michelle Albers: 00:46:28

Because I just dropped into that whole world.

Michelle Albers: 00:46:30

I would Thai massage, yoga, Reiki.

Michelle Albers: 00:46:32

I mean, I was taking, you know, herbal compress tuck.

Michelle Albers: 00:46:35

I was taking all the things, tucks in all the different, all the different modalities, Restorative yoga training.

Michelle Albers: 00:46:40

I mean, I was doing all the things and I was being called to do all those things.

Michelle Albers: 00:46:45

And also there came a point where I realized in some way some of these trainings, albeit they're beneficial for me, they're a form of avoidance.

Michelle Albers: 00:46:54

Because if I just keep training, keep training and taking another thing, then my perfectionist will always know that I'm working hard to get, you know, better and better and better and better and you know, like succeed, whatever that means.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:07

And over time, I was like, oh.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:09

And so now I find that, like, I can kind of catch it pretty quickly, and clients catch it, see it.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:14

I don't, like, catch it.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:14

It's like, guilty shamy.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:16

But I can see it, you know, like, oh, are you taking another training?

Michelle Albers: 00:47:18

What do you.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:19

What.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:19

Tell me, Tell me about that.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:21

And, like, what about this thing that you keep telling me that you want to do and that you need to do, or that you want to look at and you want to heal, but yet you're filling all of your time with another thing that makes you feel good and it has a great purpose?

Michelle Albers: 00:47:31

I'm not poo pooing training.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:33

I am a state.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:33

I'm a lifelong learner as well.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:35

I will always.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:36

I love learning.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:37

It makes me happy.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:39

And also, if I'm learning to avoid a pain point or to avoid a thing that I know in my highest self is there for me, well, I gotta call myself out on that or I gotta call other people out on that if they're paying me to do so.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:52

You know what I mean?

Michelle Albers: 00:47:53

It's like, yeah, yes.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:54

And it's a yes and yes.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:56

Trainings are great.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:57

Learning is great.

Michelle Albers: 00:47:58

Being willing to learn another skill and have another tool in your toolbox, amazing.

Michelle Albers: 00:48:02

Avoiding yourself and what you need, not so amazing.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:06

Yeah, I.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:07

I'm.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:07

I'm laughing because I'm hearing a conversation that my wife and I had, and it evolves around when we first met, because I was 50, getting my master's degree, and when we met, she thought, oh, he's getting his master's degree.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:25

He's going to do something with it.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:27

She didn't understand that I'm a lifelong learner, so she saw potential in me.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:32

So dating me was going to be okay because I was going to go somewhere.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:35

Right.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:37

It's like she dated the potential in me.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:42

But eventually I got there.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:44

And, you know, I'm glad she stuck with me through it all.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:47

But, yeah, I, you know, she didn't know.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:49

It was just another phase of learning something cool for me.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:53

So she thought she saw you?

Darrell Snow: 00:48:57

She did.

Darrell Snow: 00:48:58

And she and I have that instant connection that I hope many people find, because when, you know, the body knows and the heart knows.

Darrell Snow: 00:49:10

But if.

Darrell Snow: 00:49:12

If we were to say to somebody who's stepping into their own beginning of their journey or somewhere along this river, instead of trying to push the river, flow with the river, what would be your one main thought to impart with them to help them along their way?

Michelle Albers: 00:49:33

Oh, my gosh.

Michelle Albers: 00:49:34

One main thought that's going to be hard.

Michelle Albers: 00:49:36

What dropped in when you were talking is be willing to get to know what you want and discover that with your highest self, your divine counsel, your spirit guides, your guardian angels, whatever that is, connect with that place in you that knows all.

Michelle Albers: 00:49:53

And if that means for you, you're connecting with God or spirit guides or guardian angels, embrace that.

Michelle Albers: 00:49:59

But there's a highest self part of you that isn't trying so hard, that is in ease and calm and knowing.

Michelle Albers: 00:50:07

And when you find that place within, everything changes.

Michelle Albers: 00:50:12

So maybe, maybe that's a long way of saying simply pause and listen from the perspective of what you actually want.

Michelle Albers: 00:50:19

Like the you you of you wants.

Darrell Snow: 00:50:22

Yeah, I love that.

Darrell Snow: 00:50:26

Now you and I could talk for multiple hours.

Darrell Snow: 00:50:30

Unfortunately, you know, we could just go on because we, we have that connection.

Darrell Snow: 00:50:37

But I'm going to ask you the same question that I asked you two other times when you appeared on my show.

Darrell Snow: 00:50:43

This time, coming from the evolution of where you are currently and how you came from your spiritual journey in Thailand just a few months ago, what does a warrior spirit, or having a warrior spirit mean to Michel Albers today that's so fascinating.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:02

I wonder what I said on the other ones today.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:05

What does it mean to have a warrior spirit?

Michelle Albers: 00:51:07

I think it means you're willing to take a chance on yourself.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:10

You're willing to say yes.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:11

You're willing to, to use my words, choose yourself and in doing that, ripple out into the world for the good of the world too, right?

Michelle Albers: 00:51:22

Starts with you, then it goes to the people closest to you, then it goes to people closest to them.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:25

And then it goes out and out and out.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:27

The ripple effect, I believe in that.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:29

And I believe it takes a warrior spirit to engage with that.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:34

Stop hiding.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:35

Like a warrior spirit isn't hiding.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:38

A warrior spirit is willing to roar.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:41

So roar.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:42

Be heard, be seen.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:44

Do you be you?

Darrell Snow: 00:51:47

A warrior spirit is willing to be seen.

Darrell Snow: 00:51:50

And it's a roar.

Darrell Snow: 00:51:52

I love that.

Michelle Albers: 00:51:53

I don't know where that came from, but.

Darrell Snow: 00:51:54

No, I love that.

Darrell Snow: 00:51:55

That's really great.

Darrell Snow: 00:51:57

I appreciate you and your time and you know, as always, you're always welcome back to join us.

Darrell Snow: 00:52:07

If anyone would like to connect with Michelle, you can do so at her website, choose yourself.com or find her on all the social medias.

Darrell Snow: 00:52:17

And she has a YouTube channel at JD Wellness.

Darrell Snow: 00:52:22

She does some pretty fascinating things out there.

Darrell Snow: 00:52:24

So definitely check her out and, you know, keep in touch because she's one of the great ones.

Darrell Snow: 00:52:34

And as always, I want to thank you for joining us on this edition of A warrior spirit.

Darrell Snow: 00:52:39

and hope you have a wonderful: 2025