The Dragonfly Connection

Yummy Living

Wow! This is a great episode for EVERYONE right now, no matter what!

In these ever shifting, intense, emotionally charged times; it is still possible to live our yummiest, most fulfilled, joyful lives. If you're thinking this is a nutty concept, then this episode and all that Ambers guest Danet Palmer has to offer is what you need right now. Danet is so inspirational and joy-filled - there's no way you're going to end this episode not feeling more joyful and inspired yourself. 

Danét Palmer is the author of "Baptized by Love: How I Found Present Joy and Never Let it Go". This memoir is a story of forgiveness, redemption, and the restoration of self-love and abundant joy — a resounding promise that no matter the heartbreak, violence, or trauma you’ve experienced, you can use your pain to uncover a life of present joy. 

She’s also the author of "Coffee with the Divine: A Yummy Guide to Daily Miracles" and host of “The Yummy Way Podcast.” Much of her adult life was spent as a psycho-spiritual mentor and metaphysical minister, coaching others to live true, authentic lives. After listening, you'll definitely want to connect with Danet at her website The Yummy Way.com. There you will find all of her beautiful offerings. 

Join us in the Dragonfly Connection Facebook Group to let us know what you thought. You can even tag Danet with questions.

Embracing Our Sensitivities

Do you seem more sensitive than most people or have been accused of being too sensitive most of your life?

Or maybe you just want to know how to communicate more effectively with the highly sensitive people in your life?

Then this episode is for you! In it, Amber and Tammy chat about the traits of highly sensitive people or HSP's, our challenges and our super powers, and she gives a ton of great advice on how we can thrive in this world that seems like it's not meant for us. 

Tammy Goen is a self love and happiness coach for us Highly Sensitive People. As an HSP she knows firsthand what it’s like to feel misunderstood, unaccepted, overwhelmed and needing to be fixed. She’s felt the shame and struggled in relationships and felt totally incapable of dealing with the atrocities of life. And in spite of it all she has learned how to thrive… how to love herself and embrace (and enjoy) her sensitivities and all that life has to offer.

Using her degree in Counseling Psychology, her certifications in EFT/Tapping, HeartMath meditations, other meditation and mindfulness practices and energy healing techniques she helps others do the same. 

Tammy has a ton of great offers and even free resources available on her website.

coachtammygoen.com

She even has a Guide for Highly Sensitives to communicate with non-HSPs!

Get the guide here.

And, as with most of my podcast guests, Tammy is available to connect with personally in Ambers Facebook group "The Dragonfly Connection". Hop on in, and tag her in a question or comment. If you're not already a part of it. It's free! 

Start Within

Todays guest is Vanessa Perry, a career mental health therapist turned intuitive holistic counselor. Vanessa believes that our troubles are rooted and treated beyond just the mind, and helps others explore non-traditional practices for healing and empowerment. She believes that abundance and soul-led living is achievable for everyone, and  thrives on the work of co-creating this with her clients.

In this conversation, she and Amber chat all about spirituality, intuition and neurodivergence....in this case, ADHD. Vanessa has an awesome take on things like ADHD. It's a really great theory! Once you listen, please let Amber know what you think. You can post a comment in our Facebook Group, The Dragonfly Connection or leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. If you have any questions for Vanessa, you can ask her directly in that group too. 

Vanessa is also a podcast host and offers a ton of great resources on her website. All the ways to connect with her and listen to her podcast are below.

www.vanessaperry.net or on Instagram at @sea.stars.psych.

Happy and Whole

"We're all healing beings."

Todays guest, Anna Marie Frank is a doctor of Traditional Naturopathy, brain health professional, certified mindset life-guide coach, and lover of life! She is an author, podcast host, and an employee wellness consultant. Her mission is to end mental health stigmas and help all people upgrade their brains and biology through lifestyle choices. 

She believes that our neural pathways can be rewired through using holistic modalities to work on the physical and energetic level. In this episode Anna Marie shares how she healed her own brain after years of depression and challenges with dyslexia and ADHD. 

And, if all of that isn't enough, she is also the author of the self improvement book, “Stop Bullying Yourself! For greater health, wealth, happiness, and success".

There are so many great tips in this episode! 

Connect with Anna Marie on Instagram @HappyWholeYou

Find out more at her website: www.happywholeyou.com

Check out her amazing podcast HERE. 

Episode #100

This is Ambers 100th podcast episode and the topic was formed from a PTSD flashback she had the night before recording. 

Amber uses PTSD and CPTSD interchangeably, but there is a difference. The main difference between the two is PTSD usually occurs after a single traumatic event, while CPTSD is associated with repeated trauma. Amber has CPTSD. 

In this episode Amber shares her experience with PTSD and the lessons learned from this latest flashback - her first one in almost a year.  One of her biggest lessons this time was how PTSD has affected her relationship with food and her struggles with maintaining a healthy weight.

Amber talks a little bit about EMDR experience in which she calls a miracle treatment for trauma. If you're unfamiliar with what EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is, it's a psychotherapy treatment that enables you to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that come with trauma. Here's an EMDR website that describes it. www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr

Here's the link to the NIH study and article she mentioned: The Weight of Traumatic Stress: A Prospective Study of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Weight Status in Women.

If you'd like to do your own research, just Google "weight gain and PTSD", or "weight gain and trauma". There are a ton of studies and theories. Most come down to healing the pain that the trauma (or traumas) created and stored in your mind and body. It can't be buried, ignored, or swept under the rug. That pain will surface in all kinds of ways and will create things in your mind and your body that will hold you back in life. It may not hold you back completely, but it will prevent you from living a fully experienced life. 

Excess weight and the (seemingly) impossibility of losing it may not be how unhealed trauma shows up for you, instead it may be one of the following....

1. Anxiety or panic attacks that occur in what would be considered normal situations
2. A feeling of shame; an innate feeling that you are bad, worthless, or without importance
3. Suffering from chronic or ongoing depression
4. Practicing avoidance of people, places, or things that may be related to the traumatic event; this also can include an avoidance of unpleasant emotions
5. Flashbacks, nightmares, and body memories regarding the traumatic event
6. Addiction and eating disorders in an attempt to escape or numb negative emotions
7. Sleeping issues, including trouble going to sleep or staying asleep
8. Suffering from feelings of detachment, or feeling "dead inside"
9. Dissociation to disconnect in situations and conversations
10. Hypervigilance - a constant feeling of being on guard
    Suicidal thoughts or actions
11. Uncontrollable anger
12. Self-harm, cutting, and mutilation
13. Not being able to tolerate conflicts
14. Unexplained or irrational fears of people, places, or things

Amber has personally experienced 14 of these at different times in her life and along her healing journey. And, now today, due to her deep healing work, out of that 14, she only still experience 5 of them on occasion. If she can do it, so can you!

So now it's your turn for some self reflection. Get yourself a piece of paper or your journal, write down the following questions, and answer them. If you're working with a professional healer, coach, or therapist, you're highly encouraged to share the answers with them. 

1. Do you recognize any of the symptoms or experiences in that list of 15 above in yourself?
2. Where are you stuck in life - what area(s)? Health, Career, Relationships, or general Fulfillment? Be specific!
3. What kind of support do you need? From what or who? What does that look like?
4. Have you found tools that help you? If so, what are they and why aren't you using them? If you are using them, why aren't they working?
5. How do you celebrate your wins? Is it something that you feel benefits you - like if it effects your health negatively, you might want to find another way to celebrate?
6. Why do you start treatments/programs/plans meant to benefit you mentally or physically and not finish them?
7. What do you think is holding you back from living your best life?
8. What can you do to change or eliminate those things all together? Really give this one a hard think.
9. Where have you found the most success so far in your healing journey?
10. Who inspires you the most on your healing journey? Follow that person. Read their books or publications. Listen to them. Watch them. Learn all you can about them. But, please for you're health, don't put them on a pedestal or make them your guru. Learn from them.
11. What are the top 3 things you have done to help yourself?
12. What is one thing you would say to someone you love who feels the way you feel about yourself and your life when you're feeling low? 

Now say that last one to yourself! Maybe even turn it into a mantra. Put it on your mirror. Say it every day. 

You are worthy and you deserve to live a joyful, peaceful, full, healthy life! 

Self-awareness is so huge when it comes to helping you get there! So, why not take some more time for yourself and answer these questions? Then re-commit to becoming more self-aware and getting to the bottom of what's holding you back!  What happened to us in the past doesn't have to have a big negative impact on our present and our future. True healing is possible for all of us. 

In this episode shares an exciting update about her current offerings too! To connect with Amber you can visit her website, or follow her on social media. 

And, don't forget to join us in The Dragonfly Connection Community on Facebook. It's a private group for fans of this podcast, guests that you've heard on here, and anyone wanting more connection, and support on their healing journey. It's a great group, full of love. If you have any questions or comments about this episode or others, you can post them in there, and even ask Amber or her podcast guests questions directly. 

Healthy From The Inside Out

Ambers guest, Steve Q. Wiltshire has made fitness, health & mindset a priority for 3 decades! Shortly after winning the Mr. Oregon Body Building Competition, Steve developed an autoimmune disease that originated from a serious gut complication that took a huge toll on his overall health, his life, and his career. 

Up until then Steve followed what he perceived as experts in fitness regarding what was "healthy", like radical meal plans and supplements containing harsh chemicals. But, eighteen long months after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and more, which he talks about in this episode, Steve healed himself through alternative and holistic healing methods. Now he doesn't just look healthy, he IS healthy from the inside out. And, it's evident through his boundless energy and outlook on life!

Now it's Steve's mission to help others reclaim their health & power...and love themselves no matter where they're at! Steve is an inspiring Speaker, Author, Mindset Coach and the founder of Body Temple Health & Wellness. His company also has it's own, all natural, chemical free supplement line! The links to follow are included below. 

Also included is his complimentary ‘15 Day Kickstart Gut Detox Plan’. Like Steve says, "The Gut is the engine and the brain of the body." After listening to this episode you should definitely check out his free detox program and all his other great resources to help you on your healing journey. 

If you're part of The Dragonfly Connection Community on Facebook you can also connect with Steve and other podcast guests in there. 

Grab the complimentary detox program at bodytemplellc.com/kickstart

Check out all the resources his company offers (including chemical-free supplements) at www.bodytemplellc.com

 

Inner Work

Ambers guest today is Rachel West, and this is her 2nd time being on the podcast. Rachel is a Holistic Personal Growth Coach, Best Selling Author and the Founder of "Empowering Growth". She is also a Domestic Violence Victims Advocate and Community Health Worker. 

Rachel focuses on helping others with mindset improvement and their mental health with a specialty in addiction. She has a belief that you must do the inner work, if you ever want the outer to work; and understands first hand how releasing negative mental, emotional and behavioral programming helps you feel, hear and see new possibilities simply by shifting your thoughts so that you can achieve the results you dream of at a much higher level. 

One of her favorite quotes is from Stacey O'Byrne, "Choice is a powerful thing, suffering is always optional". 

Sometimes in our lives horrible things do happen, tragedies, traumatic experiences - things that are truly not our fault, and sometimes things that we don't have actual recognition of because they happened to us as children...or even to our ancestors. Those things/events have the potential to wreck havoc in our lives when just left to run amok in our subconscious. 

If left buried and untreated, they can lead to mental health challenges as well as addiction. In this episode, that's what the focus is - the buried emotions, the untruths we tell ourselves, and the programming...the roots of the problem. Then Rachel shares some ways to heal those things in your life and how to help others. Because, suffering is optional. We can all choose to start our healing journey or not. 

So, even if you haven't been touched by addiction in your family like Rachel and Amber have, this episode is one you need to hear...if not for you, for someone you care about. Then go share it with them! There's also a really easy self-awareness tool buried within their conversation that you can start using today. 

All the ways you can connect with Rachel are listed below. If you join The Dragonfly Connection Community on Facebook, you can ask her questions directly. It's a free group, Amber created to help us stay connected and empowered on our healing journeys.

Rachels Website: www.empoweringgrowthcoach.com 

Facebook and Her Private Group on Facebook  

And, on Instagram. 

 

Getting Curious

"Curiosity is the gateway drug to intuition" - Kimberly Spencer 

Kimberly Spencer is an award-winning high-performance, trauma-informed coach and trainer, Amazon best-selling author, TEDx speaker, and the founder of CrownYourself.com.

From her entrepreneurial beginnings at five selling bags of glitter-water to her neighbors, to becoming an award-winning screenwriter, certified Pilates instructor, Miss Congeniality, and six-time WEGO Health Activist Award nominee, Kimberly is proof that it's better to make your own mold than to conform to someone else's. She and Amber talk a ton about this topic in this episode along with her own healing journey, the mother wound (and the father wound), drama triangles and so much more good stuff to help you on your life and healing journey. 

Kimberly's work has been featured on Netflix, The CW, ESPN, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and NPR, and in Thrive Global, CNBC, and Forbes. We are so honored to have her part of the Dragonfly Connection now! 

Let us know what you thought of this episode in The Dragonfly Connection Community! 

All the ways you can connect with Kimberly are listed below. 

***Something happened to Ambers mic during this recording, cause it's definitely a little off. But, it shouldn't ruin your experience. Please refrain from dinging her reviews because of it. Instead, please share with your friends and leave a review about the wonderful content rather than mic error. 

Website: https://crownyourself.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crownyourselfnow

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crownyourself/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/crownyourselfnow

Cosmic Connection

Ash Marshall-Odell says, "Living life is a spiritual experience." 

Spirituality is a very important part of our healing journey and Amber felt that this episode was the perfect one to help wrap up Mental Health Awareness Month for us. Please share with someone who needs to hear it...not just in May, but anytime.  

Ash is a spiritual teacher & mentor, healer, empath, psychic medium, certified personal coach, Light Worker, Reiki master & teacher, and author of the book, Light Bound: A Healer’s Journey through Trauma, C PTSD, and Anxiety, and now most recently the host of her own podcast, the "Attune to You" podcast. 

In this episode she and Amber are chatting about spirituality, healing journeys, energy, and the infinite possibilities within and around each of us....or cosmic connections. Ash shares a plethora of self-help tools that can help you tune more deeply into yourself for developing more ease, clarity, capability, and insight. Most are free and many are low cost. They're tools available to all of us. 

When you're done listening check out Ash's podcast. 

You can also connect with Ash on her website and purchase a copy of her book. All those links are below.

Attune to You Podcast on Apple Podcasts or search for it on Spotify and Google too! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/attune-to-you/id1599580831 

Visit her website for resources and a to purchase her book sacredjourneyswithash.com

If you'd like to connect more intimately with Ash, Amber and other podcast guests join us on Facebook in The Dragonfly Connection Community group. 

Grounded Alignment

Are you not living your best life because anxiety and depression are holding you back? 

Ambers guest, Grounded Alignment Practitioner, Elizabeth Sloan wants you to know that you are not “broken” or “less than”, you just need the right support to reconnect you with your ideal manifestation of yourself in this world. 

She says, when you are grounded as yourself, you really can deal with all the challenges that come up from a place of inner calm and equanimity. In this episode, Elizabeth shares some proven, effective resources and technologies to help you do just that.

In this episode she also shares an easy tool she uses for herself to bring her greater joy and peace every day no matter what's going on in her life. It's something anyone listening can do and doesn't cost a thing!

Amber will be getting healing session with Elizabeth the week this episode lands, as she is currently in need of some outside support to help her process some trauma triggers. You can hear more about that and her experience as a client of Elizabeth's in the private Facebook Group, "The Dragonfly Connection".

The link to connect with Elizabeth....including a link to her weekly live meditation on zoom are below. She can also be found on Instagram and Facebook at Grounded Alignment.

Website:www.groundedalignment.com

Go to her website to register for her Free live Guided meditations every other Friday on Zoom.