Episode Transcript

Julia Landauer 0:04 Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of if I'm honest with Julia Landauer. I am joined today by realtor turned medical Reiki master Mel Braun. So Mel is also a yoga instructor. She's a mindfulness educator. And all of this leads itself to her dedication to empowering others to connect back to their body and awaken their innate abilities to heal from within. That is her mission. And she supports this by providing education about energy body, and helping clients understand how emotions and their environmental experiences are stored in their body on an energetic level. And this can in turn affect the physical body. We had a really great discussion where we talked about what Reiki is, how she got into it, and the basics that go into this kind of energetic healing. She also very vulnerably tell stories from her own experiences that I think are quite relatable to many people. She is nine months pregnant. While we are recording this, she talks about how Reiki is incorporated into her routine with her and her baby. And she treats us to a guided meditation at the end of this episode, which left me feeling very calm, certain sensations. It was a really cool experience. And she will walk all of us through it as we're listening. So I am really excited for this episode. Mel, thank you so much for joining me on if I'm honest, Mel Braun 1:23 thank you so much, Julia for having me. I'm so excited. Julia Landauer 1:26 So Mel reached out and she wanted to share kind of what she's been doing with Reiki. And I was really interested because if I'm honest, I am not really well versed in more spiritual energetic healing. It is something that I've read about but you know, don't have a lot of personal experience with so I was really excited for this conversation to learn and to broaden my horizons. And so Mel and I met at a go karting track indoors with a mutual friend for her birthday. And, you know, I She has such positive energy. It's really, it's really infectious, I think. And I can see that even even again, on virtually. So as I mentioned, I'm inexperienced with Reiki, I have done one group session where I admit that I did not really feel that I noticed a big impact or difference. And so knowing that, yeah, so knowing that I'm inexperienced and may or may not have known what to be going for, I'd love it if you could share what Reiki is, you know, kind of what some of the benefits are people who typically use it and how you got into it. Mel Braun 2:39 Absolutely. Well, I have to say Reiki rookies are my absolute favorite. It's really fun when people have not been exposed to it. And I love that you were open minded for whatever reason, I think there's something to that as well. You know, when we expand our minds and open our hearts, we just perceive everything in a different way. So Reiki, you can go into a long term of a definition, but to make it simplistic, it really is just a form of Japanese healing. That is channeling the Chi which is our natural energy that flows throughout our body. And those of you that may be a little more familiar with Chinese medicine, you're probably familiar with the term chi. And so what it does is it just balances the energy in the body and how Reiki works and what differentiates me from a in a different like hands on healer, some people have had like healing touch and things like that. I've went through something called an attunement. So think of that as like an initiation of ceremonious process. And that's what allows me to channel this universal lifeforce energy, and we all have the capability to channel this energy. So that's I teach Reiki as well, all three levels, one, two, and three. And anyone is able to experience Reiki, everyone is able to channel this universal lifeforce energy after they've received the attunement. So it's really that simple. And I think when we start to understand that we are more than just this physical body, we are energetic beings. And we know that from science, we know everything is energy, the table, the desk, all these different things. And that's all that we're doing. We're just balancing the energy within our body. It's the same thing I tell people well in your terms, like a race car, right? What are you going to do if the car is not handling appropriately? You're gonna say, Hey, I feel like this needs a little more, Rear spring we need to make it a little stiffer. We need to adjust the track bar. We need to do these different things. Our bodies are the exact same thing and more of us a regular layman term. If your car is out of alignment Are you just gonna keep driving it down the road when it's veering to the left? No, we call the body shop, we take it in, we get the alignment fixed, it's the same thing. Just fix the alignment, energetic alignment in the body. It's that simple. Julia Landauer 5:16 That's such a great explanation. Mel Braun 5:18 And I think, you know, I think we all know the importance of, you know, physical maintenance on our body. Julia Landauer 5:24 And I think also now there's a lot more discussion around mental health and, you know, seeking therapists and journaling and kind of that like emotional mental balancing. And so what you're saying is that Reiki is taking a look at the at the energy, and it's kind of just an extension of some of the other elements that people are already talking about in more mainstream discussions. Mel Braun 5:48 Exactly, you nailed it. And the other thing too, that, you know, Reiki is not just an energetic it is right, we have the energetic body, but it also affects the physical body, because once we bring that energy into alignment, Reiki actually works with our endocrine system. It also helps stir up the toxins in the body, which no matter how healthy we are these days, right? What we eat, the air we breathe, which we've experienced that this year with the air quality, what we put on our skin, we are constantly taking in toxins. And the other important thing to note here talking about the mental side is the thoughts, the toxic thoughts that we have this negative self talk actually creates physical toxins in our body. So Reiki stirs up the toxins in our body, and then helps our body flush that out, which then creates our body's innate ability to heal. And this is how we heal from within. This is how we keep our body thriving. And we're not reactive to when an ailment or a disease or sicknesses come up. We're keeping our body doing what it's designed to do. Julia Landauer 6:59 Yeah, and it's interesting what you said about the negative self talk, because that is something that I talk about a lot in keynotes and how I I will admit that some things to me, I think in my maybe it's a cynical New Yorker, who knows, but like some things, right, like some things seem a little woowoo. I put quotes around that. And but as I dive into it more like when I first heard the term positive self talk, I did not feel that it applied to me, because whatever. But then I realized when I was having a rough season, how much of my own internal dialogue was really negative. And it wasn't even like bashing, but it was just negative questioning myself doubting my confidence, all of this stuff, and how that did have a very physical arc played a part in having an effect on how I carried myself how I like I saw myself in the mirror as like, the saddest version of myself I'd ever seen. So it's as you're talking more, it's very clear that a lot of it is more interconnected than then one might think, initially. So before we get into kind of more specifics, because I still, I still want help with that jump for what the actual practices which we'll get into, and there will be, yeah, fun activity at the end of this episode for everyone. , but how did you get into Reiki? Mel Braun 8:15 Ah, you know, Julia that's an interesting one. So my background is actually real estate. I've been in real estate, right at 18. And I joke, because Reiki really found me like, it was it was not something that I initially had went out seeking. And so long story short, I had, we had my husband and I two senior dogs, and I was looking at alternative ways to help support them as they were aging. And one of the ways was chiropractic. And so this chiropractor that I was seeing, we just, you know, formed a relationship over time. And she started to tell me about this healing session she did. And I was always very open minded and have probably deemed myself a little more spiritual. And she started to share with me her experience and I was totally intrigued. And I'm like, Oh, my gosh, I must know more. I have to go see this lady. I go for my first session. She didn't just do Reiki, she did some other energy healing. She was a shaman, all of those things. And she laid her hands on me. And I saw PhD. When I tell you I saw like, not just like a little trickle of a tear. I'm talking like that deep belly ugly crying, the tears, the snot just running everywhere. And you're just drowning in it. And what I realized in that moment, were the emotions that my body had been storing for so long my entire life. And over my childhood and into my younger adult years, I would have these interesting ailments that just didn't seem to make sense and knowing what I know now, I understand that it was energy it was Emotions trapped in my body creating these ailments. So that was my first experience. And then fast forward, I really started to get into meditation, which I'm a mindfulness meditation instructor, because real estate, you know, can be. So I had to find other ways to sleep at night and cope, right? So anyways, I started to really get into meditation, and my mom was having a lot of health issues. And in this meditation, I heard you can help your mom and I was like, and Reiki was what came to me in the meditation. So I then decided, Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and get certified. My mom was still having her health issues, we had her all the way up at Duke Hospital, still no medical answers as to what was going on in her body. And my mom was very young, she was in her early 50s. And she got to the point where she was walking and like dragging her right leg to walk. Yeah. And so none of this made sense. So then fast forward to 2020, our favorite year ha. And they she was getting remarried in October. Wonderful. My stepdad is a wonderful fella, and very grateful for him. But my mom still was not able to walk, she couldn't stand. And so she at this point, had exhausted all medical resources. And I want to also say I'm not discounting Western medicine, I think it has a very great place. And medicine has done a lot for us. But I think it's important for us to also understand the potential root causes of things. And so we then decide, okay, she's getting married. And my mom said, I want to be able to walk down the aisle, which I had the honor of walking her down the aisle. And she wanted to be able to stand for the ceremony. And she wanted to be able to dance. And she had had surgeries, she had done physical therapy, she had been on heavy medications to still have no relief. And this is, as a bride, it doesn't matter if it's your first wedding or your second, it's a very important day, totally. And so we did Reiki for at least once a week, twice a week for six weeks, leading up to the big day. And she did all three on her wedding day. And that is one of my favorite stories to share one because it's my mom, but two because I got to experience really, the powerful impact that balancing the energy body, releasing these emotions, the negative mental thoughts that we've programmed and made these emotional imprints are our body to help our body let that go. And the huge impact that it made on her. Julia Landauer 12:46 That's incredible. And I really agree like I'm a big fan of Western medicine, but also really agree that, you know, the body and the mind are super powerful, super, super powerful. And so really harnessing as you said that root cause root condition. So I'm now I'm I'm willing to bet that there are some listeners where we're not quite sure as the actual steps for Reiki and for the healing. So in in a quick summary, if you're able, can you talk about what the like actual processes when you go into a session and again, we will we will have a little activity at the end, but just so that we can kind of grasp, like a lot of us think about therapy in a more traditional sense of you know, you go in you speak with someone there may be back and forth. What is what is the Reiki process for if someone goes into a session? Mel Braun 13:36 That's a really excellent question. I think the first thing that I let clients know, especially my Reiki clients is there is not a right or wrong way to experience Reiki. Okay, so there's not a test at the end, you didn't do it right, you didn't do it wrong. It's it's totally open ended. And I have had people that maybe they're a little more, you know, they're not as open minded. And they still receive tremendous benefits. So really, when you come in for a Reiki session, I let people guide the session, you honor what you need, you tell me what you need, if you want to talk throughout the session, it does not change the flow of energy. And I personally like to talk during my sessions, especially when it's a new client. And the reason is, is because a lot of times and majority of the time, people will feel something in their body, they'll see shapes, they'll see colors, they'll see actual images, they will feel pins and needles, kind of that like your foots falling asleep or something. Sometimes people will feel a jolt of energy go through the body. And if they've not experienced a sensation like that, and it is new. It can kind of freak you out. You're like, what is this? Is this right? Again, our brain automatically goes, Is it right or is it wrong? What's going on? So when I talk during Reiki sessions, I feel like it really just sets themII so little more, it makes them more comfortable. And then they're able to ask questions and be like, sometimes people get dizzy. And I can balance the energy from that and help their body unwind, to bring it back to that calmer, balanced state. So that's it's really simple, you just lay fully clothed on a table, and you're just in a relaxing space, I play relaxing music. And we just kind of talk through anything that comes up. And then I do have my Reiki sessions, I would say I call it like Reiki Plus, you're not just receiving hands on I am intuitive. So I do bring some of that into the session. It is not required as part of the session. But what I have found Julia in doing that is it really allows people to connect with their body in a different way, I started to really read the energy of the person's body. And it's quite fascinating what comes up. You know, when the soulful conversations there on my YouTube channel, a couple of those folks have alluded to there were certain physical things going on in the body that in a medical sense, had not shown up on a test in a scan and bloodwork yet, but energetically, I was able to feel it. And so then people can get ahead of things. And I have had this one of the episodes a gal we got ahead, she was stage one of cancer. And we got ahead of it. And so now she's cleared. So these are the very powerful things that once we connect back to her energy body have the profound impacts that can have. Julia Landauer 16:33 Yeah, and this is kind of a tangent. But when you said that you were able to catch it at stage one that reminds me like I've heard anecdotally that like pets, and especially dogs are like they so kind of sense. If something's wrong with with exactly person. And like I think that just goes through like multiple examples of how like that deeper energy really has this impact. And so and you're leading the session, right, like you are, Mel Braun 16:58 yep, I'm leading the Yep, I'm leading the entire session. And I actually end with a technique in my in person as well as a different session. The in person is a little more in depth, but it's a chapter in Japanese technique called ketsueki-kokan-ho and what it does is the toxins that the Reiki has stirred up in the body, during the session, we brush the body and beat you up in a good way. And that helps flush the lymphatic system and support the lymphatic system of really releasing those toxins. And again, that is what is going to expedite the internal healing of the body from a physical standpoint. Julia Landauer 17:37 Incredible. I'm gonna have to join you for a session now that I'm a little more Yeah, and do this so so I was watching your your soulful conversations on YouTube. And you were talking with one one client and she had mentioned the you know, feeling of a Reiki high. And yeah, and I know that a lot of us racers, you know, kind of feel that high at the track. You know, the racing has the highest highs, lows, lows, and you know, the feeling of being in the zone and you're kind of just operating it. It's not that active mental work, but you're just kind of operating on that subconscious level. And it's perfect. And you stringing together the perfect lap, and you put together the perfect race and winning is just a huge high. And so obviously I'm sure that feels different for different people. But how have you experienced that? What does it feel like? Because people also feel that with running like I have a runner's high. And it's just this feeling of just like, satisfaction and energy. And so I was just wondering if you could share kind of your personal experience with the Reiki high if you do get it what it's like and Mel Braun 18:42 yes, so just to clarify, is it the Reiki high that I feel when I am a facilitator of a session or a Reiki how I when I receive Reiki Julia Landauer 18:52 I was thinking as you receive Reiki but I'm I like to hear both answers, that they're a little different. Mel Braun 18:59 They are a little different. Yeah. So let's start with me receiving Reiki first. So the cool thing about you know if, let's say you decided to learn Reiki one, Reiki one is all about self healing. And so that was my biggest thing is I really wanted to learn how to take care of myself. How do I take care of myself on a deeper level, an energetic and mental level, because we know that affects the physical as you were talking about and sharing earlier. So for me, I learned Reiki also to help my mom but to help me so when I give myself Reiki which I do pretty much every day and now this baby is getting ready to be here. I give myself Reiki pretty much every day and I have really found myself feeling so much more clearer, sharper. You know, we get that mental fog a lot of times because we have such a crazy external environment. We're constantly on the go. We're up against the clock, right? We got those adrenals pumping And so all of this stuff going on that it really just helps calm our body. And Reiki brings us back to that parasympathetic, that rest and digest state of the body. So that to me personally, when I receive Reiki, whether it's giving it to myself or receiving it from others, because I do have other people work on me as well, the high for me, it's almost different than like the hot the runner's high, because it makes me a high of feeling that calmness, and now I used to be addicted to chaos. And now I'm addicted to calmness. So that's really been a nice flow for me. And then I would say a Reiki high as being a facilitator is when these clients share these incredible benefits that they have received from Reiki. And they're like, oh, my gosh, Mel, you did it. I'm like, I didn't do it, honey. That is the Reiki energy. I'm just the facilitator. But I appreciate them trusting me to be a part of their journey. And so that Reiki high is like we're doing it, we're making shifts, people are understanding the importance of the energy body and US caring for ourselves in a new way. And I think the term self care has become so like, oh my gosh, okay, like, I gotta have a spa day. This is completely different. Like, this is the care that really should be non negotiable. Yeah. And it's so simple. Julia Landauer 21:29 Yeah. And just like, and we'll get into this a little bit later. But yeah, the clear integration with our physical mental well being where, you know, a lot of us won't give up exercise, a lot of us won't give up therapy or journaling or something. And so that continuation to an energy level. Well, that's super cool. We're going to take a quick break, but when we come back, we're going to talk with Mel Braun about where she's at now, how Reiki is currently helping her in this next phase of life. And we'll be right back Julia Landauer 22:05 we're back with Mel Braun on if I'm honest with Julia Landauer. So now you are talking about some of the calmness that comes with Reiki and you are almost about to give birth. We're recording this in August, even though it's coming out later. But talk to me about the importance of continuing your Reiki journey during your pregnancy not only for yourself, but how you look at it for for your baby. Mel Braun 22:32 Yes. Oh, I love this one. This one obviously is like hitting home on a different level now. Yeah. So me having the pleasure of working with Reiki years prior to conceiving, I feel is really important. And I've I don't want to use I'm using the word coaching, right and very loosely, really helping clients understand the importance of again, balancing the body, for those that are looking to maybe start a family is very important because we talk a lot about what to eat, what not to eat, what exercises to do, what not exercises to do, you need to take prenatals you need to do this, you need to do that. But we continue to neglect the energy body and the power of that. And so having the background of Reiki to support me prior to conceiving, and then certainly during my pregnancy and I gotta say, y'all I have crushed this pregnancy. And I know I'm about to crush this birth. I mean, don't get me wrong, the first trimester a little rough, right? Like you're tired. And there's some different things going on, you know, physical changes, emotional, hormonal, all of these different changes in the body. But what I had is my constant was Reiki. And it has fully supported me, you can say that I'm one of the lucky ones. And maybe I am but I've never had any morning sickness. I've not had dizziness. I've not had a lot of ailments. Like of course, I have a little low back pain as my pelvis is expanding to accommodate this growing belly and baby. But all in all, my body has thrived. My mental state has thrived. My emotional state has thrived. I mean, that's I'm just crushing it. Yeah. And, you know, when I found out that I was pregnant, officially in January, it was interesting because I really noticed that there was a void in support on a different level. Because practicing is very energetic. It's very spiritual, or you know, whoever you pray to, it doesn't matter. It's a different level of connection to your body and to your baby. And I think it's so important for us as women specifically to be able to support ourselves in a different capacity. And so I'm working on some things behind the state team that I'm excited to share more about here in the coming months, but it's been such a big Beautiful journey to support myself in a different capacity and really empower myself more than I could have ever imagined. And you know what? I think this babies come in in the next 24 to 48 hours. I have no Julia Landauer 25:13 not at all stressful for me as the podcast host? Oh my God, I hope I'm not getting in the way, Sorry, continue. Mel Braun 25:20 Well, I did say I hope my water doesn't break during this because you know, we'll have to reconvene Julia Landauer 25:24 yea not me sweating over here on your behalf. Mel Braun 25:29 Yeah, I just, I feel super, like calm and confident. And again, like going into such a huge transitional phase of your life that is very exciting, but can create a lot of fear. And so having the Reiki to be able to support you, and help keep your body calm. And in that calmer state, as you're going into this is there's no price you can put on that. Julia Landauer 25:54 I think whether it's pregnancy, or just in life, as we're going through things, and you know, we kind of had the plan. And if things go calmly, smoothly, like it's easy to maintain kind of the practices that we're doing and you know, the feeling good about things, but have you had an experience where you know, like, things get really tough? How do you really kind of dig deep and maintain that collectiveness of, of what you're doing and reminding yourself in those tough moments? What it is that we have to do to take care of ourselves? Because I'm thinking of people who have traumatic births or people who have, let's say, bleeding, late stage, and we're just talking about pregnancy, like all these things that really are unexpected and high stress, you know, would you have any tips for how to kind of maintain what you know, is important for your well being, Mel Braun 26:43 pause and breathe. It sounds kind of cliche, and to simple, it's like, no, that's we need something harder than that. But when we get to a place, mentally, emotionally, energetically, where we stop focusing so much on the physical body, and we go into that, and I'm not a trained psychologist, but I do talk a lot about it in my practice, go into that victimhood mentality of like, this is happening to me, I am now a victim, and then you become reactive. Having a balanced energetic body allows us to be a little more fluid, and life is going to happen, shift happens. And so that's the reality of our life. And I will say, to your point, and going into the mental side, you know, during this pregnancy, and this is stuff that I'm writing about is so many people share all the doom and gloom, all their negative stories. I mean, when I tell you, I've never heard so many traumatic birth stories is I have now in the later months of my pregnancy, I have really conditioned myself mentally to say, keep your eyes on your own paper. And even when I go to the doctor, and they start talking about the what if game, I'm not saying that I don't want to be prepared. But the other thing is, I don't want to spend my good energy, focusing on all the negatives, I need to be mentally preparing on all the things that my body is designed to do naturally, and what is going to go right. From a driver's perspective, you're not getting in the car and thinking about getting into an altercation. No, you're thinking about hitting your marks coming out from the apex doing all of these things. And again, it goes back to my personal perspective of the conditioning. Once we get out and we reframe the narrative of the negative, the toxic thoughts, it's not easy. But once we have that inner awareness, and I talk about energy being like hate splattered all around Reiki and understanding the energy body and the importance of mindfulness, we bring our energy back within us. So that then allows us not to be so reactive, when things happen, that are going to inevitably be out of our control. We are not in control over everything. But it's it's having the awareness of knowing when things show up, that are out of our control. I have the competence to be able to navigate it from there, that that taking, taking ownership taking responsibility. There's something that I talk about a lot in keynotes as well that the importance of so much is out of our control. And so really getting your ducks in line to be there. Julia Landauer 29:36 Get yourself through it, I think is super important and taking that that mentality that we always have control over something might be small. But you know, you're so right. And what we have control over is how we react totally 100% Yes, I tell the story related to that in almost every keynote, so yeah, yep, I totally agree. So, Now you have generously offered to walk me and our listeners through a guided meditation. And I know that you have a longer one on your YouTube channel, but you're gonna give us the consolidated version, the short one, which for people who are seated at home or somewhere not actively maneuvering a vehicle or anything or walking on the street, I would love to have us take a few minutes before we get into the rapid fire if you're honest, to walk through this, so I'm gonna let you you take it. Mel Braun 30:32 Thank you. This is one of my favorite go twos. I honestly do this daily. This is an excellent grounding meditation. If you find yourself let's say before you give a keynote or really anyone who is looking to have a little more clarity, you need to feel sharper, let go of the brain fog, that's usually when I know that my energy is not grounded. So I'm going to go ahead and invite you and the listeners to just gently close your eyes Mel Braun 31:04 and just start to take some deep cleansing breaths, inhaling through the nose Mel Braun 31:14 and exhaling through the mouth. Mel Braun 31:20 And just continue those deep cleansing breaths. Mel Braun 31:27 Each inhalation bringing peace, Mel Braun 31:33 calmness Mel Braun 31:38 and each exhalation, letting go what is no longer serving you. Mel Braun 31:47 Any stress anxieties, tensions in the body Mel Braun 31:58 and if those deep cleansing breaths are serving you, Mel Braun 32:03 you may continue them or begin to breathe in the natural rise and fall of your natural breath. Mel Braun 32:15 Letting go of all time and responsibilities. Mel Braun 32:21 Just breathe. Mel Braun 32:29 in your mind's eye, you see a bright white light shining at the crown of the head. Mel Braun 32:41 On your next exhalation, you got that white light to meet the scale, the Crown Chakra. Mel Braun 32:51 Notice any sensations you feel you may feel warm, Mel Braun 32:56 tingling, Mel Braun 32:59 maybe nothing at all. Mel Braun 33:03 Letting go of all judgment and just be Mel Braun 33:10 when you're next exhalation guide that white light Mel Braun 33:14 to the Third Eye located between the eyebrows Mel Braun 33:23 taking any sensation Mel Braun 33:29 maybe you even see an indigo color, which is what we associate with the third eye. Mel Braun 33:39 On your next exhalation guide that light to the throat chakra Mel Braun 33:48 and maybe here you see a blue light Mel Braun 33:56 just breathe Mel Braun 34:03 and exhale, guide that light to the center of the chest at the Heart Chakra Mel Braun 34:15 you may even see the color green Mel Braun 34:25 and in your own time and the next exhalation guide that light Mel Braun 34:31 to the belly at the solar plexus. Mel Braun 34:36 Here you may see a yellow light Mel Braun 34:49 when you're ready, guide that light down to the sacral chakra located at the navel Mel Braun 34:59 here you may Mel Braun 35:00 see an orange Mel Braun 35:07 remembering there's no expectation Mel Braun 35:12 you are simply breathing Mel Braun 35:15 being Mel Braun 35:22 and when you're ready my friend guide that light Mel Braun 35:27 to the bottom of the tailbone at their root chakra. Mel Braun 35:34 Here you may see a red light Mel Braun 35:44 and in your own time you see that light split into two and travel down each individual thigh Mel Braun 35:55 over the knees pass the shins to the ankles Mel Braun 36:02 and the white light reaches the bottom of each foot. Mel Braun 36:09 In this moment in your mind's eye, you begin to see tree roots growing out of the bottoms of the feet Mel Braun 36:18 and deep down into the earth. Mel Braun 36:23 each exhalation guides these roots deeper, stronger, wider down into the earth Mel Braun 36:41 using all of your senses to take in any awareness of the body Mel Braun 36:50 just breathe Mel Braun 36:58 reminding yourself you are as strong as the big oak tree Mel Braun 37:10 and in your own time on your next inhalation Mel Braun 37:15 you slowly begin to retract the tree roots back into the bottom so the feet Mel Braun 37:24 no rush Mel Braun 37:36 when you feel the roots reach the bottom of the feet Mel Braun 37:42 The light slowly begins to diminish Mel Braun 37:51 you can begin to wiggle the toes Mel Braun 37:58 gently wiggle the finger tips Mel Braun 38:05 take a deep cleansing breath Mel Braun 38:11 gently open the eyes and fully welcome yourself back to your space Mel Braun 38:22 How are you feeling my friend? Julia Landauer 38:24 Wow. I mean let me tell you so with that last Cleansing Breath. It almost like felt crisper in a sense than some of the deeper ones I take. Mel Braun 38:37 I just got chills Julia Landauer 38:38 and I I felt like little tingles in my scalp and top my head and then my left toes. Not my right toes, just my left toes. But wow, that was that was really special with the light thank you for for doing that with us. Mel Braun 38:55 You are so welcome breathing is it's really powerful, Julia Landauer 38:59 super powerful. And I love that it's rooted in so much breathing because breathing you know I've learned about the importance over my racing career and in calming nerves and with like ice bath work and all this stuff where breathing becomes really important and you know, I I use deep diaphragm breathing as kind of my go to for calming, I'm really expanding the diaphragm, whether it's before keynotes or before I go out for racing.Yeah, it. It's that was great. Thank you. I hope everyone enjoyed that. And now you have longer versions of that on your YouTube right? Mel Braun 39:38 I do. Yes. Julia Landauer 39:39 Not to like pump it out really quickly. But it's like that's that was really cool. And I now want to check out Ah, no, you should. Mel Braun 39:47 Yes, it's under my meditation playlist. It's the grounding meditation on the YouTube channel was a little longer like 15 minutes. But what I love about that grounding meditation Julia is once you really get it down, you can do it and the visualisation while you're brushing your teeth. And if you've forgotten you should be brushing your teeth for two minutes, okay, and flossing and that endwall thing. And that will really, if you practice that daily, you are going to be blown away of how you feel how you carry yourself how you're mentally sharper. You just, you're you're vibing and thriving in a totally different way. And guess what that was? Julia Landauer 40:29 No, that was that was really incredible. Thank you for again, generously walking us through that. i, feeling nice and relaxed, which was great. Cause like I've got a busy day. Mel Braun 40:41 You look Like you need a nap Julia Landauer 40:42 I know right? We love the morning map. I'm a big morning nap person. We're going to take a quick break Julia Landauer 40:57 we're back with Mel Braun on if I'm honest with Julia Landauer No, no, that was really incredible. And before I let you go, you know who don't want to? Don't want to push timing here with a little one on the way. Oh my goodness. I do want to end on an if you're honest. rapidfire. I know right? High pressure high stakes right now. But what are some of your daily non negotiables? Mel Braun 41:20 Hmm, I mean, this is about to be tested. Right? To your point earlier is quite a time. Because with an infant that's going to be interesting. But what I found for me, even if it's it doesn't have to be a thing. A long, long thing I should say. The non negotiable for me is quiet time. Have I have to have like five minutes. No. And it's that simple. And whether again it's like okay, now that we've got the baby that's going to be here any day, then I'll be like Okay, call when you take the baby for five minutes. I just need to sit in silence and breathe. That is my number one non negotiable I'm really That's it like I just have to have that time to like recollect my energy back to my future. Julia Landauer 42:03 I hope you're able to maintain that with with baby I know you I know. You will. I know you will. Mel Braun 42:08 I was gonna say I will put you posted. Julia Landauer 42:12 So what is a food that has always made you feel better? Mel Braun 42:19 I'm southern so now I'm like, I don't know. Do I go to like grits or... Julia Landauer 42:23 Love grits. Julia Landauer 42:25 I don't know. I'm gonna go with that. Like I do. I let's say that I am southern so I I don't know how to cook center and I cook actually very healthy. But I'm gonna go with like, what really just feeds my soul is biscuits and grits. I love that. That's very southern. Julia Landauer 42:43 We appreciate that very much.Do you have a morning beverage? Mel Braun 42:49 Oh, love my coffee. Like my Yeah, like my morning coffee and I journal a lot in the morning. I've journaled a lot to this baby, which is I think extra special, I would highly encourage anybody to do that. That's actually something else I'm writing about is I feel the energetic importance of that. But I just enjoy starting my day, again, that quiet time, like it just it sets the precedent for the day. And again, it doesn't have to be a lot. But it like instead of as soon as I wake up, grab my phone, I'm on the go. You're setting the tone for your entire day. So just having a few minutes of that is bliss, right? My coffee routine in the process of making it and pouring it and putting the milk and sugar in it and sipping on it. It's it's a it's exactly, exactly. It's very meditative. Julia Landauer 43:39 Okay, so the last, if you're honest, what is something that you're grateful for right now? Mel Braun 43:43 I'm very grateful for this body, this body that has been able to carry this life. And one of my things honestly, it's I say positive affirmations daily throughout the day. And you know what, I'm gonna give this to everyone as well. My favorite go to is I am healthy. I am vibrant. I am strong. And I say that I am healthy. I am vibrant. I am strong. Julia Landauer 44:12 Huge. Oh my goodness, Mel, thank you so so much for all of this. Where can listeners and listeners find you I'll link all of these in the description but your YouTube channel, any other social media, whatever you'd like. Mel Braun 44:28 Absolutely. So I must admit I'm more active on Instagram than any other social platforms. So you can find me on my business page at soulfull that's s o UL full like your soul is full CO. It's that simple. And then if you want to connect on any of the Reiki side, learn a little bit more about what I do there. You can check out my website which is soulfull SOULFULLCO.com. I have tons of accessibility to information. If you are interested in learning Reiki one, I do have an online self paced Reiki one training course that I just launched last month. So that's really cool. Super excited about that. And then my youtube channel again, just soulfull co. And all of that is on my website as well. So it's super easy to connect with me. Please reach out. I love talking all the energy and I love that you started with the woowoo but hopefully we change the narrative from woo woo to like we are wow. Julia Landauer 45:34 Oh, I love that we are Wow. Well, Mel Brown. Thank you so much. And everyone that is our show. Thank you for letting me be honest with you, Mel, thank you for being honest with us, and I look forward to seeing you next week.