Harnessing Intuition for Business Growth
with Michal LeBaron
In today's episode, Michael shares her profound insights into the power of intuitive knowing and how it can guide us in our daily lives. I'll also give you a glimpse into my journey as a type A personality learning to slow down, be present, and check in with myself throughout the day.
Michael's wisdom extends to the topic of personal growth and challenging our limiting beliefs, as she walks us through her life-changing realization that living in a constant 'growth and repair' mode is actually possible, as opposed to being stuck in survival mode.
Together we unpack the notion that life's difficulties don't quite disappear, but the way we approach them fundamentally shifts when we nurture inner peace. This peace isn't a fleeting moment but a sustainable state; it's about accepting our reality, embarking on a journey of self-growth, and acknowledging the significance of our choices.
Join us as we discuss reality versus expectations, making intuitive and healthy choices, and how cultivating a heartfelt connection with oneself can transform our experience of life and business.
About Michal LeBaron
With over 14 years of personal experience, Michal leads a team of functional medicine and holistic practitioners that believe in finding and addressing the root cause of the problem, rather than providing band-aid approaches and protocols. Using a breakthrough approach centered around nervous system regulation, Chronic Illness Solution specializes in helping those with autoimmune, genetic, and pain disorders.
Connect with Michal LeBaron
Website: http://www.chronicillnesssolution.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/chronicillnesssolution/
About Aleya Harris
Aleya Harris is the spark for your spark™. A trailblazer in purpose-driven story crafting, she is a former marketing executive and ex-Google Vendor Partner who brings her dynamic experience to her role as the CEO of The Evolution Collective Inc. Aleya is a StoryBrand Certified Guide, international award-winning speaker, and the host of the award-winning Flourishing Entrepreneur Podcast. Her unique approach as a Strategic Storytelling Consultant has revolutionized the way businesses communicate, transforming workplace cultures and market positioning. With her dynamic energy and proven methodologies, she guides clients to unlock their potential, articulate their radically authentic stories, and achieve unparalleled success.
Sign Up for a Free Workshop
Each month, Aleya hosts a free 90-minute, hands-on workshop to help you use the power of radically authentic strategic storytelling to improve your personal growth, career, and company.
Register at https://www.aleyaharris.com/workshop
Book Aleya to Speak
To book Aleya to edutain your audience at your next event as a keynote speaker, please visit www.aleyaharris.com/speaking to check out her speaking topics, reels, and why. Click "Schedule a Call" to secure the speaker with "that something new" you've been looking for.
If you are a Corporate Event Planner, Employee Experience Professional, Head of Marketing, Learning & Development Professional, Executive Assistant, Speakers Bureau Destination Management Company, or Destination Management Organization who is looking for a top-quality, energetic speaker, you should definitely hop on a call with Aleya.
Connect with Aleya Harris
Speaking & Media: https://www.aleyaharris.com
The Evolution Collective Inc.: https://www.evolutioncollective.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleyaharris/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyaharris/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thealeyaharris
Links Mentioned on this Podcast
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Aleya Harris [00:00:01]:
Okay, are you ready for a tough love moment? Here it is. You are stressed and it might just be your fault. What? How dare you tell me that? Aleya, you don't know my life. You don't know what happened with my car the other day and my kids and my partner and my career and my job and my client. You don't know me. All of that is stressful. Is it? Or are you making the decision to be stressed? I like to say that change is neutral. Our opinion of it makes it either good or bad.
Aleya Harris [00:00:51]:
In that same vein, life is neutral. The happenings of life are neutral. Our reactions to them decide whether we are stressed or not, whether we are stressed or stimulated. Stressed or stimulated. We have a choice. And in this episode, I and you, my dear listener, are going to be blessed. We're like younger millennials, hashtag blessed. To talk to McCall.
Aleya Harris [00:01:31]:
McCall is going to talk to us all about how we make better choices for physical, mental and emotional wellness to help us reach our dreams and goals with greater ease and, yes, less stress. All right, if you are ready to go. I am ready to go. Let's go.
Yuliya Patsay [00:02:08]:
Welcome to the Flourishing Entrepreneur podcast with Aleya Harris. If you're looking for actionable ways to stand out from the crowd by standing in your power, you've come to the right place. Each week, we help you and your fellow empire building entrepreneurs become radically authentic and tap into your unique story to attract your ideal clients. Listen in and learn how to use energy alignment techniques and tried and true marketing strategies to transform from a leader to a legend. And now, your host powerhouse story, brand certified guide, award winning marketer, bioenergetic business coach, and japanese whiskey lover Aleya Harris.
Aleya Harris [00:03:03]:
Mikhail Lebaron is the owner of Chronic Illness Solution. Mikal had a long and painful journey with chronic illnesses. Doctors described her as a quote unquote mystery. Don't you love that? Right? And they were unable to identify what was going on with her for years. Like so many, she had to fight for proper testing, and even then, she still felt like something was missing. Eventually, she found out that she had autoimmune and genetic disorders and began her journey of managing her systems through diet, lifestyle and other holistic methods. It took years, however, before Mikhail realized that this obviously meant that she was still unhealthy after doing all of the things right. So, with over 14 years of personal experience, Mikhail leads a team of functional medicine and holistic practitioners that believe in finding and addressing the root cause of the problem rather than providing bandaid approaches and protocols.
Aleya Harris [00:04:11]:
Using a breakthrough approach centered around nervous system regulation. Chronic illness solutions specializes in helping those with autoimmune, genetic and pain disorders. Of course, I've talked to you already about how I have an autoimmune disorder, and so I'm particularly interested. But even if you do not, in this episode, we talk about how limiting beliefs and limiting behaviors can lead to stress and struggle and issues that go even beyond the physical. So I, if I were you, would tune in. And I highly recommend that you lean into this conversation that I'm having with McCall. Yeah, let's do it. Hey, there.
Aleya Harris [00:05:03]:
I'm so glad to have you on the flourishing entrepreneur podcast. How you doing today?
Michael LeBaron [00:05:08]:
Hey, good. Thank you so much for having me.
Aleya Harris [00:05:11]:
So, I've already read your bio, and the people should feel like they're in the presence of greatness, because I know I do. But can you please tell us just a teensy bit, in your own words, who you are, what you do? That'd be great.
Michael LeBaron [00:05:29]:
Thank you. I'm Mikala Barron, and what I am known for is helping individuals with chronic illness like autoimmune diseases, genetic disorders, environmental illnesses, stuff that stumps the doctors, helping them really activate their own body's ability to repair itself so that they can be a fully healthy person in every aspect of life in like three to five months.
Aleya Harris [00:05:54]:
I love that. Especially someone with an autoimmune. We're just going to call it an imbalanced. I love that you help people where the doctors are stumped, because they're always stumped. You go in with an autoimmune issue or symptoms of an autoimmune issue, and you might as well go in there with three heads. Actually going in there with three heads would be easier, because then they can see the problem clearly. They know you're not lying. They're not going to say it's all in your head, right? Or heads.
Aleya Harris [00:06:25]:
They're going to be very much right there with you. But going in with autoimmune is hard. It's hidden. And there's lots of things within us that are hidden. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, energetically, and often those hidden things, we don't need someone else to convince us that they are less than or stupid or not important. We do a very good job of doing that all on our own. We don't need to go into the doctor's office for somebody else to tell it to us, for us. So I know that in your life and in your work, you have experienced some of those hidden things.
Aleya Harris [00:07:06]:
And for me, some of the hidden things in my reaction to them throws me off. So, what are some of the clues that you are maybe off or when you're dealing with the things that people can't readily see, and how do you get back on track?
Michael LeBaron [00:07:25]:
Yes. Well, I think the first. My answer has changed over time, of course, but in the beginning, when I was having these chronic issues and no one was believing me. Right. Or the doctor said, oh, your tests are normal, or all the dismissive comments, no, that's not possible. You're too young. Really trusting our intuitive knowing and learning to advocate for ourselves and not give up. Okay.
Michael LeBaron [00:07:53]:
Thank you. You're not my doctor. That's my favorite.
Aleya Harris [00:07:57]:
Oh, my God. We can say that. I mean, it doesn't feel like you can say that when you're in the room, right? You're like, well, they're the doctor. I got to listen to them. But being able to say, thank you, you're not my doctor. That in and of itself feels so powerful.
Michael LeBaron [00:08:12]:
Yes. And then take that into whatever life. If something isn't jiving, well, something doesn't feel right. Something is dysfunctional. Thank you. This just isn't for me. I'm out.
Aleya Harris [00:08:24]:
It doesn't innately mean that I am the problem. We can allow other things to just not be a good fit without saying that we are wrong or bad.
Michael LeBaron [00:08:35]:
Yes, absolutely. So then I did find my health team, and I found my mentors, and. You know what I mean? Then I found my answers. So it's like, you have to keep going for yourself. So now it's different because I am fully healthy. I don't have chronic disease, and my autoimmune disorder is gone and all of that. So that's not a part of my daily life.
Aleya Harris [00:08:57]:
Yay.
Michael LeBaron [00:08:59]:
But you still have. When you feel something's off. And I feel like the biggest, best thing that we could ever teach any of us, which I wish was, like, in the school systems growing up, we'd have a whole new world, is really, like, can you be slowed down enough in yourself through life that you listen to those intuitive time out? This feels like too much. This feels like one too many things on the calendar that feels like I'm pushing through that, or it feels like I'm doing this as a should. And if we can really slow down to be honest with ourselves about that gut feeling and when we learn to trust it and live life from that place, we live with resilience. We have integrity and workability in our lives and our business dealings and our relationships, and we always end up having what we need. And it's so neat because trusting that intuitive knowing, like that gut instinct that we all have, we've just forgotten to listen to it. Oh, my gosh.
Michael LeBaron [00:10:14]:
There's synchronicities. That couldn't be coincidence that it just always blows me away. It's like, you know, I think I need a bigger breakfast today. I don't know why, but I'm feeling a little hungrier. And so I'm going to go with it instead of be like, no, that's too much food, right? And then sure enough, it's like, oh, some meetings pushed out and I end up not even getting lunch until earlier, later, afternoon that day, it's like, well, I'm really glad I ate a big breakfast. Somehow my heart knew ahead of my mind what I would need today. And so trusting, not he's the doctor, or whatever it is, she's the business coach or whoever it is, it's really learning to trust our own intuitive knowing and realizing we do have the answers within intuitive knowing.
Aleya Harris [00:11:01]:
For some people, it's like, oh, yeah, I got that. Her name is Jessica. But for other people, it's like, what is the address? And do you have a map? So how would you suggest that people find their intuitive knowing if it feels like a foreign concept to them?
Michael LeBaron [00:11:19]:
Oh, I love that. Where I usually start with whoever, clients, friends, family. Right? Because this is the question. It's like, but how do you know? I actually have them just sit down and close their eyes and feel their body, and I have them ask themselves a question that they know the answer is yes. Right? Definitively, without a doubt. What does a yes feel like? From my head to my toe in my thoughts and my brain and my mind to my gut to my shoulders, and they feel that yes. And whatever it is, for them, it usually feels like a breath of fresh air, tension releasing, just some, like, feeling. It's like that feeling.
Michael LeBaron [00:12:04]:
And so then I say, okay, ask yourself something. A question that you know is a no. That something that just feels absolutely detestable, gross, awful to you and sit in the no from head to toe, what's going on in your head? It's different things. And usually it feels like tension or this nauseous feeling. It's just like. It just feels icky to me. And so people ask me like, well, how do you know? And I'm like, well, it doesn't matter how I know, it matters that you know and that you connect to what does a yes feel like and what does a no feel like? And if people just slow down and do this simple exercise, they will immediately begin to feel the difference within them of what their soul says is a yes, and what their soul says is a no, and what their body says is a yes. What their body says is a no.
Michael LeBaron [00:13:00]:
And it's just developing that awareness. Like, that's it. And then it's just developing that so that it doesn't take as long and you don't have to pause. You kind of just go through life with that knowing.
Aleya Harris [00:13:13]:
I love that. I do something very similar. I even do that from the stage, when I'm speaking on stage with full audiences. And we go through that because we are very disconnected from our bodies in the way that most people live their daily lives. Even me, lots of days, I feel disconnected or have days like, well, where did the day go? It's 05:00 and did I wake up yet? Did I brush my teeth? Did I start my day yet? Like, what happened? It just blurred by. And being connected with your body helps do something that I would love for you to also expand on because you've said it several times. Slow down. Pause.
Aleya Harris [00:13:55]:
As someone who is a type A person, I have an Aries moon. I am going to go, and I only know one speed, and it is fast. It might be fast right into a brick wall, but I'm going with gusto. So when you say slow down, are you meaning, like, that sloth from that cartoon at the know, that's like moving slowly? Are you saying I just got to sit on my booty and meditate? I have to cancel all everything on my calendar? What does that realistically look like for someone who. I mean, now we're just getting into me. I'm sorry. If you're listening to this, and this is not you, this is my time, because I want to know this answer. For me, a recovering type A pluser, what does that mean and how do you do it without feeling like you are going against who you are?
Michael LeBaron [00:14:58]:
I love that so much. I'm also a recovering type a pluser, and it really took something to learn to slow down. But while we think it's hard, it doesn't take time. That's the oxymoron. It doesn't take time. Time is not at all in the equation with this. Another way to say it could be being present instead of on autopilot, right. Living in a present connected state where I am self aware.
Michael LeBaron [00:15:32]:
That's the key. So I can move quickly and be slowed down. And I love the whole sloth analogy. It's like, yeah, sloth down. That's a beautiful visual. I love it. So just sloth right on down. It's not about the outside being fast or slow.
Michael LeBaron [00:15:53]:
In fact, I can be very quick and efficient, but I can be so present and slowed down and aware of every piece that's going on inside of me and outside of me. So what I like to recommend is that there are at least five check in points throughout the day where I'm intentionally checking in and checking my presence. And maybe spending 60 seconds doesn't take a lot of time, but just spending 60 seconds, how am I doing? Can I hear what's going on around me? Can I feel right? Using my senses to become aware? And also it's a great time to check in. How am I feeling? And I can feel often if I'm sped up and I'm go, go. And I was just blurring through my day. That check in is a beautiful reminder that's like, oh, yes, I was blurring through my day. So then what is supportive for me right now? And did I take a break? And do I want, what do I need right now? And just having that pause to be able to ask myself those questions, that teaches us. So it's like before I get out of bed, I'm grounding, I'm getting present.
Michael LeBaron [00:17:09]:
I'm just taking a pause so that I can move through my morning routine with awareness and we really can learn to live that way all the time, which is so beautiful. I think of Eckhart Tolley's the power of now, right, being in the now all the time. But we can take it in small steps and simply. And so even just starting with five check in points every day, five every day is a beautiful way to develop that muscle.
Aleya Harris [00:17:37]:
It's so funny because you've literally given me homework. I mean, all of us, obviously, dear listener, but we know what my selfish aim is here. You've given me five minutes of homework to do and I'm like, oh, my God, how the hell am I going to do this? And literally the first thing that went through my brain is I don't have time for that. And then I had to sit and laugh at myself because I do have five minutes and they're not even five consecutive minutes. So this homework, I am committing to you to do this. I'm going to wake up tomorrow and get my five steps. And, dear, dear listener, do it with me because, you know, I need some accountability in this because we all know that I'm a go goer if you're a go goer and you need your five steps. Send me an email about how you're doing.
Aleya Harris [00:18:25]:
Send McCall an email because we need to know if you're actually pausing. You know what? Take one of those minutes and say, I'm a pause. And then after I know what this pause, I'm going to send an email to just say that I'm actually pausing. Let's do that. Because otherwise I'm going to be in this alone and I have a very low chance of success doing this by myself. So I'm going to five moments and I'm going to ask myself that beautiful question, or a version of it, of what do I need to do to better support myself right now in this moment. I love that we're going to have a moment of honesty. You didn't always do this.
Aleya Harris [00:19:12]:
You were not always like this. So what limiting beliefs did you have to overcome to get to this point?
Michael LeBaron [00:19:23]:
A lot.
Aleya Harris [00:19:26]:
All of them.
Michael LeBaron [00:19:29]:
I love it. To back up, too. Some of the inspiration behind why I pause is because I know that when I'm on autopilot, it's not me, it's my brain. It's my unconscious patterns and habits and beliefs and insecurities and survival. Little things, shadow aspects. And when I am not consciously governing my life, it's all that shit that is. And it always makes messes and it always makes fires, and it always adds work and stress. And I don't get through life as smoothly as I could.
Michael LeBaron [00:20:02]:
And so that's my incentive. So for me, when I discovered this work, it's like the deepest shadow work. I don't know how to describe it right, but it's a new way of living life. I think prior to that, I didn't even believe it was possible to heal fully.
Aleya Harris [00:20:28]:
I totally get that. It's also the way the doctors talk to you, like you're unhealable.
Michael LeBaron [00:20:33]:
Yes. And when, as I began studying into nervous system regulation, we started talking about stress and survival mode, and I said, oh, yeah, well, everyone's in that. So I didn't even believe it was possible to live life, not in survival. And that's what governed all my behaviors. Like, oh, that's too hard. I'll never, that's not even a possibility in our society. So therefore, I'm just going to, like you say you meditate or you do yoga or you do this or you do that, but fundamentally, it's not going to change. So I just end up, I was just going through life, like bulldozing through life.
Michael LeBaron [00:21:14]:
And when I really got and saw like a beacon of hope. Wait a minute. It's possible to live life in a state of growth and repair mode, resting and digesting mode, where everything in my body is working optimally and I can actually be at peace, tangible peace, not like the fleeting feelings of peace, which isn't peace. That's like, that's not peace.
Aleya Harris [00:21:40]:
I've just exhausted myself to a point where I can't move on. And so you get almost like. It's almost like a runner's high for a brief moment, but that's not peace. Totally agree.
Michael LeBaron [00:21:53]:
Yeah, that's just that floating, whatever sensation. That's a nice sensation for a while. For a minute. So the first one was really like, fuck, I can be at peace in my body, in my mind, in myself, in my soul. I really did not believe that was possible. And so that was the first beacon of hope that was like, oh, that's possible.
Aleya Harris [00:22:21]:
What made you believe it was possible? Because, I mean, a lot of people say, oh, I needed to give myself permission. I don't know if this sounds like permission to feel like this and to be this, it sounds like you really had to make a mental switch. How did you do that?
Michael LeBaron [00:22:36]:
That is such a good question. I think for me, well, one, I didn't really believe it was possible until I was living it. So I was more like openly curious and willing to try and explore and give it my all. And I basically said, well, I'm not staying where I am because this sucks. So what do I have to lose? So did I fully believe in my head? Oh, I can totally have that. Without any doubts. No. It felt like jumping off a cliff into the unknown, hoping that there was something to catch me.
Michael LeBaron [00:23:14]:
That's how it honestly felt. But I knew I wasn't staying put. I knew it made sense that, okay, I can discover why I'm approaching my life from survival and I can make changes to how I see things and to how I treat myself. Like putting myself last all the time versus putting myself first and supporting myself and becoming my own best friend and advocate. Like, okay, that makes logical sense that somebody could learn to do that. I am willing. I am open and I am willing, and we'll see how it goes. And then on the other side, I'm like, oh my God, I am at peace.
Michael LeBaron [00:23:57]:
Or then I could begin to see my changes and settle into that. And that's where true belief happens, is when we are living, breathing examples of this experience.
Aleya Harris [00:24:10]:
Yes. One of the things that I really like that you said is that you worked with your natural tools a lot of times people are like, oh, my brain's not working with me. I'm going to just feel my way into it, or, I'm out of touch with my body or my feelings. Let me think my way out of this problem. But you found a way to incorporate your thoughts, your feelings, your body, and logic to apply logic to all three of those elements, to navigate your way away from beliefs that were no longer serving you. There's such a clarity of mind and presence that you had to do that. And I don't know if it was as clear in the moment as you're articulating it now, but clearly something was clear because it worked and you were able to move to a different place. I really have a lot of respect for that because sometimes I'd be running around here, like, totally off the wall inside my head.
Aleya Harris [00:25:07]:
Don't look at my face. My face is cool, calm, and collected. And, baby, I got it together. I got my pearl earrings on, and my hair is whipping today. And everything seems cool, but inside of me, oh, my God. Like, literally at the time of this recording, when I'm talking to you all right, now I feel like I'm about to pop pop because of all that stuff rolling around. So I admire that presence of mine. I'm planning to emulate it.
Aleya Harris [00:25:35]:
Maybe it's going to start in those five pausing moments to be able to work with myself as opposed to against myself. So thank you. I don't know about you, dear listener, but if you are not getting some emotional help from this, you probably need to rewind and listen again because the things that we're talking about are situations. And maybe you don't have an autoimmune disease. And you're like, I can't relate to this because my situation is totally different.
Michael LeBaron [00:26:09]:
It's not an autoimmune disease.
Aleya Harris [00:26:11]:
I'm just in an abusive relationship. Same difference. The internal conversations you're having with yourself relate to the tools that McCall is talking about right now. But this didn't come, like, out of the blue. Like, you weren't sitting under the bodhi tree and all of a. I have the answers. You had to go through some stuff, right? Am I right?
Michael LeBaron [00:26:35]:
Oh, yeah.
Aleya Harris [00:26:36]:
So if you could talk about the most pivotal moment of your life, a moment of rebirth, how did you then manage all these limiting beliefs and manage this transition? What did you learn? How are you better now on the other side?
Michael LeBaron [00:26:54]:
I love how you articulate everything. It's so beautiful, and it's like new words. I'm like, oh, yeah, I've never heard it said that way. That's so beautiful. Yeah. You don't get here through some easy cakewalk journey, and life doesn't become a cakewalk journey when you're at peace. Life is still very up and down, full of stressors and challenges, and I think it's in the approach of it where the experience changes. So if my expectations of life are different than the reality of life, I am already going to be in turmoil.
Michael LeBaron [00:27:39]:
I am already going to be not at peace and feeling stressed and in survival, but when I can accept the reality of life for what and myself wherever I am on my journey, because I'm not perfect and I am still human, and I am still on this personal growth journey. So really accepting where I am and the reality right now as it is then gives me access to begin to do something about it. And it's really what I'm learning. Being a healthy person is. It's how I am with myself through the journey of life. Am I my worst critic? Am I shitting myself throughout every damn minute of the day? Am I judging myself and comparing myself to who I think I should be? Am I suppressing what I really think and feel because of some facade that I have to think I have to be at work today versus just allowing myself the space and the grace to be honest with me with others and not have to be perfect and really get to just be honest and genuine and human and all of that? And so for me, it's like, can I learn and grow through this? Or more like, not can I? Because I can. What can I learn and grow through this right now? How can I be here for myself in this now moment with whatever is coming up? So if it's stress and anxiety because I have a long day for you, is what you're sharing with me, right. That's, like, default mode for most humans right now, okay, that's definitely my default.
Aleya Harris [00:29:30]:
That doesn't mean I like it, but that's where I'm at.
Michael LeBaron [00:29:33]:
Yes, but how can I be with myself while that is my default, not having the goal be to be some other way, and then all of a sudden, yay, you've done it, you've made it. You're healthy. You have some badge of honor. How do I be with myself in every now moment in a way that is kind, in a way that is honoring of how I really feel and instead of dismissing, oh, I'm stressed, oh, I'm triggered, oh, I'm this or I'm that, and I should be different. I should be at peace. It's more like, what is the gold inside those messages to myself? So if there's stress and worry, it's like the brain and the body working with us to support us, to say, I think something's not quite balanced. I wonder what that is today. I wonder how I can put a minute of thought into what am I worried about? What is it like? What is the actual message, intuitive message that's coming through in that form.
Michael LeBaron [00:30:42]:
And what I've learned is that if I don't listen, it gets louder, right? And then the body will start screaming at you if it comes out in a health condition, or maybe you have some addictive coping behaviors and it'll come out in that, or it'll come out in your relationships. So what I'm not listening to or honoring inside myself and my experience of life, it's just going to get louder. And so it's learning how to honor and listen to that, not from judgment, but from genuine, like as if you would a friend. We actually listen to our friends and we don't like you shouldn't be feeling that we're not to our friends like we are to ourselves. So can you listen to yourself with the same love and support and compassion that you would a friend and then give yourself the own advice, just like you would give a friend? And then can you listen to it like you would listen to your friend?
Aleya Harris [00:31:36]:
That's the real challenge. You mentioned life doesn't become easy once you achieve a sense of peace. So why do I want to achieve a sense of peace at all? What's the point?
Michael LeBaron [00:31:55]:
I love it. Well, so our experience of life doesn't come from the facts of life. So my experience of life, whether I can be at peace or not, comes from the inside of me and my relationship to myself going through life. So what most people do, right, is they think the outside of life needs to become easy for me to feel that it's easy. No, that's not true. You can be going through whatever in life, all of it, all the stuff, right? But can you be at peace in yourself through that? So that's the beauty is really going from being the victim of life, circumstance, thinking that's I feel the way I do, because this is the way life is versus recognizing I really can create my own experience of life. And I love trees. I never did before, but they teach me a lot.
Michael LeBaron [00:32:55]:
So a resilient, healthy tree in the storms of life does not feel stress. It actually uses it as stimulation. That's how it occurs. And so a healthy tree is flexible. It's resilient, and it bends when the winds blow and it doesn't break. The branches don't break when it's resilient. And it uses all that stimulation from the weather and the storm and the rain and the winds and the hail and whatever, it actually sends that stimulation down to its roots and the roots grow deeper and gets access to more nutrients and gets access to more water, and it becomes an even healthier, more resilient tree. And so, same with people.
Michael LeBaron [00:33:41]:
When we are resilient and healthy and at peace on the inside. That's the experience through which we use life. And it doesn't translate as stress and freak out survival. It doesn't translate the same when we are in a state of resting, digesting growth and repair, or peace and joy and acceptance of life and ourselves. It doesn't occur as stress, it occurs as stimulation, and it occurs as stimulation for our own growth and our own well being. And then you can get really cool and woo. Woo with it, like the opening of our spiritual gifts in life and the clarifying of our sole purpose in our path. And you know what I mean? It's like, oh, my gosh, all things in life work for us through this perspective.
Michael LeBaron [00:34:35]:
And when I see how it's working for me to the greatest good, strengthening me, growing me, challenging me, making life juicy and delicious and ooh, it's like an adventure, ooh, how's she going to get through this? Now? That's an entirely different perspective than when we are just going through life, surviving and being at the effect of challenges in life without being there to support ourselves in a healthy way through it.
Aleya Harris [00:35:06]:
Oh, my God, I feel great. I literally felt woo moment. My heart chakra just kind of expand and relax because it's really, really things. I know I always say everything's working out for my highest good, but when I say the words, and I say them so often, they don't mean anything anymore. They're just now just syllables coming out of my mouth. But that's what you're talking about. And I love the illustration and it's also not passive. So you're sitting, it's like, oh, everything's going to work out for my highest good.
Aleya Harris [00:35:39]:
Home did it. Home did a hash. And you sit there and you're waiting for it to work out. But no, it's about how you're using what you've been given to work things out for your highest good. You're conspiring with the universe, with spirit, with the situation for your good, you can look at an earthquake and like, oh, this is great for me. One of my spiritual teachers is named John Roger and he has an exercise where he says, I love, you know, my husband left me. I love this. I stubbed my toe.
Aleya Harris [00:36:18]:
I love this. I won a million dollars. I love this. Right? And because all of it, if we have the perspective, is there in a loving way, it's us that have decided that it's not. And so then we act like you're saying, I love that. I was taking notes. I hope you all say if you're not listening again, I feel like I'm being a little bit grumpy with you all today, dear listener. But I mean, I'm going to say it differently.
Aleya Harris [00:36:43]:
You should take notes, love, because if you're not taking notes, you might be missing out on some life changing tools. Take notes. Anyways, I was taking notes here and I loved where you said stimulation versus stress because that means that stress is optional. That means that I can choose to opt out. Like an email list. Like I'm going to just click unsubscribe. Right? And what could that do? You talked about being more resilient. I really love that.
Aleya Harris [00:37:15]:
Okay, I know it's getting a little bit long, but I mean, I don't know about you all who listening to this, but I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. I have one more question about this before we move on because you also talked about reality versus expectation. And you're like, well, reality is like, well, what's really happening? But the problem is at least when I sometimes have basically being run by my limiting beliefs but not aware enough to realize that that's what's happening. So then I sit down and I try to have a conversation with myself about, well, what's real. The reality I paint is the reality that the limiting beliefs are creating for me versus the expectation, which remains the same. So let's say you get laid off. You work a nine to five job and you get laid off. And the reality is you got laid off.
Aleya Harris [00:38:04]:
Right? But in my situation it's like, well, what is reality? Reality is I'm never going to be able to pay my bills or my reality is that I need to eat tomorrow. My reality is how do you actually manage your perspective of reality so then you can have a better compare contrast between reality versus expectations.
Michael LeBaron [00:38:29]:
Love that question. Thank you. Because what was bubbling up for me to share was like the power of our choices. That how we do that is by one intuitive, supportive, healthy, resilient choice at a time. So how do we work through the ups and downs of life? How do we be in reality, right? Is actually through our choices. Because sitting up here in my head as you're saying, oh, I think this is so great, all the affirmations, none of that works. And we all hated, and then it's just kind of less reality because it's like whitewashing reality anyway, so it's okay. How do I navigate a life stressor? What are my choices? Do I want to do this or do I want to do this? What are my options? Which one intuitively feels like the wisest, healthiest, most supportive choice? And it takes time to develop that because you might learn from hindsight for quite a few times of like, oh, that looked like a good idea, but I was really just reacting.
Michael LeBaron [00:39:42]:
I was really just trying to escape. But it's the openness and willingness to learn about yourself through it and get messy with it that is actually where you learn the most. Not trying to figure out how to do it right. That's all just more mind and ego. And so really we ground in reality through our choices. And when we can make conscious, self aware, present choices, I am not sitting in here in my head wondering what my reality is. I am really dealing with reality in my life and moving it forward. So when I lose a job, what am I going to do today to feed my family? Am I going to sit, take time today to look for new jobs? Am I going to take time and do that tomorrow and do something else today? It's like, really, that's where we ground this in, so that we're not just up in our minds kind of interpreting, judging, and analyzing, which is the opposite of being present.
Aleya Harris [00:40:45]:
It's very easy to do the opposite of being present. It is because present is quiet and still and just waits for you to come to them. It's like the pretty girl at the party, right? Well, eventually someone will come and talk to me, right? Everything else is loud, right? They're the ones. They're the beer pong, grabbing your attention. I don't know why we're at a college party playing, but I've never played beer pong before. I don't drink beer. So I don't know where this is coming from. Just work with me, work with me.
Aleya Harris [00:41:10]:
It's all the loudness. It's the person outside playing the music. It's the fight that's happening between the couple that you didn't even know that you really were into what's going on in their relationship. But you don't think that they should have had that trip to Niagara Falls either. Right? It's all of those things that are so much more distracting than this still quiet, small thing of just being present. So I really like that you have to make those choices. Obviously, I could talk to you forever, but I'm going to ask you one final question. Why should somebody choose to work with you over the competition?
Michael LeBaron [00:41:51]:
Thank you for asking that. I really feel that who I am meant to work with and those who are meant to work with my team will. So, a, there is no competition. B, it really is about feeling and both of us knowing that that's a supportive choice and that it makes sense and that we're really here, that there is no other option other than this path for people. And so for me, deep down in my soul, I just knew at some point that this was the path for me. And I knew with my mentor that she was the one that had the information I needed and could help me get to that next step. And so it's all heart here. And it's like if what's coming out of my heart is going into somebody else's and that's calling them, that's why they should work with us and why other paths to healing wouldn't really resonate.
Michael LeBaron [00:42:58]:
And you know what? We don't really have a lot of competition because most of our competitors are just putting band aid approaches on. And so really, I think that if somebody wants to genuinely get to the most, deepest root of why they're chronically ill or why they have these other dysfunctional things in their life, that's this process is the uncovering of what that is so that at the deepest level, somebody can heal. And then that ripples out into every part of our lives.
Aleya Harris [00:43:32]:
I thoroughly enjoy everything that's come out of your mouth. I feel more grounded and centered after talking to you. Your heart came and connected with my heart. So I appreciate that. Can you please tell the people if they want to connect their hearts with yours where they can find you?
Michael LeBaron [00:43:51]:
Yes, we have got a website, chronic illnesssolution.com, and they can apply for a free consultation there and even do some work together for free so that they can experience a deep, transformative, eye opening, massive, life altering experience for themselves in that process. That's probably the best way. But if you guys want to email in also, it's info at chronic illnesssolution.com. And thank you so much for having me today and your heart and your beautiful words. I am more than touched and I learned just as much through all of this as all of you do. So I send you all love, and I thank you so much.
Aleya Harris [00:44:34]:
Thank you. Thank you so much for being here today. Okay, I would know I was a little forceful earlier when I said that you have to take notes, but I do hope that you actually did take notes because I was reminded that the universe is working everything out for my good. My husband Brandon and I have been having this discussion, and he's the kind of guy that is spoiled, not just by me, but by everyone. He just gets gifts at random. He's the kind of guy who, if there's a raffle, he wins the raffle. People give him free stuff. He gets out of things.
Aleya Harris [00:45:21]:
And he just said a couple of nights ago to me that it's because he expects things to work out for his good. He expects to be spoiled regardless of the situation. And this interview that we just had reminded me of that, yes, we've talked about expectations versus reality. But if you expect life to have its up and downs, but you also expect to find the lesson. You also expect to grow. You also expect to love and be loved through it. Then, my friends, those are beautiful expectations to have that can help supplement and uplift your journey. I also expect that the universe will conspire for your good.
Aleya Harris [00:46:08]:
And I am sending you lots and lots and lots of love, light and abundance. My name is Aleya Harris and this is the flourishing entrepreneur podcast and I will see you next time.
Yuliya Patsay [00:46:29]:
Thank you for listening to this episode of the Flourishing entrepreneur podcast with Aleya Harris. Vibing with what you hear, leave a five star review to spread the love and be sure to click subscribe. We wish you love, light and abundance. See you next time.
