Episode 136: [Step 8] Unlocking the Power of Spirit Medicine
In this episode of the F*ck Saving Face podcast, Judy Tsuei delves into the realms of spirit medicine and alternative healing modalities, sharing her personal experiences and insights. She emphasizes the importance of self-advocacy in health, particularly for women, and discusses the significance of exploring one's inner world.
Judy also introduces the concept of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) as a tool for personal transformation and growth, encouraging listeners to embrace their unique journeys and prioritize their well-being.
Sound Bites
"Ensure that you've done your homework."
"If it's meant for you, it'll be for you."
"It's truly freeing and liberating."
Takeaways
Empowerment in mental and emotional health is crucial.
Research and trust are essential when exploring spirit medicine.
Self-advocacy in health can lead to better outcomes.
Understanding personal health can differ based on cultural backgrounds.
Exploration of altered states can lead to profound insights.
Miracles can be found in everyday experiences.
Curiosity is a pathway to personal growth.
Life is not a straight line; embrace the chaos.
NLP can help interrupt unhelpful patterns in life.
Personal transformation is a continuous journey.
Episode Highlights
00:00 Exploring Spirit Medicine and Healing Modalities
06:04 Personal Health Journey and Advocacy
11:47 Self-Exploration and Personal Growth
16:05 NLP and Transformational Coaching
Transcript:
Judy Tsuei (00:02.678)
Welcome to the F*ck Saving Face podcast where we're empowering mental and emotional health for Asian Americans and voices of color by breaking through taboo topics. Life may not always be pretty, but it is indeed beautiful. Make your story beautiful today. Let me ask you, have you ever done DMT, ketamine, ayahuasca, mushrooms, acid, any of those substances that
can be spirit medicine. Now, I was part of the yoga community for a very long time as a yoga teacher and a Reiki practitioner. I also, when I got back from Taiwan, joined a breathwork circle and we did Wim Hof inspired ice baths regularly. All of these people were very much into an Ayahuasca experience. I know people who've done chembo and all of these different alternative modalities to experience something beyond
what it is that we think we know with the current senses that we have. And if that is something that you're going to experience, there's a few things that I would love to talk about. So this is part of step eight of my book, How to Disappoint Your Parents in 10 Shameless Steps, A Modern Asian American Guide. In traditional Chinese medicine, the understanding is that the practitioner becomes part of your healing journey because, you present with symptom A and symptom B.
Well, depending on who the practitioner is, they may recommend remedy C, remedy F, remedy Y, it all depends. And so if you are going to embark on any of these experiences, first and foremost, ensure that you've done your homework, that you're with someone who you truly can trust, who's going to create a safe container for you, because perhaps you've never done anything like this and you don't know what is going to unfold and what's going to happen. And being prepared for the outcome, for whatever comes up.
because sometimes there can be big healing, sometimes there can be big unexpected things that maybe you didn't realize were in your unconscious mind, experiences that you have yet to process, and making sure that you have that support network is super important. But most importantly, one of my writers has used the word sovereign, and I think that that is absolutely important, that you can have a...
Judy Tsuei (02:22.35)
greater understanding of yourself, not giving away your power and making sure that other people are also not powering over you. You can check out a previous interview that I've done on this podcast with Mary D. She's extremely accomplished and also experienced breast cancer. And one of her biggest elements of advocacy is understanding that most of the studies that have been done on cancer research are done on Caucasian populations. And so that for Asian women and women of color, it's going to present differently.
And so my personal experience of that happened recently where I went to the ER. And this was because my blood pressure was high. I have a blood pressure monitor at home since a few months ago, I went to urgent care. had kind of twisted my ankle when I had taken my daughter on a trip and it wasn't getting better. So I just wanted to double check. And when I was there, they did my vitals and asked like, are you okay? And I was confused as to why they were asking. And they said, your blood pressure is extremely high. It's actually slightly alarming.
And that had never happened to me before. I'd always had very normal blood pressure. So I got a monitor so I could measure it at home. And recently, I was feeling a little wonky. And so intuitively, I thought, OK, well, I'm going to measure my blood pressure and just see what's up. I haven't measured it in a minute. And it was flashing red on the screen. So I took a picture of it, sent it to my neighbor who works for a naturopathic doctor I see, and asked, is this something that I should go to urgent care about? To which they both replied, yes. I did.
And my family has a history of heart disease, stroke, brain aneurysms. I also had a headache. So in addition to having high blood pressure, took an, they did an EKG and when they did, there was a slightly irregular inverted beat. So they said, we can test you for troponin here, which would give us more information, but that will take about 24 hours to potentially a couple of days. And so to be safe.
I suggest that you go to the ER and go get the blood test now, get the results now and see what's up. And so the nurse practitioner said that cardiac events present differently in women than in men. And she is so happy that I came in and I spoke up for myself because for most women, we would have powered through it, especially if you're a mom, especially if you're a business owner. But she was glad that I took the time to understand what it is that I needed and just to take precaution. I went to the ER.
Judy Tsuei (04:39.096)
They did blood tests, another EKG. The EKG came back normal. The blood tests also came back pretty much normal. And then my blood pressure was still high. So they gave me medicine for that and told me to monitor day and night for the next two weeks to mitigate any risk. And the reason I like seeing my naturopathic doctors, because she can take a look at all the labs, dive deep into what each of them mean, what the quote unquote normal range is, but what would be normal for me and what would be normal for someone of my.
ethnic background, my age, my lifestyle. And so when she did that, she noticed that the ER didn't flag that I had inflammatory markers in my liver, that my adrenals are very taxed and depleted, that I'm very, low in minerals. And she said all of those can contribute to the symptoms that you experienced, including headache because of the specific region in which I was experiencing it in my head. And the
aches and pains I was kind of getting in my chest and she wasn't concerned about the heart because the heart rate that I had with every blood pressure reading is in healthy range and it's a good number. And because my heart is a muscle and because I'm depleted in minerals you can think about how when you don't get enough potassium and you work out and you your muscles can be kind of achy well I'm gonna have the same thing in my heart in addition to the rest of my body because the heart is a muscle. So
Because of that, we created a regimen that I will be taking and then within the next four to six weeks, I'll test again and we'll work through it in that way. And it was such a huge reminder for me to make sure that we put ourselves as a priority in all ways, that we advocate for ourselves in all ways. And if you wanna go explore any sort of substance, any sort of spirit medicine, any sort of thing that's going to...
be outside of the boundaries of what you might normally know. I highly encourage you listen to the episode with Mimi Chow. I encourage you to listen to the episode with Dr. Sam Coe, who is a Western doctor and uses ketamine for trauma. His patients have experienced trauma or deep depression and they haven't been able to get out of it in any other way and the results that he's gotten from it. I encourage you to explore many of the therapists who've been on the show and
Judy Tsuei (06:59.832)
how they've advocated for individuals to take good care of yourself. Whatever your path is, whatever speaks to you, wherever you want to go. And I think that, you know, all of these modalities can seem really sexy. They can seem almost like it's a panacea or there's going to be some sort of miracle response. And as my friend would say, there is as much miracle in the mundane as in the magical. And so
If you embark on these experiences and find yourself in another alternate reality, opening a refrigerator door and just staring into the refrigerator, that could be your experience. So you might have judgments and stories about what that means, or even breath work can bring you to altered states of consciousness and being very prepared. I once did a Kundalini yoga class when I was a yoga teacher and we were doing all these trainings. And afterwards, the entire class was extremely irritable.
the energy, the way that it moved, what we experience within us, just through the power of breath, completely changed our demeanor and our experience for the rest of the day. So be mindful with who you choose, what you do, make sure you're safe. And I am not a doctor by any means. I'm not recommending this by any means. In the book, I'll simply talk about what my experiences have been like. And that most importantly, step eight is about expanding your horizons. What
is beyond this. You'll see in a recent podcast clip from my interview with the latest guest that I had, Jocelyn, that I talk about the mantis shrimp and that there are creatures right now who exist who have capabilities to see colors that we, with the amount of cones that we have in our human eyes, cannot see. Right now that exists. There are things at the depths of the oceans right now that exist that we have no idea about. So if that already exists,
and our brain is this untapped territory that we know so little about that apparently we know less about the brain than we do about the moon, then can you just imagine what happens when you get even one portal into that space, one key to unlock something within you? It can be extremely profound, extremely magical. And if you decide that psychedelics aren't for you, that altered states, even through meditation,
Judy Tsuei (09:24.652)
maybe doesn't speak to you. And that's totally okay. Ultimately, I'm here to advocate about exploration, about knowing your inner world, about finding creative outlets to let your unique expression and your gifts within come outside and exist and have space for that. And I'm also here to advocate for having meaningful conversations with people who've maybe lived a life different than yours or had
experiences different from yours and to do it without judgment, to understand that each of us has a different model of the world and that there's a way to move through it where I can honor your model of the world and hopefully you will also honor mine. It doesn't mean that we need to change one another's model and that actually in the ancient who know Hawaiian traditions that I've been training in that there's an understanding that if I take away a lesson from you that you were meant to learn, if I try to do it all for you, then
It becomes my responsibility to make sure that you get that lesson. And for me, I don't know about you, I'd rather not have to do that. I have enough lessons to learn on my own. I don't need to pick up anybody else's. So again, my challenge for you is what's one thing that you've been curious about, but too afraid to try? And it could be something big. It could be something small. What's one safe way that you can start exploring today?
I think most of us, especially for those of us who were raised as Asian Americans with all of the expectations that were placed on us culturally or in our families, that we wanted life to be in a straight line. Unfortunately, life, life's, and that's not how it works. It's meant to be colorful and sometimes messy and chaotic and all of that. It's all about how we respond to the situations that define our character and define the path and the trajectory that we're on.
I also love the reminder in the spiritual study that if it's meant for you, it'll be for you. There won't be any missing out or missing the boat, because it can be really easy to beat ourselves up about that. But if it's meant for you, then it's meant for you. And ultimately, that whatever you decide, you're worthy and you have the right to explore what makes your life meaningful, that you can be wildly you. So yeah, this is a short episode. I hope that if it speaks to you,
Judy Tsuei (11:47.234)
that you do your research, that you always do your research, you find what speaks to you and know that you know. I think we discount that too, too often. We discount that we think we don't know, we gotta ask somebody else, or we gotta validate and verify. So in NLP, there's a strategy for everything that we do, for falling in love, for getting in fights, for going to bed, for brushing our teeth. There's a strategy for everything. And in that strategy, you can break it down to
this happens, this happens, this happens, and then this is the completion. And so what is the convincer that you need to know that you're making a right decision? Is it a feeling inside? Is it someone saying something to you? Is it showing up and then being noticed and observed? These are the questions that we discover in NLP so that you can understand how you're using your strategy and that in the future when you're making choices and decisions, knowing you
knowing how you operate, you can either edit that strategy or you can make sure that the strategy is set up for success. So if you need that convincing, for example, that you want to explore these alternative states and you want to go on a journey, well, maybe the convincing that you need is to have the person who's going to be guiding you be extremely vetted and that you can have a conversation with them and all of that. So I just want you to know that
You're not alone in wanting to explore. I'm 46 and I'm still exploring every single day. Is there a better way? Is there something that's more resonant with who I am now? Is there something that could help me be a better parent, a better business owner, a better friend, a better partner? And if you want to join me on that, then I highly suggest you go to my website and sign up for my newsletter, The Heartbeat, judyzway.com. Or if you want to break through
some really heavy things. I've been working with a lot of Asian American women, one of them in becoming physically healthy so that she can lose weight and have her physical container be strong enough to hold all of the incredible healing gifts that she has to be able to serve her clients in a greater capacity. Another client that I have wanted to know what the future held, wanted to know because everything had just
Judy Tsuei (14:10.612)
moved around and shifted a little bit and so wanted that clarity. And then ultimately, we released the intensity around needing the answers and still having so much more clarity about the direction where they're headed. Someone else was greatly impacted by the C-level executives in her company and didn't want to be triggered because her intellectual mind understood there's actually no reason for this to be happening for me to feel like this.
This is all rooted in old histories, in her relationship with her father, things like that. And so being able to release those triggers so that you could operate in your full capacity as the leader who you are. And then someone else saying that they've accomplished so much, but they just don't feel happy. They don't feel content. When is it ever going to be enough? And that they were thinking over and over again, beating themselves up about,
decisions that they made, even though another man, for example, or especially a white man wouldn't have even thought twice. They'd show up confidently in the room, confidently in mistakes even. And so how do you let go of that? How do you just get over that? So one of my clients said that a couple of hours with me was like 10 years of therapy, that we were able to get to the heart of the issue to rewire the unconscious mind to show up differently. And
show up in the ways that you want to so that you're authentically you. You identify things so much more clearly. You understand how you want to operate and show up in the world. And it's done in this way where NLP is also known as a pattern interrupt. So you can interrupt the patterns that aren't working for you anymore. And you can do it and help yourself live a life aligned to the true essence of who you are, to even know what you actually want to do, what your purpose is.
to be clear on how to achieve that goal of who you want to become so that you can be who you want to be, do what you want to do, and have what you want to have. And if all of that speaks to you, then I highly recommend that you go to my website, judytsway.com, reach out to me, and we can schedule a complimentary call just to see if a breakthrough session is right for you. And I hear now so often people showing up with these challenges and these problems. And I will only work with people who are willing
Judy Tsuei (16:35.182)
to show up and want the results. And so instead of me imposing what I do, I just share the stories of what I do. And if it speaks to you and you want to do it, this is a do with process. So I will always ask you if it's okay with you, I will always ask your unconscious mind if it's okay with your unconscious mind to do all of this work together for you to be the person who you already are and just covered up by the imprinting that we had from ages zero to seven.
the socialization that we had from seven to 14, the outside world influences the culture, all of those things. And it's truly freeing and liberating. So with all of that, I'm excited to do step nine and bring on more incredible guests for the rest of the season. Have a beautiful day and see you in the next episode.
Judy Tsuei (17:25.998)
Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. If you'd like to support me and this show, please go to iTunes and leave your review. It means so much to me and it'll help others find this podcast. I'll catch you in the next episode. And if you'd like to stay in touch between now and then, please visit wildheartedwords.com and sign up for my weekly newsletter. I've had people share with me that it's the best thing to arrive in their inbox all week. Aloha.
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Keywords: DMT, ketamine, ayahuasca, mushrooms, mental health, Asian Americans, self-exploration, personal growth, NLP, healing
