Gabriela is a former multidisciplinary designer & marketing strategist turned certified Life Coach and Creative Business Mentor. She specializes in NLP, Energy Work, Hypnotherapy, Spirituality, and Conscious Entrepreneurship.
💫 We cover :
💫 Mentioned in this episode:
💫 To connect with Gabriela from Gaye del Sol Studios:
☯️ To connect with Kasia (learn more about Holistic Coaching + Chinese Medicine) :
To connect with Kasia
Gabriela is a former multidisciplinary designer & marketing strategist turned certified Life Coach and Creative Business Mentor. She specializes in NLP, Energy Work, Hypnotherapy, Spirituality, and Conscious Entrepreneurship.
💫 We cover :
💫 Mentioned in this episode:
💫 To connect with Gabriela from Gaye del Sol Studios:
☯️ To connect with Kasia (learn more about Holistic Coaching + Chinese Medicine) :
To connect with Kasia
Gabriela: [00:00:00] It is a process. So there are times where I'm just like, Ooh, I feel guilty. Like, should it be this easy? Like, is it really possible to not work as much as I thought that I had to, to be at this point, for example. And I'm not saying that I don't work hard. I'm saying that there are times that I have to force myself to be like, you know what?
The life that I'm designing means that I'm only going to work. Four days a week, for example, I'm only going to work this many hours a day and anything beyond that. I'm going to force myself to set those boundaries because that's the life that I'm creating, creating.
Kasia: Hello and welcome to nourish. My name is Kasia and I'm a practicing holistic counselor, as well as a current doctoral student studying acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine. My mission with this podcast is to share the stories of inspiring humans who have discovered that elusive state of balance.
between the western concepts of success with more eastern [00:01:00] philosophies of inner knowing and spirituality. Think yin and yang in flow. As a former Silicon Valley burnout escapee myself, teaser, I left the tech world after 10 years of a thriving career in product management. I know firsthand how difficult it can be to integrate the two.
This podcast shares the stories I wish I had heard when I was struggling to find that balance and flow myself. My hope is that these interviews inspire you and give you the tools to rethink your own approach to mental, physical, and spiritual well being. And, if you are struggling, help you find your way back to authentic alignment.
Now, sit back, relax, and ground yourself back home, my love, and let's get started.
Hello, my loves, and welcome back to Nourish. [00:02:00] Today's episode is Jam packed. I spoke with Gabriela, who is a former multidisciplinary designer and marketing strategist turned certified life coach and creative business mentor. She specializes in NLP energy work, hypnotherapy, spirituality, and conscious entrepreneurship.
Also personal note. Gabriela or Gaye as she's called is my coach. So I'm really excited to bring her all to you today. We cover so many things, but to give you an overview of the top themes, we talk about designing the life you want, navigating rock bottoms, such as layoffs, breakups, health crises with compassion and grace.
And Gaia is truly, really raw about these subjects, sharing some vulnerable, personal examples. We talk about tools for tapping into your intuition, uncovering and reprogramming your root fears and blocks, NLP, hypnotherapy, energy work. And how it applies to career and life and so [00:03:00] much more. So without further ado, let's welcome Gaia to the podcast and get started.
Gabriela: Gaia,
Kasia: I am so beyond excited to have you on the Nourish podcast today. I have been eagerly awaiting this moment, like a child's awaiting like a birthday party or something. Your story, what I've seen of it, at least on Instagram, uh, just resonates so deeply for me. And I think so many other, uh, humans out there that are struggling from perhaps fitting in with, you know, what's kind of considered the norm or, you know, managing kind of Being a [00:04:00] perfectionist or overachiever in the work world and, you know, everything about your story and your vulnerability just really hit home.
And so I'm just so thrilled to be speaking with you today.
Gabriela: Thank you so much. Wow. That was such a beautiful intro. And, um, I really appreciate so much the way that we connected, you know, when we found each other on Instagram, you wrote me this. Beautiful message. And then I don't remember exactly what you said, but it was something along the lines of like, I know what.
you've experienced is really similar to like what I experienced as a, you know, someone that was in the corporate world, a high achiever, like a highly accomplished person and everything looks great on paper, but then, you know, what does that actually mean now? And so it seems like we went on really similar paths and so it's really magical to connect and I'm just so happy to be here.
Kasia: Gosh, yes. And I just want to echo that every human being that will be listening to this out there who might be able to resonate will be having a similar [00:05:00] experience to the one that I shared with you when I messaged you. And that's what really excites me about this conversation. So let's dive into it because I like to go deep and pretty quickly.
But before we do that, I want to ask you a question that I ask each and every guest. What are three words that you would use to describe yourself.
Gabriela: This is an amazing question, and to be honest, it's not an easy one. I thought about this, and I was like, oh my gosh, there's so many. Um, but I would say three words to describe myself.
One is definitely creative. Um, I, I love that word. I think it's just It's an umbrella term for so many things. I think being a creative doesn't just mean in what I produce, but it's in the way I think, the kind of relationships that I have, the way I like to navigate the world. So I'm definitely a creative through and through.
Another one, I would say I'm pretty adventurous, you know, not the like textbook, I'm not going to jump off of a, you know, airplane or, you know, do all these high active [00:06:00] things. I'm adventurous in the sense of like, If one day I decide like it's time for me to pack up and leave New York City and start a new life, I will do it.
And I get a thrill from that and I love it. And um, so I would say Adventurous. And the last one, this was a tough one to, to, to decide that this was going to be my third one, but To be honest, I would say goofy is the word I'm going to go with. I think I'm a goofy person. I, you know, in the kind of movies that I watch, my sense of humor, the things that make me laugh, um, I'm a pretty goofy person, must say.
For all
Kasia: those who actually go to follow you on Instagram, it's so interesting how the words that you've chosen, they do come through. But like goofy would not have been the word that would have come to mind. And not to say that that's a bad thing, but that's just to like remind people like how multi dimensional we as humans are.
Uh, because I love that and it just like makes me feel even more curious. But the adventurous side, the creative [00:07:00] side, I see all of that and so much more. So I feel like I could rave about you in like 10 words, but those are awesome three words. All right. So let's dive into the good stuff. Basically, essentially the story of your life in a nutshell, which is just so easy to do.
Uh, I know that today you are working as a certified life coach. You are a creative business mentor. You have your incredible business where you practice NLP, energy work, hypnotherapy. Spirituality, conscious entrepreneurship. I mean, those are some incredible a buzzwords as well. I would say like a lot of the stuff that you mentioned, um, is very like kind of top of mind in the health and wellness industry, but you do it in the context of business, which is incredible, but I know that that isn't your entire story.
From what I've gathered online, uh, you did mention to me that you are a former multi. disciplinary designer and marketing strategist. So [00:08:00] I would love for you to share with all of us. Like, what is this? Like, what was your path to going from where you were to getting to where you are? Um, yeah, take us there,
Gabriela: please.
Yeah, thank you so much. Um, and again, thank you so much for the intro. You really hit the nail on the head on, like, describing everything, so I really appreciate that. Um, but yeah, so I like to introduce myself as, you know, because I am a creative, what I'm doing now is It's a departure from what I was doing before, but it is all part of me and what I do and what I teach.
And one of the main things that's super important for me to, you know, share this with my clients is that at any stage, like we, like you were saying, we are multi dimensional human beings and we are going to shift so many times in our lives. And I don't like to be so attached to my identity when it comes to who I am in the workplace.
And that was a main thing. Theme in my life in the sense that I felt it was [00:09:00] so hard for me to detach from who I thought I was as a professional and what I actually wanted for my life. So I was like you said, a multidisciplinary designer and marketing strategist. And what that really means is that I was working as a graphic designer.
I was working, um. On the marketing team of lots of different companies. So I worked in the fashion industry. I worked in television, I worked in luxury real estate. So I started my career in New York city. I was working with brands like the gap comedy central, Armani exchange, urban outfitters, um, lots of these brands.
And so for me, my marker of success was a, how hard was I working? How busy was I? Cause that to me was like, Oh, I'm super busy. Therefore I'm in demand. Therefore I'm good. Right. And, um, And even though at the end of the day, at the end of the work day, all I wanted to do was just run to a bar and go to happy hour and complain about all the work that I was doing with all my friends who were also complaining about all the [00:10:00] work that we were doing, um, I still never thought that there was another Form of success, you know being the busy girl running around New York City like that felt so cool Even though it was literally breaking my spirit I felt like I had to be a completely different person in order to be taken seriously as a professional So I always had a natural, you know gravitation towards mindfulness towards spirituality towards things that are just more at least back then Less mainstream.
Now we're in a place where it's so much more, it's better received, you know, mindset, all that kind of stuff is like way more commonplace to talk about. But back then, it was something that didn't seem synonymous with being considered a professional. You know what I mean? Like a lot of the things, the topics that I would talk about with certain people, not my professional friends, were completely different.
than the conversations I'm having now. Anyway, I've gone in a big circle, but basically, um, what happened in my career was that I was laid off three times. [00:11:00] Literally three times. So the first time I, you know, I had the fancy job with the health benefits, you know, the contract, all these things. And I was so happy because in the creative industry, To land a full time staff position was coveted.
It was really difficult because what was happening, um, people would rather hire creatives as freelancers or worse. Permalancers. Permalancers is a term that we came to normalize that is absolute trash because what it is is you are treated like a full time staff person with zero benefits, zero health benefits.
You're not protected in any way and one day to the next if they don't need you anymore, they'll let you go. As a creative person, as someone who identifies as an artist, I thought, okay, if I want to be creative in this world, I have to choose something that's going to make me money because I like money, I like traveling, I like eating organic, I like going to, you know, yoga and being able to afford all these nice things, so I chose graphic design.
Anyway, so I was laid off three times throughout the years and each [00:12:00] one of those times just added to my scarcity, added to my belief that the starving artist stereotype is real and nothing is stable, you know what I mean, when it comes to, um, creating a career. So the third That was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.
Um, at that stage, I had moved to another country for love. I was working in a language, I was working in French, which I'm so grateful for. I'm so grateful for all of these experiences, by the way. Um, But anyway, so I moved to another country for love. I had a really hard time trying to, you know, break into the industry there, not only because customs are so different, but the language barrier.
Um, I had been, you know, working full time and I was also balancing all these freelance projects because you know, the New Yorker in me, the, the badge of honor that comes from working really hard, that was still there. So I'm like, if I'm not completely busy, like, who [00:13:00] am I? I'm not successful, you know? So I was burying myself in work and I was ignoring my health completely.
So for those two years that I was living, um, in, I was already in Europe, I was experiencing these Pretty, uh, very painful, um, health issues, you know, and they would flare up and I didn't know what they were. I probably visited around, I, yeah, four different occasions where I had to go to urgent care in the middle of the night.
Um, endless doctor's appointments, trying to figure out what was wrong with me. And the general consensus was that they couldn't see anything wrong with me and I just needed to relax. And that was the most painful thing because I started to doubt my own symptoms and then I was also really angry at the medical system because, you know, eventually, um, when all of this hit a wall, I was paralyzed in pain, I was laid off, I had all these freelance clients at the same time that had come to an end that exact same week, and [00:14:00] I was You know, I went into a spiral and I was bedridden for two days because of this pain.
I didn't realize it was an internalized, you know, anxiety attack, panic attack, burnout, all those things. Um, so finally, this was the first time in my career that I had no prospects for my next paycheck and I had had it, you know, I was doing everything right. And yet for quote unquote, right. And for some reason, you know, here I am again.
With, like, starting with nothing. So I decided I'm done. You know, I cannot continue to do this. I was so angry because my health, you know, I had, I felt like I had nothing. If I didn't have my health, I didn't have work, who was I? Um, so I finally took a break for, I think, three months from work. That was the only time I had ever done that.
I had been working since I was Yeah, teenager, like all of us, right? I guess in the Western culture, um, we're kind of just like, okay, you turn 15, you can start picking up work now. Um, [00:15:00] but yeah, I finally got a diagnosis and it was something, a chronic thing that I developed as a result from stress. And the only real treatment is to literally relax.
Now, it doesn't mean that my body doesn't have physical scarring and symptoms from that. The, the recovery was long. Um, it just means that I have to manage it because it is something that's chronic and it is something that, um, you know, I have to, it's more about preventing it from flaring up again. Um, then, you know, trying to, it's just basically the mind body connection.
That was for me the moment that I was like, this is real. I cannot continue to push myself this way because my body is just not there. It's not going to handle it. Um, anyway, so that was the first time that I think I was I was going to meet my parents and I remember someone I went to university with posted this quote about something, mindfulness, I don't know.
And I responded saying that, wow, this really resonates with [00:16:00] me. Next thing you know, I get on the phone with her. It was super quick. I had never even heard of life coaching or anything like that before. And I don't know, I was in this really interesting place and I was like, you know what, I need radical change.
You're going to be my coach. And I paid her 5k right there, right then and there. It was terrifying because I didn't know what I was doing. You know, I had no idea what would come of it, but that was just the beginning of me realizing like, Oh my God, not only has this experience working with this coach been the most life changing thing, a lot of what she was teaching and the space that she was holding were things that were intuitive for me, you know, as just like a person navigating this world, the kind of friendships that I was having, the kind of support that I was for the people in my life.
And I was like, this is a career. Are you serious? And that was it.
Kasia: There is so much there. First of all, I just want to reflect back to you that I joke about this, but I'm like semi serious, I feel like I should rename my podcast to diseases that [00:17:00] my emotions have caused me because it's so. Like almost every single person that I've interviewed and I've interviewed like 10 people at this point has a story that is similar in terms of, you know, I was experiencing this, I was feeling this, I repressed it, I ignored it.
You know, it was, it was almost like this like denial of recognizing their emotions and what they were telling them. And it resulted in like, A plethora of diseases, from autoimmune diseases, chronic issues, I mean, you name it, right? Like, I obviously shared online that, um, and actually, you inspired me to do this.
I just want to call that out after I saw your story. Um, I shared about my chronic eczema and how, you know, Honestly, the one thing that helped me, I will never forget this. The turning point was when I was working with a therapist and you know, there are obviously many tools to get [00:18:00] around it, but when I was working with a therapist and I started to have, I started to acknowledge like some of the feelings that were coming up for me in my life at that time and where I was misaligned.
So I just want to like reflect that back to you. Because that just is just so powerful. You called out identity, like, you know, right when you started. That even though you've transitioned into this new role, it is still, you know, the creative piece. Um, looking at yourself as that, um, multidisciplinary designer, marketing strategist, it's still part of who you are.
And yet you've overhauled in a way your entire career, you know, where you live. Can you share a little bit more about like. What that process was like for you, because I feel like in a way that's almost like the most terrifying thing, you know, to sit there and be like, you know, am I trying? Who am I really?
If I am not, you know, the product [00:19:00] manager at Microsoft, if I am not, you know, the designer for the gap, like, who am I? So I would love to Just to hear like what that transition was
like
Gabriela: for you. Yeah, that's a beautiful question So for me, I realized just how much I intertwined my identity my my Self the way that I thought of myself was only as good as the position I had as a professional and the reason I Felt that way, you know, I wasn't even conscious that that was my truth Was when these jobs were taken away you Unexpectedly, when I would get laid off, I remember the first time I got laid off, um, I was walking down the street of New York City thinking, Who am I now?
I don't have a job. I'm going to go home to my, like, apartment that how am I going to pay for? Who am I? I literally don't know who I am. And that, I hated that feeling. How can something in my external define how I feel about [00:20:00] myself and who I am and what that means? And yet, Throughout the years, you know, in the process of me transitioning from being a designer and like a doer to a knowledge share and a, you know, uh, someone who holds space for others, that was also super challenging because I was so attached to what I thought I had to be because of how long it took me to build that, you know what I mean?
I think a lot of people, um, especially in the U. S., you know, at age 18, we got to decide what it is that we're going to do for the rest of our lives. We invest so much time, money, energy. Everything to that only to realize like oh my gosh, I'm over this or maybe I didn't know exactly what I wanted at 18 And it's so hard for people to peel away from that and it's because of that identity piece, you know,
Kasia: so recognizing and I think you really Hit the nail on the head there.
Recognizing that your worth is not tied to your title or perhaps it's not tied to You know the salary you're [00:21:00] making or you know, whatever number of things that you just described like how you know, how do you get out of that cycle? Because it's, it's, you know, on the other side of it, which it sounds like that's kind of where you're sitting today, like living a more authentic, more aligned life, like helping people get there yourself.
Like, and I'll just speak from experience, even make it even clearer. Like I remember right after I quit my job, I would have like, Many panic attacks, thinking about how I was going to describe myself. And I was like, people are looking at me differently. And I know this sounds absurd now, like, cause I just feel like so free and like, oh my gosh, like I just shared what I'm doing on LinkedIn and that was terrifying, you know, but I just remember being like, oh my gosh, I introduced myself.
Like, who am I? I felt so worthless and it sounds crazy, but you know, I know like. that I can relate to that. So like, what, how did you kind of break that cycle of
Gabriela: thinking? Yeah, yeah. So what helped [00:22:00] me the most was No longer feeling like I had to explain it to others and I know that sounds like the most basic and probably annoying advice But it's true.
It's that detachment and the you know, it was not easy. But the way I got there I think there was a hack in that the universe kind of forced me to have to relearn that because I got laid off so many times But it was really just realizing that no no matter how you choose to describe yourself There's going to be people who don't understand it.
Anyway, so it You know what I mean? You can simplify it, you can do whatever it is to make yourself feel like, okay, that's enough for whoever wants to know or, you know, whoever's sitting next to me at this Thanksgiving dinner. You know, regardless of what I say, it's the important thing is how I feel about myself.
So yeah, I can just introduce myself as a creative. If they want to know more, then I'll tell you more. But I think removing that desire of like, I have to describe myself for others to understand, um, [00:23:00] was something that really helped me. And also, um, being someone with multiple. I would even say multiple identities because I have, you know, I'm a third culture kid.
My mom is from one country, my dad's from another. I was raised outside of, you know, those and no matter where I was, I was never from that place. So I'd never really had that sense of belonging. So I've always kind of had to package myself in a way that was understandable for whoever I was having a conversation with until eventually now I, I, you know, I worked on my mindset.
I got to the point where I was like, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what people think about me, so I'm just, you know, like, not everyone's going to understand it anyway, so just kind of detaching from that.
Kasia: I think that's such a good call out and, you know, recognizing that this, like, pressure to kind of fit into people's boxes and make it, like, perfectly packaged comes up in so many different ways, and I love that you called that out.
You know, talking about identity and also the pressures that some people may feel, I know you work with a [00:24:00] lot of really, um, impactful entrepreneurs today, and you run your own business, and you mentioned earlier that something that you struggled with was wrapping up your value and your self worth with how hard you were working.
Now, it's fantastic that you work for yourself, because I guess you report to yourself at this point, but, you know, how are you? Managing that today, like, does the pressure to, like, overachieve even in your personal business come up? Like, you know, how did you manage to kind of pull back and find a little bit more balance when it, or honestly have you?
Like, in terms of realigning yourself with, um, another way to value, like, who you are as a human.
Gabriela: That's such a good question. Yeah. So it's a process. You know, every single day is an opportunity for us to heal these different areas and become aware of what still needs more attention and more healing. And just because, especially as coaches, just [00:25:00] because we have the tools and we're aware, does it mean that we're immune to like falling back into similar patterns and similar behaviors?
And that's a good thing. You know, it just reminds me, this is why the outside to kind of like, Remind us of, okay, Hey, you're falling into this pattern again, time to break the cycle and, you know, do what it is that you really want to do, not just what's been programmed or what's been like automated within you.
So for me, it is a process. So there are times where I'm just like, Ooh, I feel guilty. Like, should it be this easy? Like, is it really possible to not work as much as I thought that I had to, to be at this point, for example? And I'm not saying that I don't work hard. I'm saying that there are times that I have to force myself to be like, you know what?
The life that I'm designing means that I'm only going to work four days a week, for example. I'm only going to work this many hours a day. And anything beyond that? I'm going to force myself to set those boundaries because that's the life that I'm create creating. You know, I decided that I'm going to be productive within a smaller window of time and I'm going to make that [00:26:00] time really count.
And then there are some days where I'm just like, Oh my God, is this really happening? Like, you know, so it's really just a matter of checking in with myself and being like, no, everything's under control. My clients are happy. I am doing great work and it doesn't necessarily mean that I have to be glued to my screen, to my work.
And that when I take time off and when I pull myself away from my work, it just means that I'm gaining momentum to give that much more in a smaller window of time.
Kasia: I adore that reframe. I think I'm going to like chop it up and like put it on a post it to remind myself as well. So I love that. I love that.
That is such a good perspective because you know, you can't give from an empty cup, right? Like everybody says it, but it's so true. All right. I have a tough question here. I've realized that not everyone listening to this podcast is an entrepreneur, and I know you specialize working, you know, with entrepreneurs, but I also would just love to [00:27:00] hear your opinion on this.
Is it possible for somebody who is working in a corporate environment who feels perhaps that misalignment, a bit of burnout, like maybe kind of is just like, you know, something's not working for me here. You know, you described how you think about your life. You're like, quote, the life that I'm creating looks like X, Y, and Z.
Are there ways for people who maybe Don't want to be entrepreneurs. Don't want to take that leap of faith To think about their life in that way and actually take steps in that direction. Like what would you advise? Somebody who is working in corporate who wants to work in corporate But is feeling a lot of the same signs of burnout or frustration or misalignment etc that we just
Gabriela: talked about Oh, that is so good.
Your questions are just like next level. I can see why you're an amazing coach, because yeah, great question. And I'm so glad you brought this up [00:28:00] because I think right now we're at this point where a lot of people are being like, entrepreneurship is the only way to go. You know, that's the real way to experience freedom.
And some people just straight up don't want that, you know, and I do specialize in entrepreneurship just because it reflects my own story. And I like to teach on, you know, what it is that I've experienced, but I also work with non entrepreneurs who are happily. Non entrepreneurs and, you know, people who have, they're multi passionate.
So someone wants to do a side thing or, you know, while still maintaining their job anyway. So what I would say to someone who doesn't want to be an entrepreneur, but they're also experiencing burnout and they're experiencing, you know, they're not able to create boundaries for themselves or, you know, they're feeling really frustrated is that you can redesign your story at any time.
Any phase. So let's say, for example, yeah, like, let's say, for example, you're working at a job and you realize that they don't value you, and you're putting in the hours, you're showing up every day, you know, you clock out at 8 p. m. and then they expect you back at 6 a. m. I, yeah, I just got a flashback of, like, [00:29:00] my corporate experience.
I'm like, oh no! Anyway, um, There are jobs out there for you. And if you feel like you cannot state your boundaries and be like, Hey, listen, you know, if you don't feel comfortable to have a conversation with your boss or with your manager, with your whatever, being like, Hey, listen, my productivity is being affected by my lack of, um, sleep, you know?
And I feel like if I'm not able to be trusted to Either work less hours or, you know, that kind of thing and produce the same amount of work, then we're in an amazing time in history right now. I mean, obviously, you know, it's, if we have to pull some sort of silver lining out of everything that's happening in the world right now, which is.
Um, and it's, it's overall like really pretty much awful, but if we can find anything good from this, it's that the employees are getting the power back in the sense of like employers no longer have the upper hand and people are like, so why do you want to work here? And the person in the interview is like, okay.
[00:30:00] Why should I work here? What are you going to offer me? Like, what kind of flexibility are you going to offer me? So I think just making sure that the environments that you choose to work in feel safe for you to stand up for yourself. And if not, you can always, um, look for other opportunities that will respect your health as an employee who do care about how you are, um, managing your time and, like, trust you as an employee to do what's best for you and your productivity.
And your mental health.
Kasia: I love that you brought up like that times are changing. And so, you know, just to kind of. Recap what you just said like being it getting clear on what you want because you illustrated it so clearly I'm literally gonna make like take myself through that afterwards being like what does my life design look like getting clear on what you want?
Communicating it and acting on it like that I just love that because I think that's applicable to anybody you can be an entrepreneur but you can also be employed and I you know, I think that's You know, it's, it's true that not everybody wants to [00:31:00] necessarily go do their own thing. All right, shifting gears for a second, because this podcast, I love to make it tangible for people.
You know, I'm just kind of sharing back what I wish I had heard. Um, And you mention when you talk about, like, the tools that you use with your client, you talked about, um, NLP, energy work, hypnotherapy, uh, a lot of those are, you know, words, some of those I'm familiar with, but a lot of them I know might be new to others, and so I would love for you to maybe share, like, when you think about your practice holistically, uh, um, you know, what are those tools?
Like what tools do you use with your clients? Like what is NLP? When you talk about energy work, what is that? And what is hypnotherapy just to get people a little bit more familiar with, like the options that are out there when it comes to supporting, you know, yourself, whether you're looking to make a big shift in any aspect of your life.
Gabriela: Yeah, absolutely. So NLP [00:32:00] stands for Neurolinguistic Programming, and it's basically, people call it the user's manual of the mind, and it's basically a bunch of different methodologies from psychology and other practices to help you make the most out of your own mind, body, like, to help you understand how you, how you work, essentially, and how to best use what you have within yourself, um, You know, in everything that you do.
And when it comes to energy work, I know that that's a super broad term and people are like, what does that mean? So basically. There's so many different ways to use our energy, but when you think about energy as something that is like, okay, the energy that you use when you show up to work, you know, how do you make sure that that is not something like, are you, when you think about your energy at work, is it, are you really stressed all the time?
Are you Approaching it from a place of like fear. Are you just kind of like, oh my god, I'm gonna get fired any moment That's gonna reflect in the kind of work that you're producing or if you feel really confident in yourself That's also gonna reflect in the kind of work [00:33:00] that you do and the outcome that you receive And so there's different tools that you can use to make sure that you're managing the energy within your body and you're releasing it For example, so if you hold on to a lot of stress in your day to day, if you have like high conflict or high anxiety in the workplace, like where does that go?
That has to go somewhere. So there's actual physical tools and things that we can do at home to help us release all of that. Because at least for me, I was holding in a lot of negative energy and that resulted in my chronic illness and my burnout and all that sort of stuff. So a lot of people might be more familiar with acupuncture, for example.
You know, at least the, the main concept of it. And we have, so part of energy work, uh, one of the tools that I use is EFT. And that stands for emotional freedom techniques. And so basically what that is, it's almost like acupuncture in the sense that it follows the same. Meridians in our body. So these energetic centers in our body that hold on to stagnant energy and what we do is we tap it out [00:34:00] So the same way that our body has to release emotions We have to cry we have to you know, do all these things to release that This is an example of how we can release our negative emotions without having to necessarily get to that point or bottling it all up because energy and emotion takes up physical space in your body.
And I think a lot of people don't realize just how much tension they're holding onto. So that's an example of energy work. Um, and then what else? Oh yeah. Hypnotherapy is the same thing. So basically. Uh, a lot of people don't know this, but 90 percent of our daily actions are carried out by the subconscious.
A lot of the things that we're doing are on autopilot, you know, if you think about it, we're sitting here, and to the listeners, you know, who are tuned in right now, you're probably listening to my voice, you are, you know, maybe you're commuting to work, or maybe you're getting ready or something, and you're focused on the task at hand.
But there's so many other things that are going on in the background, like, have you noticed how many times you've blinked? Since I started speaking, have you noticed the [00:35:00] pace of your breathing, the depth of your breathing? You know, did you think about consciously how to tie your shoes this morning? We're like, okay, you know, take one string.
No, you just did it on autopilot. So a lot of these autopilot things are actually things that, you know, they, they came into our mind a long time ago and we just kind of carry them out. And what I like to do with, uh, you know, all this subconscious work and hypnotherapy is that we create new subconscious patterns so that we don't have to think about them anymore.
They just happen naturally. And so, you know, a lot of us, we leave these habits and these patterns and these things on autopilot because that's what our brains were designed to do. Our brain wants to create or wants to carry out actions with the least amount of effort possible because that's how we conserve energy.
So the patterns that we have, we want to make sure that they're the ones that empower us, not ones that we picked up when we were young, not ones that we picked up from traumatic, you know, experiences in the workplace or, you know, generational beliefs and stuff like that. We want to create ones that actually serve who we want to be.
And not just, you know, a [00:36:00] pattern of things that we've picked up along the way in hypnosis, hypnotherapy, subconscious work is such a powerful way to make really quick shifts in that, in that space. Just love
Kasia: that there's so many tools in the toolbox. Um, I do have to ask you a question. I'm curious, like, when you were introduced to this work, uh, did you go all in right away?
Like, did it just resonate? Was there a part of you that was a little skeptical? And what was really kind of the turning point, if so, that is now having you practice this?
Gabriela: Yeah, again, such a good question. So for me, um, was I all in? I think skepticism is good. I think that's healthy, but I think being closed and completely having a fixed mindset to things that you already know is not necessarily a way that we're going to grow, right?
So for me, um, I had already explored all the traditional things, you know what I mean? And I know that there's so much [00:37:00] more to the world than what I am familiar with. And basically I started living the truth of I don't know what I don't know. So I'm going to try it. And if it works for me, that's amazing.
And so my job as a coach, as a healer, as all of these things, it's not to convince anyone. People have to come to this on their own. And another thing is that I think people become really like modality obsessed. So they're just like, it's either this and not that. But there's so many different ways to get to a similar place and what works for one person might not work for another.
But the thing about these is that it all comes back to self and how you regulate the energy in your body, how you, you know, uh, experience the world around you. So if there are skeptics and all that kind of stuff, good, you know, like you should question everything around you, but use that same energy to question the things that you've always done in the same way.
And, you know, eventually what's meant to find you will, and hopefully you will open yourself to that. And that's basically all I would really have to say about that. Because what, like I said, what works for one person won't [00:38:00] necessarily work for another, but it doesn't discredit someone else's experience or make it, you know, true or not true or any of these things.
I absolutely
Kasia: loved the concept of if you're going to be skeptic, you know, towards these new things, that is like a fantastic quality. Apply it to your own life. I love that. Like that is just so true, you know? And that's really where I think that self reflection and like really starting that journey of like connecting with yourself begins.
So that was just so well stated. And it's actually a perfect segue to. Something else that I wanted to ask you about. So you are quite frankly, I will call this out. You didn't use this in your three keywords, but from what I can tell, you are what I would say, like a boss babe in the business world. You are, I mean, you transition through some really difficult times and I deeply, deeply admire that.
But. I also know that you've spoken pretty openly about [00:39:00] leaning into trusting, and you even just mentioned it now, like, you know, what is meant for you will find you. That is such a beautiful statement. How did you learn to trust those intuitive
Gabriela: pings? So I decided I wanted to trust myself more. So I started working on it.
So let's say, for example, I would reflect back on times where I did not trust myself, and then I looked at the result. Was I happy with the result? Did, was I upset with myself for not going with my gut instinct? And I, you know, started taking note of all those times. I'm like, okay, cool. There's that. And then what about the times that I did trust myself?
What came as a result? Was I happy with that? Okay, cool. So now that I have this written down somewhere, or whether it's in a checklist in my mind, or I actually went through each scenario, then I can start to be like, okay, based on the percentage of times that I did not trust myself and was not happy with the result and did trust You know, now that I'm in this place and I'm trying to decide between like going with the logic or going with my own intuition, I'm gonna do the scary thing and go with my intuition and see where it leads me.
You know, and it's [00:40:00] just kind of like learning to be able to trust that more and seeing it as a tool rather than as just something that's like, so there is logic in learning to be more intuitive and being more, you know, trusting with the universe and that sort of thing. I also looked at the hard times in my life.
You know, so for example, the layoffs, um, what came as a result of that? I got closer and closer and closer to being way more happy. But back then I thought it was the end of the world. I, you know, my first layoff was like the biggest slap in the face because I had been in the job for almost a year and I was finally in a place where I was like, cool, I am ready to no longer have a roommate and I'm going to invest and be a big girl, move to the, you know, my dream neighborhood.
I wanted to live on the Upper East Side. I wanted to pay a higher rent and I was like, I'm ready for this. You know, I'm going to do this. And then that same week, I got laid off and I was like, Universe, why would you do this to me? Like, how am I going to pull this off now? Um, and then I got rewarded, not rewarded, but like, the universe was like, [00:41:00] Hey, yeah, that was really hard, but guess what?
Like, look what you get now. You know what I mean? So just remembering that from the hard times, it was actually just You know, I love the expression, chaos is growth in disguise. So when these really scary things happen in your life and it seems like your world is crumbling, it's really just the universe's way of realigning all these things in your life to get you to another place.
So I want to, not challenge, but just like invite whoever's listening to reflect back on these really hard times in your life. And see what came as a result from it. What did you learn? And are you happier now from where you grew as a result of that difficult experience? Because adversity is a necessary part of growth and survival, right?
Every single thing on this planet has to experience adversity in order to evolve. And um, I like to see that as It's, you know, a strength that we can take the hard times and start to question and remind ourselves like, I've made it through hard times and [00:42:00] I learned from that. So how can I lean into that?
When it comes to this next decision.
Kasia: Damn girl. I just feel like you brought a logical perspective to the elusive. I love that. I have never done that, but I'm literally going to do it after this call. So I know we were focusing a lot on career and pivot, redefining yourself, like looking at new perspectives to your own self worth and tools for healing.
But I did really want to touch on a post that you had shared. I think it must have been like months ago now, um, where you talk about trusting yourself in the context of relationships and you shared very personally what it was like, you know, for you leaving, choosing to leave a very serious relationship and trusting that and I would love to hear, you know, your experience with that and like, you know, what [00:43:00] was kind of the quote straw that broke the camel's back that pushed you to make the change because for those out there who actually might be in a similar place, I would love to have you share a little bit more of like, what was it like trusting, um, In the context of love.
Gabriela: Girl, you went there! Oh my gosh! I was not expecting this! But I, I'm, yeah, I'm calling it in. So, okay, that post that you're talking about is the first time I really ever shared about my relationship with love. Ever. Um, and this is the first time I've actually, you know, talked about it in this way, so thank you for calling me forward to share more about this.
I, I did see that that post, so That post was really hard for me to share. I was shaking when I posted it, you know, and it's just something that I'm not used to speaking about, but it was something that resonated with so many people. My, my belief is that the way that we [00:44:00] show up in one area is kind of how we show up in all areas.
So I realized that when it came to my career, when it came to myself as a professional, I'm the kind of person that's willing to take all these risks. I know what it's like to start over from zero. I know what it's like to value myself in the workplace and to demand more and, you know, all of these things.
And yet in my relationship, I was not following that same self belief system. I was in a relationship that was incredible, you know, with the most amazing person, checked all the boxes. And we had been together, you know, I mean, our story started as early as when we were, I want to say kids, you know, we were neighborhood, best friends growing up and yeah, big part of my life.
And we had been living together for, I think, four years at that point. But it got to a point where I was, Realizing I was just spending a lot of time in the comfort zone. There were a lot of things that I felt like I was not, I wasn't being honest with myself. [00:45:00] I was afraid of so many things. And when I started realizing that the thoughts that I were having, that I were having, I'm speaking to myself, like in plural, that I was having were more, you know, I was questioning more things than I was.
honoring or admiring and yet the idea of myself being with this person when I was older, I didn't have, I didn't see it. And when I realized that I was like, okay, if I don't see myself really being with this person in the longterm, if I see more for myself, if I know that I have to grow more, I have to do the scary thing and trust that these feelings within my body.
That are telling me, you know, something's off. I got to follow those. I got to trust them. And I'm still really early in that process. I think my, I got out of this relationship only about like eight months ago and it's been a, it's been a journey, but you know, there isn't a single moment that I doubt my decision because I know.
That part of my journey on this earth is to learn, to trust myself more because all [00:46:00] those times that I didn't trust myself, kind of like what you were speaking on, you know, we can doubt ourselves and use only the, the logic side of ourselves and still end up, you know, burnt out and. You know, with chronic illnesses from our stress and all that stuff.
Or we could do it from a place of, like, I'm gonna trust myself and see what comes of it. Because look what happens when I didn't. Look what happens when I just kind of go with the flow and kind of set aside these deeply Like, humans are deeply We have One of the things that's so amazing about us Is our sense of, of intuition, you know, animals have, you know, they know when to migrate there's no, they're not like no one gives them a map.
No one gives these. What is it the salmon a map to swim upstream once a year and lay eggs like they just have it, you know, these animal instincts and we have that too. And. The more that we can lean into that and we stop seeing ourselves as separate as like the animal world and everything else in this planet, like the, you know, grass knows to grow towards the sun [00:47:00] and so do the plants and all that stuff.
We have that, so let's lean into that and see where that leads us. Um.
Kasia: Thank you for sharing. that post and also for diving into it now. I know that that will be, this will be very expansive and inspiring for people who might be in that situation. And I can speak from the perspective of my younger self being in a similar situation, like how much I would have wished to have heard these words.
And so I'm going to ask you a follow up question. Let's say I am In any of the circumstances we just discussed, and I'm just like, okay, like, you know, something's off because I don't feel good. Great. But like, how do I know what's true for me? Like, could you share perhaps some tips that you share with your clients or what worked for you to get clarity?
Gabriela: Yeah, um, I just want to preface this with the fact that like, for the longest time, I [00:48:00] didn't trust anyone. Myself, like in the least, I grew up, you know, um, high school, middle school, like school for me was awful because it basically was just a reinforcement that I had no idea what I was doing and everyone around me did.
And I could not trust myself. I was someone who was diagnosed with learning differences. So, you know, language based learning differences, dyslexia, just, you know, all of these things. So I just was. It was basically part of my identity to not trust myself and to realize that like, okay, something's wrong with you and everyone else has got it, but you don't.
And that was literally, that was it. That was my truth. Um, so learning to trust myself and learning to see that like, just because one environment doesn't work for me, doesn't mean that I need to apply that rule to every other space. It's more just like, find the ones that work for me and believe in it and, and see that like, Just because my skills are different or they look different or the path that I take to get to the same result is different Doesn't mean I need to doubt that [00:49:00] But so some of the ways that I started to learn to trust myself was literally Writing down journaling is huge By the way, I think a lot of people like people see the power of journaling, but I want to reinforce this so Much that we need a space to reflect, to get our thoughts out, to challenge our own thoughts, because so many of our thoughts are just repeated.
You know what I mean? And they happen so quickly. They come into our minds and within a fraction of a moment, we don't even allow ourselves to judge whether we want that thought. Whether we genuinely actually believe it or not, we just kind of let them run free. And so until we have a place to sit and challenge them and reflect on them, we're not going to know what's really going on in the background.
So when it came to self trust, what I would do is I like to do this thing called, uh, shine a light on the monster under the bed. You know, when you're a kid, you're always, you, you tuck in your feet cause you're like the monster is going to grab my feet. You know, we imagine the scary thing that's hiding under the bed.
But then when you've, you know, shine a flashlight on it, it's just a pile of clothes. So the same thing goes for [00:50:00] our thoughts and all the reasons why we doubt ourselves. So when it comes to taking a big decision like, let's say, leaving a relationship or switching a job, write down all of your deepest fears, like even the most Irrational seeming ones because the irrational seeming ones they're still taking up space in your body.
They're still affecting your physiology So when it came to my relationship, I let it all out. I wrote down all of the little monsters in my head So let's say back then my relationship, um, you know, we had all of our friends were mutual He was the person that was allowing me to have a visa in the country that I was in He was all these things so in my mind letting go of that meant It was going to take, I was not going to have any friends, I was going to have to flee the country, I was going to, you know, all these things, so I wrote it down, and I went, I let myself go there in the sense of like, I have to leave the country, I'm going to live under a bridge, I'm going to start from zero, I'm going to, you know, all these, Things that when you actually read them back to yourself, you're like I'm not gonna live under no damn bridge Like [00:51:00] how is that?
It's a thing that actually crossed my mind when I allowed myself to get there and then you can look at this and be like Okay, let's say the worst case scenario actually did happen Let's say I do end up almost getting to the point where I have to live under a bridge Who can I reach out to? Who is like, do I have a friend that I could crash on their couch?
Is that so freaking bad? You know, is this And so once I start challenging each and every one of these fears, and not just like ignoring the ones that I consciously think that they're irrational, and actually entertaining them for a second, and finding that there's a solution, it brought me peace in my body that I can handle the worst things that are going to come.
And once I got that sense, I was like, okay, now, is this worth what I want? You know, is what I want to leave this relationship because I think that I deserve more. And if I'm having this feeling, it's not going to go away unless I act on it. And that for me, so yeah, basically to recap, let the monster speak, shine a light on the monster under the bed, and challenge it.
Make you, make [00:52:00] yourself realize that it's, your monster is really just a pile of clothes and we feed, we feed it with our fears, you know, we feed it by not looking at it, we feed it by just like the imagining what it is, is usually so much worse than what it actually is.
Kasia: I also wonder, as you're doing this exercise, if you might end up, as you read through those monsters, realize that there's nothing on there, like, in the context of relationship in your examples.
Like, you didn't even call out something that was like You know about love like that. There was like a fear of like, you know, perhaps never being with this person Like that that wasn't even on your list It was like I will be homeless like, you know, or maybe there's something like I will never be in love again You know, but like it has nothing to do with the specific person like I just love the examples that you shared because I think that also, like, helps you tune into, like, what's right as you list those out,
Gabriela: right?
[00:53:00] Yeah, that's such a good point because usually the problem is not the problem, you know what I mean? Like, the fear of leaving the relationship is not the fear of leaving the relationship, it's something way deeper. And that's obviously looks different for everyone, but that's why we get to explore what that fear actually is.
Because if you're having doubts of leaving a relationship, you know, and your fear, your monster under the bed is like, I'm never going to fall in love again. Well, You have to start thinking like, okay, what in me makes me believe that I'm not worthy of finding love again? Do I actually believe that? You know, and seeing where that comes from, you will be surprised Like what you reveal about yourself that you don't even actually believe but it's just running on autopilot in the background or taking up space In your physiology and you're like, I know I'll find love again.
Like what you know, or for example things like that. But yeah
Kasia: Really brings us full circle. You just like literally called out, you know, it's like such a blend of the things that are conscious and subconscious and they really apply to every aspect of your life. [00:54:00] Now I honestly could go on for ages. I think we touched on like 50 percent of the actual questions that I had planned because we had gotten on this like beautiful in this beautiful direction.
Um, but I want to be mindful of your time cause I know you're a busy boss babe over there. So, um, For all of those folks out there, and I'll obviously link this in the show notes below, but I would love to have you share, like, what are you excited about? What's coming up for you? And how can people find you?
Because I know that after hearing some of these stories, they're going to want to.
Gabriela: Yeah. So you can follow me on Instagram. I'm really active on there. Um, my handle is Gaya Del Sol. Um, but yeah, we'll write it in the in the comments later. Um, I'm also, I'm on LinkedIn, but really just my website shows, you know, all the things that I'm currently offering.
I'm really excited this year because I'm going to be introducing a mastermind, which is really exciting. It's [00:55:00] different from what I've been doing in the past. So a mastermind is basically just like a group container of, you know, high achievers of people who want more for themselves, of people who are going to, you know, make big transformations to meet together and.
Get in that incredible space in each other's space, because one way to really up level in our lives is to surround ourselves with people who are also on a similar mission, because that is just, you know, such a huge catalyst in momentum and seeing what's possible. So I can't wait to create that container and hold that space.
So that's something that's coming up this year. I'm also, you know, always doing one on one. And I'm also I have. courses for people who feel like they want to expand, maybe either whether it's full time or want to add it to their streams of, of revenue, knowledge sharing and sharing their gifts and finding out what that really is and becoming someone who, you know, as someone who loves helping people, I never knew how I could do it.
Um, and so now that I figured out, like, cool, this is how I, You know, [00:56:00] created that reality for myself. Um, I love sharing that with others. So, um, yeah, if you're listening to this and you're like, Oh, I've always, you know, I love helping people and I have no idea how I would make a career out of it. Um, you can absolutely check out the courses that I have on that, because if you, if it's calling you, it's meant for you, I
Kasia: love the concept of mastermind.
So I'm so excited that you're putting that out there. And, uh, I just want to say. Thank you so much Gaye for joining, um, me today, having this conversation for sharing so vulnerably. It has been an absolute honor and to all the listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. Um, and I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.
Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of Nourish. If you enjoyed this conversation, please leave a positive review. Your rating really helps the podcast grow, [00:57:00] and your feedback means the world to me. I publish new episodes twice a month, so hit the subscribe button to be notified. Finally, if you'd like to learn more about the work I do as a holistic counselor, Or to connect, please head over to my website or my Instagram at Mira underscore Wellness underscore Co.
I love speaking with each and every one of you. Thanks again for being a listener and see you next time.