381. Spirit Animals Oracle: What Nature is Telling You - Shannon Kaiser

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Kara Goodwin: Welcome to the meditation conversation, the podcast to support your spiritual revolution. I'm your host, Kara Goodwin, and I'm so excited that you're tuning into this episode with Shannon Kaiser. Shannon is a bright light, so fun and knowledgeable, and I love diving into spirit animals with her. You may know that I'm an animal lover myself.

And so I love blending that topic with my other favorite topic of spirituality.

Shannon shares about her journey from clinical depression to using her gifts to express her true passions and come back to herself. She also shared valuable insights about the power of affirmations. Shannon Kaiser is a world renowned spiritual and self. Love teacher, speaker,

and acclaimed empowerment coach, a bestselling author of six books on the psychology of happiness and fulfillment, including the self love experiment named number one of the [00:01:00] 20 self love books that will lift you up by Oprah magazine. And the designer and creator of two Oracle decks and two mantra decks.

The latest deck guidance from Gaia Oracle is available online and in person at all major retailers. Shannon guides people to awaken and align their true selves so they can live their highest potential.

So be sure you check out Kara goodwin. com where you can get a free 10 minute meditation. If you want support for your meditation practice, I have a 21 day online program to help you develop your own practice. There's also the healing hearth membership where you can get live online assistance with your questions about meditation and life.

You can also get a personalized recorded meditation slash energy transmission to help you get through whatever challenges are showing up in your life.

And I also have a recorded sacred geometry workshop series available. All of that and more at karagoodwin. com. And [00:02:00] now enjoy this episode. All right.

Welcome Shannon. I'm so excited to have you here today. Thanks for being here.

Shannon Kaiser: Oh man. I've been looking forward to this. Thank you for having me.

Kara Goodwin: I, I'm really excited about the deck that you have the guidance from. Gaia Oracle. This is, it's a beautiful, beautiful deck. Um, and

Shannon Kaiser: Thank you.

Kara Goodwin: get, I can't wait to talk about where the inspiration came from and how people can use this. But first I'd like to just zoom out and talk about your spiritual journey in general and, and how you got on this path that has led to the creation of cards like that.

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah. Well, it's, it's so interesting. I call it pivotal moments, right? We all have these moments that kind of wake us up to our life even more or spiritual awakenings or dark nights of the soul. I've had quite a few of them, but the one specifically for this is I, I was in a different area Career completely.

I was diagnosed with [00:03:00] clinical depression and I was working in advertising and it was wonderful on the outside, but I was crying myself to sleep every night. I was just really feeling lost in life. I didn't feel like I belonged, but I was checking off all the boxes. I was a graphic designer and creating art, but it was very misplaced.

It was for brands and clients that I didn't really believe in. I started writing stories. for myself. And one of those stories got published in chicken soup for the soul, which is this inspirational kind of, you know, wonderful book. And that was a moment where I felt connected to readers. I received feedback from readers and they said, your story touched me.

It helped me. I Was able to overcome a situation, and there was this moment where I realized I need to be a writer. I need to use my natural gifts in a different way. So I left advertising and I found happiness, and that became this kind of purpose. But [00:04:00] several years later, after writing five books that became bestsellers, I wasn't really designing and I was falling into another depression.

And so I started to go into nature more. I started to connect with animals, spend more time with animals and animal spirits started to come to me. And I started to work with shamans and in some shamanic journeys, animal images started to come to me and give me messages. And I started to sit down in front of my computer and do designs in these little, what you see now in these, in the Oracle deck collages, digital collages, the deer with crystals and flowers behind it.

And I would make these designs for me first because I needed to find peace. It was during 2020, 21, when the world was in chaos and I needed nature in front of me. And my inner voice said, this needs to be an Oracle deck for others. And so I reached out to my publisher and it has now turned into a deck to help All of us return to our roots and get back to what is really true, which is the simplicity that nature is here to be [00:05:00] our guide and to help us.

And so I've come full circle with my skills, which is such a beautiful thing too, because I found happiness again.

Kara Goodwin: That's beautiful. So talk about the roles that animals play in your intuition. And was there any, because of course, like, especially in indigenous cultures, for example, animals play a big part. And so. We can find information about like what this at animal totem is, what does it mean when it shows up for you and so forth? I'm curious about how much of the information like when an animal would show up, let's say, in a shamanic journey, or maybe even in the physical, how much of that was you understanding? Innately, what was being communicated or were you leaning on an external source to kind of help you parse out or was it a little bit of both?

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah, that's such a beautiful question because I think we all have that awareness when we're, if you're walking [00:06:00] down the street and you see an animal that almost feels like I haven't seen that before and it's odd, I believe that that is a spirit animal. You know, like I live in the Pacific Northwest and I see squirrels.

Every day, I don't think that a squirrel animal is often a spirit animal mind, but I don't see praying mantresses very often. And so one day I was sitting in a coaching call and a praying mantis landed on my windowsill and I knew that was a spirit animal. And so I think I started to work with them in that way.

And that is becoming a very powerful part of my process and in working with my spiritual teachers and my shamans, they started to really affirm that. And I think it's really important to recognize that this deck is. A beautiful tool for us to kind of connect in with our intuition and to connect with nature, but it's not at all like cultural appropriation or it's nothing like that.

It's really, and it's about taking what works for us and using our intuition to connect with nature. And that's really what bringing this awareness is forward. And [00:07:00] each animal has a really special kind of, you know, if you were to ask, uh, I love asking little kids, what's your favorite animal adults to like, what is your favorite animal?

I'll ask you. Oh,

Kara Goodwin: many, I love animals. I think the first one that comes to mind is cats. I, I just love cats.

Shannon Kaiser: beautiful. I love that. And, and there's usually a reason why. And so what is it you think about with, with a cat?

Kara Goodwin: Well, I have two cats and

Shannon Kaiser: Right. Of course.

Kara Goodwin: I just, I love how, how soft they are, how cuddly they are and they're hilarious and there's. There's so much that I, I love about them.

Shannon Kaiser: It's so special. I'm not trying to put you on the spot, but it's a conversation, right? And I think what's really special, I said, when you ask a kid, cause there's this, there's no inhibition with a child and they have this kind of free flowing of, they act like animals, you know, in one of my retreats, I have a self love retreat.

And one of the icebreakers is to return to when you were a child, pick your favorite animal and act like it. And people are like elephants and they're [00:08:00] running around the room like dolphins. And, and the other people have to guess what animal it is. And it's a fun way to get out of our own way. And the reason why is animals have this kind of free spirit and this, No inhibitions, but they also have a very key characteristic that makes them unique.

And so for a cat, they're very independent compared to like a dog, right? You're a cat person or you're a dog person. Dogs sometimes are very loyal, but they're also a little more clingy or, you know, and there's this cat that has an independence to it and a pride. And I think when you're looking at animals, we can tap into that key characteristic and you don't need to have a shaman sitting by you to tap into that.

And so, of course I did, I moved to Mexico and worked heavily with my shamanic teachers and I designed the deck while living in Mexico. So it has this robust, beautiful, bold colors, these inspirations of Central America with like sloths included in there because that was part of my journey. But also I think wherever we are on [00:09:00] earth, it's really about connecting to earth energy and the animals.

Have an essence so you can just sit in your own living room and tap into an animal and say, what animal do I want to tap into? Maybe it's a caterpillar. You know, I was working through a self love journey and when I, I'm a plus size woman. And when I was really trying to embrace that, I asked what animal wants to come to me in a meditation and a caterpillar came to me.

And I was surprised, but I went with it. And it was this. Chubby, cute, fuzzy little thing and I felt the energy of it and it was so much love and I was like, Oh my gosh, there's so much love and it doesn't even think that it's chubby and it's the most gorgeous thing. And after that I was in love with myself forever more.

Kara Goodwin: that's beautiful.

Shannon Kaiser: And animals can help us with any situation.

Kara Goodwin: Yeah. I, I love that. Like the, the, um, the essence of the animal and what that's reflecting to us. And, um, know, there's, uh, something that I like about the [00:10:00] domestic animals where you can, you can hold them, you can touch them. You mentioned the sloth. I went to, where was I? I was, I took a cruise and then we, one of the stops was Honduras and I was able to

Shannon Kaiser: Oh yeah.

Kara Goodwin: and,

Shannon Kaiser: Wow. I bet that was so special.

Kara Goodwin: It was wet, which was, I

Shannon Kaiser: Oh, very different. A wet cloth. Oh my goodness.

Kara Goodwin: wet, but it, those claws that they have or their nails, those are serious business. They move so slowly, but if they like use those, it's like,

Shannon Kaiser: And it's like a slow.

Kara Goodwin: exactly. It's like, this is very painful, very slow. It's very slowly becoming painful. But, um, Yeah, that's so funny.

Shannon Kaiser: And that's, you know, there's something very interesting with the sloth too, because in the, in the card deck, I, I, as I was designing this deck, originally it was going to be 42. And there were certain animals that kind of came to me that were like yelling, I need to be in the deck. And one of them was the sloth.

It wasn't yelling aggressively. It was just like, [00:11:00] Hey, there's a lot of animal decks that, uh, have spirit animals and we're not represented. So can you please put us in the deck? So I reached out to the publisher. They're like, yes, let's make it bigger. And, um, it's a beautiful process because I have animals that aren't normally represented, but they need to be, So the, The sloth. It's not just about slowing down and it's not just about mindfulness, but it's actually about taking stock of what's around you and actually realizing that there are some things that might not be of your highest good. And so you can start to kind of look at the things that need to be released so you can move forward faster, if you will.

So it's like a new way to kind of look at the, the way you're running your life.

Kara Goodwin: Yeah, that, I guess that kind of makes sense because if, if we think about like how slow the sloth is, it probably takes in a lot more detail because

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah,

Kara Goodwin: moment it's stretching out, it seems like it's stretching out all the moments. So I feel like the data that it gets is way more than us,

Shannon Kaiser: [00:12:00] so much. It is so aware of its surroundings. And it's also not just about being patients, but what's the opposite of patients is like this urgency. And so it's like, where are you being too urgent in life and missing things, you know? And the same thing with this particular process that I created, each animal had.

Has an awesome opportunity or an action step, a guide that we can like a guidance step that we can take. That's super simple because we're living in a time right now where we just want to like, just give us a step to take to get out of the situation we're in. And so, you know, the sloth, I can't remember exactly what it is, but I think it's declutter your closet.

Just go to your closet and take one step just or, or your junk drawer. And you know, the Eagle is like move away from the situation, go take perch on a, on a. Go, go out into nature and just take in your surroundings on a, on a perch. So each animal gives us a step that they would recommend for us to get out of our own way.

A simple [00:13:00] step.

Kara Goodwin: That's awesome. So how do you, how do you recommend people use the deck? Is it kind of like pull one card a day, pull three cards? I'm. there

Shannon Kaiser: I love that. Yeah. You know, it's interesting. I think with all Oracle cards, Oracle cards. Decks are very different than like tarot card decks because they're, they can be used in any manner and the way the designer creates the Oracle deck is really how the Oracle deck is. So I've created this with spirit animals and Gaia energy in mind.

So there's also crystal energy and flower energy. There's lots of different plants included. So we have ferns, we have lots of plant energy. So you're going to get nature fix when you look at the deck. So if you just want to like get your nature fix, you can pull a card. I recommend that. It is a process that you go.

And I say this in the guidebook to connect inward when it feels right for you. I've been doing it daily. It's a really cute. Uh, I've been sending, I have the deck and I've been, you know, I give it to my friends and we'll text each other. What's [00:14:00] your, you know, animal spirit today. I got the flamingo. Oh, I got the, you know, the bat and we share, it's really fun to connect with others and, you know, create a little.

Social Gaia gathering, if you will, and you can make it your own practice though. It's nice to do it right before bed. I think in the morning, it's a wonderful way because it starts you off for the day and that animal spirit is with you. Another thing you can do is when you're out in the world and you see an animal and you're like, that's interesting.

I haven't seen a ladybug in a really long time, but it just landed on my shoulder and you can kind of think, was that my spirit animal, and then you. Return back home and look in the deck and see the ladybug and that's a message for you. And you can go to the guidebook and read about it. And that's what happened recently with my dad and the ladybug.

He's like, I got the ladybug. It's my, it's my spirit animal. It's all about prosperity and abundance and luck is on your side. He's like, that's a good one to have.

Kara Goodwin: it. And I love that dad is masculine enough to embrace the ladybug as

Shannon Kaiser: I know.

Kara Goodwin: his heart. That's so

Shannon Kaiser: Yes. It's so [00:15:00] supportive.

Kara Goodwin: That's awesome. Um, so what about, do you have, do you have anything you can tell us about dreams when animals show up in dreams and the significance?

Shannon Kaiser: love this question because I think because I'm getting closer to this, this deck being out in the world and I've been having dreams nightly with, with animals, they come to us in our dreams. And I think it's very important to kind of pay attention to the energy of the animals. So maybe you might be. In your waking life, afraid of a certain animal, but you see it in your dream and it's not fearful, that's something to pay attention to.

So there's an energy and an essence and a feeling, and that's more important than the actual animal when it comes to us. And there's also a lot of dream interpretations, but animal spirits do come to us in our dreams. Animal guides come to us. They're always working with us, both in the real, real life. If you see Animals on TV, if you see them, you know, on social [00:16:00] media or in your dreams, I actually have been working with my spirit guides, my angels and, and my, you know, spirit guides through the animal spirits.

And I've been having situations in my life where I say, okay. I am not sure if I should stay or go. So if it is a yes, full body, yes. I mean, I kind of know, right. But if I'm looking for that final confirmation, if I should say yes to this contract or say yes to this situation, show me a lady bug in the next 48 hours, I will literally put it out there.

And then there are times where. Within like 30 seconds, I see like a whole bunch of ladybugs, whether I get online and all of a sudden it's social media and I don't normally see 'em, but I will kind of direct it and that's one way you can start to advance yourself by working with these animal spirits.

And then I notice I'll have dreams for the whole week of the animal I declared.

Kara Goodwin: Wow. That's

Shannon Kaiser: So try it out.

Kara Goodwin: that. So

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah.

Kara Goodwin: kind of your, your go to or you just pulled that out? Cause we were.

Shannon Kaiser: No, that was totally a random one actually. The [00:17:00] one I had used, I just said that kind of randomly for this example, the one I used actually was seahorse. I don't ever see seahorses.

Kara Goodwin: specific, unique one.

Shannon Kaiser: It's kind of like whatever comes to me or you as you're trying this out as an intuitive level I I pause for a moment and I kind of let the spirit animal tell me which one it would be and It's not one like I said I probably wouldn't say show me a squirrel because I see at least 50 of those a day Where I live when I'm walking in the fall And it wouldn't be a dog.

I live with a dog, right but It's one of these things where I just let that animal spirit in my guides. And I don't, I don't attach to it. I don't say, okay, I'm trying to look for a seahorse then. I'm not Googling seahorses. I let it go, but this, um, happened. And then I was watching a Netflix show and the woman who was on the TV show.

She had a t shirt on that had a seahorse on it and it was about two hours later after I put that out into the universe and I was like, well, that's my answer. I'm going to move forward on that contract. And it worked [00:18:00] out beautifully.

Kara Goodwin: love that. And that's something that I think we often, it's great to get those reminders of like, we may, we may put something out and think like, oh, well, what's an animal that I'm, that I, I might see like, okay, I'm not going scuba diving today. So I might not see. See seahorses,

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah.

Kara Goodwin: being open to how could they show up?

It shows up on the shirt of somebody on TV program, just knowing that there are infinite resources. It's not like we have to go to an aquarium.

Shannon Kaiser: of course. Exactly. I know. And I think that's the key point. You completely let go. Uh, and, and they don't really necessarily, uh, Think about it again. It's kind of a fun game that I've learned to once I created this deck, you know, the deck has been a fun way for me to work with spirit animals in multiple ways through dreams, through journaling, through the actual Gaia journaling of pulling an Oracle card.

But once you pull that Oracle card, you can actually extend it out [00:19:00] in other ways throughout the day. And they help us with really powerful moments of our life. Like if you're going through a major life transition, if you're suffering from anxiety or depression, these animals can really help us overcoming situations that feel debilitating.

These animals can provide us. A lot of hope, especially this time, you know, we're living in feels very uncertain. And I think these animals, animals have been on the planet for a long time, you know, and they know this piece of kind of being present and not looking too far into the future or worrying about the past.

So if we. Tap into that more. We start to vibrate at a level that's like all is well and we too can have peace and that is our power.

Kara Goodwin: love that. What a beautiful message. So you had suggested that we pull a card for me on this, which

Shannon Kaiser: I would love to do that.

Kara Goodwin: this

Shannon Kaiser: Yes. So we can kind of demonstrate. I have the card deck here and what we like to do. [00:20:00] There's lots of ways of course that you can pull an Oracle card deck. I have the booklet here and The whole, and so I just shuffle them. And if you have a specific question we can ask, or we can say what, what message do the animal spirits have for you?

So it's up to you. What would you like to do?

Kara Goodwin: do if they have any messages.

Shannon Kaiser: Okay, so what I do is I just shuffle and if we have any flippers, um, like a card that flips or jumps out or if we have one, I kind of just feel into it, you know, that kind of says like, this is the one and I, I did have a flipper, but then it flipped back and so I, I don't know where it went.

So I'm going to shuffle here and Oh, here we go.

This is so funny. No wonder I kept, we got the ladybug.

Kara Goodwin: my goodness. Yay.

Shannon Kaiser: This is our theme today. Look at this. So we got this beautiful ladybug. He's glowing and

Kara Goodwin: I

Shannon Kaiser: I'm laughing because this was, it's, it's hilarious because

Kara Goodwin: And

Shannon Kaiser: yep.[00:21:00]

Kara Goodwin: one. I

Shannon Kaiser: I laughed because that was the one I thought I saw flipped and it flipped back. So abundance and prosperity effortlessly flowed to me.

So this is your guidance. Uh, your mantra and then what you can do is we go to the deck and I'll just read the actual message for you.

Kara Goodwin: right.

Shannon Kaiser: It's good fortune, abundance and life force. And this is for, for all of us listening as well. When the lady bug appears in your life, it's a sign of profound good luck. You have made it through the woods.

The old energy and stories tied to lack are being removed from your life. Expect abundance in many forms such as good news, money, career advancement, love, more energetic releasing. All of it is on its way to you. The ladybug is here to tell you that your wishes and dreams are part of your destiny and they are on their way to you.

Your worries will dissipate as you welcome in this new level of peace of mind. The ladybug asks you to live in your truth [00:22:00] and protect yourself by honoring what is true for you. You do this by allowing yourself to actually be happy. Don't focus on what is not here. Instead, celebrate what is. The ladybug mirrors to you the fact that you are a highly spiritual and curious person by nature.

So celebrate this curiosity and dive deeper into your wonder with joy and appreciate the awe of life. And so. There is an action step you can take, which is making it a priority to spend more time in nature this week. Thank mother earth for the abundance that she provides.

Kara Goodwin: That's so beautiful. Thank you. I, I love that synchronicity. That's awesome.

Shannon Kaiser: Thanks for letting me do that. I love pulling cards for people.

Kara Goodwin: it's, it's so much fun. And this, and this deck is just so beautiful as well. I love all the colors. And we, you know, we've talked about the animal side, the deck is the, it's, it's. Guidance from Gaia. So [00:23:00] can we talk about earth's healing energy and how that plays into your work and the deck?

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah. You know, I found, you know, it's interesting. It's been a journey because I didn't realize when I was younger, like little, little girl and in elementary school, I would actually go at recess and I would sit. In the lawn and just sit on the grass and I would watch the birds and I would write poetry or I would draw pictures of of the animals and I would get made a fun of royally.

I would get bullied. I don't know why because I thought I was doing what I loved and I didn't know until. I started working on this deck that I was actually grounding. I was sitting on earth and I was grounding earth energy. I was also writing. I became a writer. It's what I love to do. And I was also drawing.

I am an artist at heart and I was made fun of for just being who I am. And there is something about us being who we authentically are and Being laughed at for that in this world, or people trying to fit in [00:24:00] when it's actually them being inauthentic. And I think when we return back to nature and we truly get back to our roots, we will always find what and who we really are.

Because there is an energetic alignment. Earth is our home. And so, so many of us feel at home in nature and Gaia is mother earth. Just think of when you go outside, you feel better. You know, it helps. There are so many studies done that helps with depression. It helps with anxiety. We get some sunlight, go towards the ocean.

Elements of earth can heal us touching a tree. And so every time that I feel overwhelmed or stressed out, I get myself outside and it really helps. But there's something with going back to you. when you were younger as well. What did you love to do? What were you doing? Returning to that right now, especially when we feel overwhelmed by the world, we feel like we're hopeless.

We feel like there's not much we can do to get outside of feeling better. Just return [00:25:00] inward to you and stop trying to live to the outside world. And a lot of the times it means getting back to nature. So, you know, houseplants, um, connecting with Gaia, drawing, painting, just being creative for yourself, not trying to judge yourself of, Oh, this is good or not.

That has healed me. And also it's been. Helped me realize it's not about pleasing the outside world. It's about living for myself and then letting the outside world like adjust. We are not here to please the world. We are here to live our life for ourselves. And Gaia can help us do that.

Kara Goodwin: That is amazing. I love it. Um, thinking about the role of. Of Gaia, the role of animals in our guidance system as a, as a guiding force for us, do you see that there's like an overarching. Guide in terms of whether that's animals, whether it's a nature element or, or whatever, but that we are, [00:26:00] you know, we have maybe like a whale is our guide.

It's our, our lifetime guide, or they're this incarnation, or even from a soul level, maybe there are guides that show up. More on a temporary basis or I'm wondering just like with

Shannon Kaiser: I love that.

Kara Goodwin: the deck and how, you know, there are 52 in there and I'm sure like different times of our lives, different times of the week, you know, are gonna different ones

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah,

Kara Goodwin: with us.

Shannon Kaiser: absolutely. And this is something I talk about in the front of the guidebook as well, because I think it different practices, different. You know, faiths and stuff talk about different things, but I really understand and believe that we all have an animal spirit guide that guides us through our whole life based on the lessons and the life journey.

We are all here for different reasons, but we're all here to grow into more love, to understand more love, but each animal has a different kind of element. I know for sure, uh, through the work [00:27:00] that I've done with my spirit guides and my shamans that my spirit animal guide through this life is a deer. And it's a lot of the time because a deer is about understanding grace and beauty and self love, but also understanding its power of when to leave, when to stay, but also this awareness of, of a deer doesn't need to, you You just think of the deer out in the countryside.

It doesn't need to be in fear. It just understands its surrounding. And that's something I've worked through in my whole life. Whereas a whale is very different type of soul lesson. Whereas if you have a penguin, that's a whole different lesson. Each soul on the planet has its own spirit guide and you can work to just tap into, well, what would my, my, what are my main soul lessons that I'm going through?

What is the thing that I keep learning or that I keep. Wanting to understand on a deeper level for me as a self love teacher. My greatest opportunity is self love in this life. I learned deeper, deeper lessons of that every, every opportunity. And the deer is [00:28:00] self love, but we also have animals that can come to us day by day, different transitions, different months, different weeks.

And it's beautiful because they love to help us. I think they really want to help us. And I love that too, because sometimes I'll be out in nature and I'll be. Walking and I hear a weird bird that I haven't heard like a blue jay or something and I, I will hear it and I look and I see it and I say, are you my spirit animal?

Like in my head and it looks at me and this is like the level of the, and I, the level that I'm working with the spirit animals and it will look at me and I'm like, That's how you know. And I do this, I've done this with the insects too. And so they'll look at me and then I'm like, that's how I know it's my spirit.

So all of us, all of us on earth have this connection, all of us. But we have been tuned out literally as the moment we pop into this world, they, we're like, Pull us away from this innate energy, this connection. Just think of our ancestors. They walked with the animals. [00:29:00] They, there was a vibrational match.

They knew how to be in that connection. And so when I say my mission with this deck is to help us return to our roots. This is a real energetic language that we can have. Just think of how you communicate with your cats. Sometimes it's such a beautiful, they're your family and telepathic ness that's can sometimes happen.

So different with animals out in the wild, we're all human and animals and mammals connecting, you know?

Kara Goodwin: I love that. And I love what you're saying where you're, you're out on a walk. And then, and the blue Jay kind of looks at you when you mentally think, you know, are you my spirit animal? And combining that with what you talked about of the placing the intention in there to say, Okay, if it's a yes, show me a ladybug in this length of time. And I had a story that I wanted to share in that vein because it [00:30:00] combines those two things where I was just really, um, really connected, you know, when you have those days and just for whatever

Shannon Kaiser: Love that. Yeah.

Kara Goodwin: Oh my gosh, so many synchronicities, so many, like, it just felt like spirit was everywhere.

And so I took a walk with my dog, which I do every day, but I, I almost felt high, you know, it was like, Oh my gosh, it's

Shannon Kaiser: I love it.

Kara Goodwin: it was just such a powerful time. And, um, So I was kind of talking to God in my head and I said, I feel really connected. This day's been amazing. Can you just keep talking to me?

Show me a hawk. And, it's not unusual for me to see hawks. So that's, it's not as common as the squirrel situation that you're talking about, but, but they're around, but I always notice them. I, I'm always, I always kind of stop what I'm doing. I'm like, Oh, there's a hawk. My kids are, they're like, Just like, interrupt my [00:31:00] music to tell me there's a hawk, you know, we're driving around, but, um, So I'm kind of, it was one of those, like, okay, talk to me, God, because I know that this is accessible for you.

It's not like I see them every time I go for a walk, but I know they're around. So this should be,

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah. I love that.

Kara Goodwin: one for you. And I'm walking and I'm looking, I am looking around for them and I, there's nothing, there's nothing. I see some other kinds of birds and, and I'm like, nah, those aren't hawks.

And, and I, I start to kind of let it go, you know, and, and then, um, As I'm approaching this field, this hawk, like, shoots out of the grass, the tall grass, like, maybe 20 yards away from me. And the whole time I'd been looking up, I was looking in the sky, I was looking in trees, and I mean, I, I don't remember the last time I saw one just take off from the, the ground, you know, it's

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah.

Kara Goodwin: for

Shannon Kaiser: Very cool.

Kara Goodwin: one of those like, wow, you [00:32:00] know, what a way to

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah.

Kara Goodwin: Even when I'm like trying to run the show here, I'm like, come on, God, I've, isn't hard for you. I just talked to

Shannon Kaiser: I love it though. Yeah.

Kara Goodwin: wait, just wait, let's, let me surprise you, you know? And

Shannon Kaiser: Yes. Oh, I love that. I think that's so great. I think that's beautiful. And you know, there's something to what you said to, even though you see them a lot, that is still you working with the energy of the spirit animal, because you're starting to tune into that frequency of, let me see them for that guidance.

And even though you see them, it's part of them giving like, that's your communing with God. You know, I love that.

Kara Goodwin: Thank you. So I know that you also work with affirmations and I, first of all, in case there, I don't, I think people know what affirmations are, but just in case anybody's listening and they're not quite sure what that means, talk about what they are and then, um, why they work.

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah. [00:33:00] You know, affirmations, I like to call them mantras. They are positive. Mindset shifts that we can say usually sentences that are structured in a way to help us reframe and, and turn our, our focus to more of a positive versus a lack. And in this particular deck, every single spirit animal has a mantra or an affirmation.

And that's what I read to you too, about the, the, you know, the ladybug having that mantra that you can say. When I was. Diagnosed with depression and clinical depression back when I was in advertising in 2009. One of the very first things that I did was I started to recognize what was I saying to myself about myself, about the world, and it was really negative.

It was a full of shame, full of self doubt. It was really overwhelming and I was like, Oh my gosh, I got to start here before I can even start to change the outside world and one little shift from nothing's going right for me to I'm doing the best I can. Started to shift things. Um, I started to write [00:34:00] these down on pieces of paper.

I started to print them out. I started to read them on my phone each morning. And then I wrote a whole book called find your happy daily mantras that transformed my life. So mantras have really actually helped me through some of the toughest times of my life. I believe in them because there is a lot of science behind positive thinking, but it's not.

necessarily fluffy of woo, just talk about it. And then you feel better. There is actually a vibrational kind of behind it. When you put power to really believing what you're saying, if you're just saying them to save them, they absolutely won't work. You have to really believe them. And that's why I believe in the power of affirmations that work.

And in my coaching practice, when I work with people, we create affirmations and mantras that. Feel at a soul level in your sacral chakra and root chakra that resonate with you because when they vibrate there, you're unstoppable. You're aligned to your truth. And so it's, it's a matter of, just like I said, if I can't get to, [00:35:00] I'm unstoppable.

I'm awesome from, I hate my life, but I can't get to, I'm doing the best I can. That's a shift that you can own. And so owning what you're saying in your mind is, is a start.

Kara Goodwin: That's amazing. I love it. Um, I guess I was going to ask if you have any stories of affirmations creating great change for you. I mean, that is huge to be able to out of depression and have that be one of the tools in your toolkit. Does anything else come to mind in terms of, of stories where affirmations have made a big shift?

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah. You know, affirmations. I think I can share a tool that people can use. I use this with, with people, um, in retreats and stuff is just think about, you know, something that is. It's, you're struggling with something that is really not changing in your life and you've been trying and you're feeling hopeless or you're just over, you're like, ah, it's enough.

I'm just so hopeless. I think we all have an area of our life and [00:36:00] it's something we don't always talk about and we don't share out loud because we're angry, we're mad, we're frustrated. Look at that situation and then maybe take out a pen and paper and look at what you're saying about that situation, about the situation.

For example, maybe you want something, you really want more abundance. You want your soulmate, you want to get pregnant, you want to start your business, you want to write that book, whatever it is, but what is it that you're saying about that? And that's where we start with the affirmation. What we're saying is usually the opposite of what we really want, or there's a belief there.

And so when we talk about affirmations, we have to look at the beliefs and shifting our beliefs at a core level is really where the magic and the root of. Transformation happens and that's really the core of the work I do in the coaching and all of my books even in this this Even in the design that you see there is like an element to the design in the way I've designed these cards It's like a Reiki infused process of helping us shift to our authentic [00:37:00] level of getting back to Our truth, which means we have to remove what's not working.

And sometimes it's just a subtle shift of I'm believing a lie about myself that I'm unlovable, or I'm believing a lie that I can't make a living doing what I love. And when we start to shift that and start to believe what is real, that we are here to love ourselves, that we are here to enjoy life, that we can really create a real, a beautiful reality.

Things start to happen more effortlessly and we are in flow and we are in a line with the universe and it's a beautiful process. And so one small way you can do that is just look at what the lie is, start to start to shift into, well, what is the truth? What is the truth? The truth is, and you write down the truth.

And then I invite everyone listening to start repeating the truth each day to yourself, read it in the morning, fall asleep, listening to it, pull an animal card to support it with you. And, um, Celebrate that truth because you are the truth.

Kara Goodwin: That's so beautiful. you, [00:38:00] Shannon.

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah.

Kara Goodwin: how can people find you? You've got a lot of work out there. How can people find you? How can they find your books and the

Shannon Kaiser: Yeah. Yeah. Well guidance from Gaia is available, uh, where everything's sold bookstores on Amazon. And I, I have a special workshop. If I'm giving away two free workshops, freedom from fear and reclaim your personal power. So you can just go to my website, play with the world. com or reclaim. Or reclaim your personal powers, the workshop, or the radical body love with Shannon, are the websites or my Instagram, Shannon Kaiser writes to access that.

I'm very active on social media. I'm always posting positive messages and mantras. So I love to connect with people there. And, um, I just look forward to connecting and, um, helping people feel better.

Kara Goodwin: Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for the work that you're doing. And, um, it's, I've just loved this. Thank you.

Shannon Kaiser: Thank you. It's been such a [00:39:00] pleasure and such a great conversation.

Kara Goodwin: Thank you. Thank you for listening to this episode of Meditation Conversation. I'd be so grateful if you would share this episode with someone in your life who would appreciate it. Your sharing helps build momentum and make high vibrational content such as this more accessible and easier to find. I'd also be grateful for you to subscribe to this content.

Thank you for your support and I look forward to the next meditation conversation.

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