✨ Magical Mindset Podcast: Permission to Play

The Power of Play: How to Overcome Overwhelm

[00:00:00] Introduction

Macarena: Are you overwhelmed? Do you need a little kindness and permission to play to help you be present? Then you're going to love today's episode with Brooke Butler. She's a medical intuitive. A great friend of mine who I adore deeply. 

She lives in Lake Tahoe and she has really fun group programs out there and she does virtual sessions. She's really wise, kind, and generous, and We're going to have a fun conversation where we talk about play and rhythm and allowing, giving ourselves permission to be in the flow.

Please enjoy. 

Intro: Welcome to Magical Mindset with Macarena Luz Bianchi, where we explore the magic of mindset, gratitude, and purposeful living. I'm your host Macarena, and I'm thrilled to have you join me on this journey of wonder, wellness, and wisdom. You can find the episode show notes, your free Magical Mindset Blueprint, and more at xpres.me/podcast, and here's the show.

Thank you, Brooke Butler, Medical Intuitive for joining me today. And can you please, share with us what you do? 

Brooke: Yes. Thanks for having me. So, I work with the body's innate intelligence to help people figure out what's the root cause of their diseases and their afflictions. And sometimes we'll move into more spiritual growth.

But most of the time people are coming to me because they want to find more balance in their daily life or in their body or in their mind.

Macarena: I feel very fortunate because we've worked together for a very long time. So, I love Brooke's sessions. I love how she works. She's so kind and giving and loving. She holds such a beautiful, loving space. And I really think you're incredible at what you do and you can move energy like nobody's business. I appreciate that about you and I welcome you again. This is a free flow conversation because I know we've talked about the importance of play. Playing is really important. We talk about that a lot. That's a big part of my whole lighthearted empowerment journey. I've noticed that with the wonder wellness and wisdom, which is lighthearted living, that most people suffer because they're ignoring a part of themselves. And maybe it's because I'm a recovery workaholic, I work with a lot of intense people like myself. And I find that it's the wonder piece that's missing. That's one of the things I see a lot. And of course, people are coming to you also for a lot of health stuff, whereas I'm more focused on the mindset. you're one of the people, when I think of having fun and living fully, I love how you embrace play. I know you live in Lake Tahoe and every moment you can, you're outside doing something fun. 

[00:02:59] Commitment to Enjoying and Expressing Yourself Physically with Fun

Macarena: So, can you tell us about your commitment to enjoying yourself and expressing yourself physically and with fun?

Brooke: I can, but first I want to take a moment to honor you because I feel like you have taught me so much around how to bring fun into work. And I think that is the goal is to make our work our play.

Even though people's issues can feel heavy sometimes, with cancer diagnoses and, various, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune conditions, whatever it may be, reproductive health, there is a way to weave the fun. And I think that's one of the things that I've gleaned in our sessions together.

So, thank you. And I think, it is a balance. I'm actually from Florida and as we know in Florida, it can be very hot. So, we're limited to certain times of the year to get out and play. I feel very fortunate to live in Lake Tahoe because we do have the seasons and, in the winter, we have skiing and snowboarding, and it's wonderful to get out in the snow.

But I just find that for me it's a balance point to be in nature, to allow myself to move my body and to focus on my breath, and my main sport in life. The summer is mountain biking and I actually really love to do that. It's more like a meditation for me at this point. It's just another way to align the body, the mind and the spirit for me.

And of course, there's many ways that people can do that through art or meditation and yoga or any of the movement practices where we bring the awareness to the breath and then link it up with the rhythm and it's all about synchronizing, right? And I think One of the big things about being close to the Earth is the ability for the Earth to carry us.

And if we offer that extra layer of "what do I do with this?" That we can use our breath to release, to then become more grounded, to then have the clarity, to then see where to focus our intentions and our energies. I hope that answers your question. 

Macarena: Right. Well, I think that's the common thread. Like in our sessions, it's coming up. You have permission to have fun, like how much more powerful it is to prioritize fun. And that's part of the things that come up, especially someone like me, where I can't help. People say, "Oh, well, if you slow down, you're not going to do anything." And I always, I challenge you, try it. See how long you can go without doing anything. It's really difficult. You might be exhausted. So, you might need a day or two to rest, but eventually, especially, we're also such creative people. You're also an artist that it's hard to sit still for too long. It's actually like a sacred practice to try to do that. 

I love what you said about the permission is so important.

[00:05:52] Play for the Overwhelmed

Macarena: And of course, some people have difficult situations or they're overwhelmed with their families. I've been there before. 

So, what advice do you have for people that are overwhelmed? I think they need the play the most actually. 

But what would you say to somebody who came to you like that?

Brooke: I actually think about myself because I often get overwhelmed, but I know if I take 15 minutes to get out the door to be in nature or to just move my body, that it's going to shift my energy.

And I like your remembering of permission is giving yourself permission to find balance, right? And obviously there's various tools that we can work with within our own innate being to find the balance for the overwhelm. I was reading yesterday something about eat the frog first and it's like doing the hardest thing in your day.

So, I would say, do the hardest thing and then reward yourself with the 15-minute walk or 20-minute walk. I've been into rebounding, which is super fun. And there's a lot of study around using the mini trampolines. So, it's many ways to move the body and maybe it's just getting out your art supplies and having some fun for 10 minutes in between. 

Macarena: Just even a little walk is easier. And my pets appreciate.

Brooke: I'm sure they do. And day design. Is scheduling it into the day that you know, that I only have one hour for lunch. So, I'm going to spend 35 minutes actually eating and then the extra time to move the body.

And to move the lymphatic system. I think that's why the rebounding is for the lymphatic system being our second circulatory system, right? Toxic waste system, but that you can do it 10 minutes and it's equivalent of, I don't even know, an hour of exercise or something. And it is fun. So yeah, it's important. 

[00:07:43] Finding Rhythm

Macarena: Fantastic. 

This whole idea of rhythms versus habits. Habits and routines can seem serious and can feel pretty serious. But I like this idea of healthy rhythms. For me, when I think of what's a healthy rhythm, I think of it's not about just focus, focus, focus. It's like being able to come in and out. 

Like I said, it's okay to be relaxed and go for a walk. And then I can definitely get back to work. There's nothing stopping me from getting back to work. But I think the workaholic part is stepping away. I get into things and then I don't want to leave. So, remembering, oh, there's a rhythm of, I can rest in between. I don't have to. It doesn't have to be so intense. 

So, this idea like reframing has helped me recently to. take it easy. I read this book, How to keep house while Drowning. Great book. And what was fascinating for me, here I am thinking, oh, I'm a "recovering workaholic." No, I'm very much still a workaholic and that's suffering and anxiety that she talks about housework.

I may not have it about housework, but I definitely have it about my work. So, that was very interesting for me and I think she brings up this whole idea of finding your rhythm and that is such a personal thing. 

I know you try to play every day or do something creative. I love the rebounder because there's such an important thing about jumping. I've been adding jump roping to my morning routine and it doesn't matter the weather you can always hop, since I'm starting from zero with the jump roping first, I just had to practice jumping, I was just like, oh my God, but just the shake is so important. But with the rebounder, it doesn't matter what the weather is like outside, crank some music and just bounce and have fun.

I think it's fantastic.

So, I love that.

Brooke: Yeah. 

Macarena: One of the things I've been remembering is it's not all or nothing, transitioning, from this focus to that focus. And I'm committed to being more satisfied in the moment with my life. 

And one of the things is being able to transition more gracefully. So, before as if I wanted to go on a walk, there was all this prep. Now I've been like I can go for a five-to-10-minute walk at any time.

So, I've been a lot more like free flow about it. So, it doesn't have to be such a big commitment to do everything. Like I'm going to go walk for an hour. No.

Brooke: It's interesting that what just actually comes to mind is, especially as being a woman with menstrual cycles, actually we can find rhythm within the month, right?

So, the men, based on their 24-hour body chemistry cycle, the women is more in the 28. Obviously, we have different gender. 

Macarena: Predominantly masculine or feminine people. Cause we're everything, right?

Brooke: Yes. So, Finding the rhythm within your own cycle, I think is important. And so, we might find that this one particular week, we have more energy that we want to be out. We want to be social.

We want to be engaging with our friends. Whereas two weeks later, we might find that we are more internal. We want to do more meditation, more yoga, more art, more creativity. And I think that finding your own rhythm can be really interesting and just taking oneself deeper into your own self-awareness.

And I've had fun playing with that of just really listening and listening to what my body needs. And maybe I need to go do this really intense sweaty thing. And then again, the next week, maybe I'm doing more rest and relaxation. So, I think that's a cool thing to start to pay attention to.

[00:11:18] Rest and Productivity

Brooke: And I also like the nap ministry. They're out of Atlanta and she's so awesome. She's all about normalizing rest as productivity. And that's something that I did a Yoga Nidra training a few, several years ago now, and I have found that when I can still my mind, when I can go within that, I actually am more productive in all the tasks of the actual job.

So, cause we have home tasks and then we have job tasks. And so, to get it all done, especially as a householder, the tasks are never ending, especially the multiple children and you're working as well. It is that important thing. And again, I think that's the shift and maybe that's coming as we start to embrace the divine feminine a little bit more in the shift of ages.

It's kind of exciting times. 

Macarena: It is. And I think we've spoken about Fast Like a Girl, of that book. And she talks about aligning fasting to your menstrual cycle, but what's cool about that, and if you don't have a period any more than the moon cycle, starting with the new moon. But what I love about it is she describes it as, the power phase at the beginning, then during ovulation it's manifestation and it's a short power phase again, and then nurturing. And that's a very interesting flow to maintain. And then we can apply it to other stuff, which is great. 

And then you also reminded me what you were talking of One of my favorite books, when I realized I had a problem, it's called the Power of Full Engagement. How can I be more productive? How can I do more, more, more, more, more, more. And then this book was like. in order for you to do more, you actually have to rest. Like your productivity is based on your recovery. And in this book, they do a fascinating example. I think they studied Andre Agassi at the time. And they're like, how is he so good? And they found out that when he had 30 seconds in between sets or whatever to rest, he went so deep. He was able to really go deep in his relaxation and then his output was amazing afterwards. So, it blew my mind. 

It was like a talk about a mindset game changer for me because I was like, what? I kept like, go, go, go, go. go. And I couldn't stop. In fact, I remember, like the pomodoro thing, it was okay, this is going to tell me when to rest every 25 minutes. And I was like, off, off, off. And then I was like, okay, let me set it to 90 minutes off, off. off. So, for me, it was really important. 

And it's been interesting because there's been times in my life where I feel like I have to justify the rest or the vacation, which is insane. So, I'm. all about now Working smart and enjoying as much fun and leisure time!

I've been doing puzzles and I feel so time rich when I'm playing, doing a puzzle. It's really funny. And I'm the only one in my household, like I have my siblings who don't live with me, they're into it, but my husband is not, which is really funny. So, he's like another puzzle. And I have to tell him like, you don't understand what this provides for me. Like, it's making me enjoy the moment.

Brooke: Time is a variable, right? It can expand and it can contract. And so, it feels to me you're shape shifting and you're freezing time in the puzzle.

I love that.

Macarena: Yeah. So, it's like I step into, okay, I'm just gonna enjoy this puzzle for a little while. And of course, during the break, all I wanted to do was work on the puzzle. But then I found that like the power of full engagements as when I would get stuck, I really just helped to go do something else. And then when I came back, oh, this goes here, that goes there.

So anyway, it was really fun. The power and fun of puzzles. 

Brooke: Love it. And just different and new pathways in the mind, right? In the brain

Macarena:Yeah, it's such a simple thing, but you're present and you're giving it your full attention. So, I think resting from constantly thinking about my to do list is really powerful. 

Brooke: Well, a rested mind is a creative mind, right? And so, we are going to need that moving forward as we need creative solutions. What used to work isn't going to always work in the new energies.

[00:15:42] Meditation

Macarena: And that's why we love meditation so much I love teaching this because it's not about stopping the mind. But it's giving the mind a break from constant, we're going here, we're focusing this, we're thinking about that, you know, constant, constant, constant. It's like, ah, let it just free flow. 

I love that. And I know you also meditate and teach meditation and all that. So, which is your favorite right now? Is it yoga nidra? Which of those techniques 

Brooke: I just love it all. And for you, you've been doing puzzles. For me I have found that I actually really love reading, but I've always reserved reading for flights and vacations. And I've actually been allowing myself to pause and take 10 or 15 minutes just to read.

And I actually lay on the couch and read and it feels epic. It feels luxurious. I find that my eyes are tired at night and so I don't necessarily want to read or I would fall asleep reading. So, I'm loving reading as meditation. I love art as meditation, always movement.

And then personally over the past maybe seven years, I've developed a Kundalini practice. I've found that it's one of the quickest ways to raise the Shakti energy, that creative life force energy. And so, I just love it, but I love it all. I think it's all so wonderful. 

[00:17:11] Kundalini Practice

Macarena: We're so lucky. We have so many tools. So, can you describe your kundalini practice? 

Brooke: Well, I'm not a Kundalini practitioner. I mean, I am a practitioner. I'm not a Kundalini teacher. But I do the chanting to open and focusing on bringing the gaze inward, and then we do a basic warmup series and then they do different Kriyas, so for me, I have a basic.

Just quick way to, or maybe I don't want to say quick. I want to say efficient way to raise that life force energy that I feel alive. I feel connected, I feel aligned and prepared for my day. 

Macarena: Nice. That's lovely. Ah, that feels so nice.

Fantastic. I really appreciate.

[00:17:57] Day Design

Brooke: Yeah. I was just thinking about one more thing about how you also said to me not too long ago that You don't need to follow anybody else's success blueprint.

And I feel like that with Rest with meditation, with your day design is do what feels good for you,

because everyone that's going to be really different and maybe the meditation is doing the dishes with no children around and maybe the meditation is cooking the meal or prepping the meal.

Maybe the meditation is actually lying down and doing your legs up the wall. That's actually one of my favorite things to do. I do that at night. More in the fall and in the winter because they are the yin seasons. They're more quiet, more internal. But I just think it's a permission to do what brings you joy and what sparks your passion. 

Macarena: Thank you for reminding me of that. Absolutely. 

And I think what's cool, especially for people that are super tapped in and intuitive. like you, like me, we forget because I think sometimes, I lean in too much into that masculine energy of the to do list and the this this and this, and this.

And yes, that's great, but it's not the full picture, so I think a little bit of that and more of this feminine, expansive idea of flow and just being present and feel what's going on. Seems to be working, for me and I see that working for you. And I think, as business women, as entrepreneurs, we always hear, especially male coaches or whatever. Oh, you need to do da, da, da, da, da, da. And it's like, yeah, okay, that's cool. 

Maybe that works for a lot of people. That doesn't mean it works for us. And that's why I love things like the self-knowledge of either understanding your strengths with the Strengths Test or the Enneagram, that sort of thing. Because I've been applying through the lens. What's cool about the enneagram, it's nine personality types, and then basically, we tend to think that everyone's seeing the world like we are, but there's at least eight other ones. With that in mind, it really helps to be okay, what's my take on this? 

Let me hear the advice, but how do I make this my own? And what rhythm and flow works for me, if any? So yes.

Brooke: And back to the day design that, maybe you're doing a little bit of writing that's moving you forward in that little pocket that you can do while having your family time and your work time and your exercise time.

So, I don't know. I'm a big fan of timers. And just 10 minutes, to carve it out, to create the flow. 

Macarena: Yeah. I Have found like, there's a technique called writing sprints, but it's just a focus sprint where you can set 25 minutes or 20 minutes and just, I'm going to do this because most people find let's say whatever it is, let's say something I don't like to do accounting. If I don't set a container for it. It can take all day instead of saying, let's see if I can get this done within 20 minutes and then half the time I do, which is great. And also, that makes it less dreadful for me.  Cause I used to think oh my God, it's going to take me days to prepare my taxes or whatever. And then it wasn't a big deal. It was like an hour or something because I've put things in place to make it easier for myself, but getting me to sit down and do that was like not happening. 

[00:21:24] Outro

Macarena: I so appreciate your time and your smile. You're one of my dear friends, and love and appreciate you so very much. And, how can people find you?

Brooke: Well, simply looking at either Brooke Butler healing or bodytalktahoe.com. You can reach out in that way. I am starting to do some group things again, which has been really fun. So yeah, please reach out and just thank you for your time and I love your spark.

You always give me a spark and you are a wonder and bring us all wellness and wisdom. So, thank you for having me and thank you for your continuous inspiration. 

Macarena: Thank you. 

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 

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Outro: Wow. What a journey we've been on together. I hope this episode has left you feeling inspired, empowered, and ready to embrace the magic in your life. I'd love to hear about your experiences and insights. Please tag me on social media using the hashtag magical mindset podcast, or leave me a DM to share your wins, challenges, and aha moments.

Let's keep the conversation and the magic flowing beyond this episode. Thank you so much for tuning in and for being a part of this magical community until next time keep shining your lights and embracing the wonder of each day. You've got this.