✨ Magical Mindset Podcast: Quantum Healing & Beauty

Discover the Power of Quantum Facials and Energetic Healing with Mercy Gomez

[00:00:00] Introduction to Healing with Traditional Chinese Medicine

Macarena: In this episode, we'll explore how Traditional Chinese Medicine and mindset can create beautiful healing opportunities. Would you like to learn more about the healing power that's available to us all with the flow? We'll explore that and the seasons and much more on this episode.

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.

[00:00:52] Meet Mercy Gomez: Licensed Acupuncturist

Macarena: Mercy Gomez is a licensed acupuncturist that assists clients with understanding different imbalances that are going on in the body by using acupuncture, auricular therapy, facial and foot reflexology, tuning forks, herbs, and access consciousness. Each treatment assists to clear old energies tied to old structures within to achieve a clear and healthier state of living. So welcome. Mercy. I've had the pleasure of knowing you a very long time. We, originally met through body talk.

Mercy: That is right. It's been 10 years

Macarena: wow. So we're both body talkers and body talk is an energy modality that helps people achieve homeostasis, if the body is balanced, healing occurs naturally. So a lot of the work I know that we do has to do with that, how to get people to thrive and be their best selves.

Mercy: That's right.

[00:01:52] The Magic of Quantum Facials

Macarena: So I have the pleasure of seeing you pretty regularly for what I call a quantum facial.

Mercy: Yeah, so initially it was the quantum facelifts because of how much It can move the lymphatic flow within the neck area and then we do the facial reflexology. But then I realized that it's more of a quantum facial because it's helped to clear things that when we get a massage, we usually get a massage from our body.

We don't get our face and our neck textures doesn't get work so then with speaking with other clients who are like quantum facial and I was like, "Okay, that's better and I also work the ears in that area. So it's more of a quantum facial. So it's like an energetic movement while lymphatic drainage with also facial reflexology on the face.

Macarena: And you use a tool. So most people have learned to understand what gua sha is.

Mercy: And then I use also this is what I do with the actual facial reflexology part

Macarena: Yeah. It's really cool. And it's not a facial traditional where you're doing extractions or opening the pores or anything like that. However, what I love about it is, of course, because of the face reflexology, . It's like getting an acupuncture treatment yet it focuses on the face and releasing tension on the neck.

And I've noticed a big difference since we've been doing this, people are always saying that I look much younger and I think it has to do of course, with the internal state of mind and some of these secret weapons. I know you're one of my secret weapons that I love that you live here in Miami and we're able to do this.

It just feels so good. And it's such a natural thing. It's non-invasive. It just really feels like it gets everything going, which is really cool. How did you get to this work? Because it's different than acupuncture.

Mercy: There was a practitioner that was out west that she was on Instagram during the pandemic and she started to post about certain protocols to balance out like in a TCM way. So she was using the five elements. So when I started to see the post, I was like, "Oh, this is cool. What is this? Facial reflexology?" Like I hadn't heard of it within my schooling. So I started to do a little bit more research and it's actually based on ancient TCM practices, the actual facial reflexology. And it wasn't actual needles. It was literally just the stimulation with the tool. So I took the course and with learning each of those points, I started to see how it's all interconnected.

So there's points on the face that will actually balance out mind, body, digestion, sleep. And if there was any pain, the tension could be released on the face. And then the body was also released. So I went and took the courses and here I am with facial reflexology.

Macarena: Yeah, I really love it. I think it's an amazing treatment. And of course, not just the treatment, but obviously spending quality time with you.

[00:04:37] The Power of Therapeutic Listening

Macarena: And I know we have an interesting relationship because I feel like what I do to people you do to me. Meaning, when clients come to me, I help them clear stuff.

And there's something about being with you that I'm always, after our sessions, I'm like, "I should have probably recorded that." Because it's a combination of your therapeutic listening and some kind brainstorming and debriefing thing that happens, which is kind of unique. And I know you've told me that you don't experience that with everybody. But there's something really cool that happens when we get together that I really appreciate.

Mercy: For sure. Our sessions are definitely very unique and special . I think it's where the client is, where they're at. And that's where I can meet them where they're at. With your growth process and how you're just exploring and soaring in life, that's where those possibilities also get amped up.

And like you're saying, it's the listening and then it's just letting the magic come out, which is our sessions are always magical because there's always so many things that surface. And I'm always like, " What was it that we spoke about? Oh yeah, that was super interesting how we dived into that."

And we just kind of like soar into other topics. It's always like a journey with you.

Macarena: Yeah, it's really cool. So that's one of the reasons I was looking forward to having this conversation with you. Because I think what you do is very unique. I love that you bring all those modalities and your main thing is acupuncture. And I think the application of acupuncture for not just beauty, because it's not just about the beauty part, but it's also healing through beauty.

And I thought that was an interesting concept of, it's not just wanting to be as youthful or as vibrant as possible, but it's through the process, through that journey of exploration, that a lot of work also happens.

Mercy: Absolutely. There's clients that do come in for that beauty. And then when they're on the table, a thought comes in or an emotion comes up at that moment. And we get to untangle or talk about it, like how you and I do. But everybody has their own way of elaborating or expressing something that surfaces.

So they could say, " I just had this thought come up." We talk about it. Sometimes there can be an emotion that can be released. And then they say, "I feel so much lighter." And then that's where life can make those changes in their life is what I've noticed that they'll come back and be like, "I just made this change and this is how it pivoted in me in this direction." And their body feels better and then they're just making life changes, which is always really cool to listen.

Macarena: Yeah. Amazing. And I think what's cool is you're almost like a guide post. I feel like sometimes with you, it's almost like a verbal journal, in a sense, where I think there's something very beneficial at the end of the day, like writing what happened the debrief. And then lately I was telling somebody, they asked me like, "What is marriage?"

I'm like, "Marriage is having that person you love to debrief about everything every day with." That's one of the beautiful things that it provides. But in addition to that, I really am a big, proponent. I definitely love the idea of debriefing on your own every day, not just with your partner or with your friends, but in the form of a journal, especially like us that are creative and want to do the morning pages. I think if we don't do that, then it just turns into like, this is what happened, like a recording of the day. And then what I realized, but every time I see you, it's since the last time I saw you, this is what happened.

And it's almost like amazing things have happened. And you allow me to just reprocess them in a way.

Mercy: Yeah.

Macarena: And it's very fluid and it's very in the moment and it's very cool. So it is like an auditory journaling, I would say. And almost like a guide post. Cause it's " Oh, I saw you two months ago, what happened?"

And then it's like this thing flows into the other. And then next, I'm having deeper realizations about what went down. It's like a debrief with therapeutic effects . And it's funny because I think most of the time, you hold the space .

And I feel like I do the same thing for my clients. I see them in perfect health and I hold the space and then it's beautiful, what emerges. And then I feel like, "Oh, that's so cool." Not only am I getting acupuncture, the reflexology, I'm getting my lymph moving, but it's also that. And I never know what's going to happen.

And I almost forget it is going to happen until I'm on your table. And then it's " Oh yeah, this happened. And then this happened." And it's just so naturally flowing. It's quite nice. And I hope everyone has that opportunity with somebody in their life, at least one person where they can just flow and explore what went down.

Mercy: Yeah. It's like connecting dots, the mind then in that process. I agree with you how important the journaling aspect is because those minute, the five minutes in the morning or during the day, wherever you get called to do it. And then when you find somebody that can hold that space and they can help just listen to you as you are connecting the dots. I see you when you're on the table and it's you're just, all these connections are being made.

And then you're just like... It's always so amazing.

Macarena: Yeah. And what's interesting, it almost has a life of its own. So now we just allow, and I find also in my clients, people are asked about " Oh, how long does it take?" And it's the energy takes care of itself. Eventually, just the energy, it almost feels like it goes like this, like it settles. And it's okay, we're good. It's wild. And so it's part of being in the flow and in the moment. And it's quite fun. So I'm curious who provides that for you?

Mercy: I actually have another practitioner that I go see, and she does acupuncture for me. I don't have right now in the area, I actually have a facial reflexologist that is coming down south. So I'm super excited. She texted me three days ago and she's like, "I'm moving down to closer to the Miami area."

So it's only going to be a 45 minute drive instead of a three hour drive. And I told her "The moment you're open for business, I'm coming in for my facial reflexology." So we're going to be setting that up. I think I have a friendship that she and I, we do a lot of mindful, holding space for one another.

And we just flow in a way where that's kind of how when we hang out, it's two friends talking, but we're holding these spaces that we don't know what dimension, what conversation we're leading to or what it's going to come out of it. But we know that at the end, it just feels like how you said. It perfectly closes and we're just like, "Okay, we're great. You're good. All right. Bye." And then just that's it.

Macarena: Yeah, this is such a reminder that we're all doing the work. We're all doing the inner work. It doesn't matter where you are. We're all here to expand and be humans and we need each other in different capacities at different times. I feel lately I've been using the accordion analogy. It's like an accordion and it flows sometimes more intense than others. Sometimes it's a little lighter, sometimes it's softer or louder, but you're always making music and that never stops. And it's so important to have, I call it, the team. We talk about our energetic team, which is really cool, but also you need your physical team, your friends and the people in your life that allow you to be yourself and process things in each other's presence.

Mercy: Absolutely. Also being out in nature is one of my ways of also processing things. It's like just being out in nature and seeing how the trees move and maybe it's not even having words come out but so much clarity and so much peace can come within being in that space as well.

So that's another one of my medicines that I do truly enjoy.

Macarena: Yes. There's something about it, right? Like just being grounded, during the walk. I love when the breeze comes. I always love that idea of being like caressed by spirit via the breeze. That's one. And of course, sound, I think is really important.

[00:12:22] Exploring Sound Healing and Tuning Forks

Macarena: I know you do sound healing. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Mercy: I do. So there's different frequencies on the tuning forks, that I like to use. And also the sound vibration, the sound that I play in the background, depending on the client is also determined on what the goal is or what the client is, the goal that they're trying to achieve.

There's frequencies called God frequencies. There's also Gaia like Mother Earth frequency. So sometimes clients come in and they were so charged with like electronics or we're so charged because we're emotionally going through something that maybe a little bit on the physical world.

It's so emotionally charged that it prevents us to be grounded in. So using the tuning forks of Gaia or Mother Earth really helped to ground the body so that the body can really understand what's going on when the tuning forks are placed on the body. So it really helps for the spirit or the soul to anchor in and then that's when the clarity comes in. Because then now the person is not scattered and feeling like where am I like they're having to make so many decisions they're like "Okay I have to make 20 decisions. But I feel calm wanting to make these 20 decisions." Before they came in. They were like, "I have to make 20 decisions", that are all frazzled. And just with a little bit of the tuning forks being placed on them, there's like that sense of calmness.

Macarena: So would you say that the tuning forks are like a way to ground? What is it that's happening? Is it absorbing the chaos? Is it releasing the chaos? What do you think is happening?

Mercy: So with the tuning forks, it's like transmuting. So with our energy, like when we listen to music, ourselves listen to And the same, if we were to get water and there's this, I always forget his name, he's a doctor that would play loving music to one water and then he played music that was saying hateful things.

And then one water that was completely dismissed. And then the water that was being all loving, when it was crystallized, you could see how beautiful the crystals were. And then the one that had the hateful words, the crystals were not pretty at all. And then the one that was ignored was even worse.

So it's like the same goes with the tuning forks go in. And with the cellular level, it's like giving loving words, or it's a grounding sense for those cells. Since we are so much water in our body, that's what gets calmed down in our body.

Macarena: Yeah, I think it's Dr. Emoto. Very cool. Like messages from water, I think it was called. Yeah, I remember the first time I saw that and I was like, "This is amazing." And it's true. The idea of resonance. And the kind of like emotion behind all of that. I think one of my superpowers is like listening to sometimes when people can't hear it, how they're speaking negatively about themselves.

And if they're speaking like that means there's so many thoughts behind it in a similar fashion. And this is why we say being impeccable with your word is really important. And also I think the questions we ask, not just of ourselves, but of the guidance and part of the fun of the work you do is that it's not just one thing.

Like most people come to you maybe because of a health thing, but it's all connected. And what have you been seeing lately, any themes of this sort of thing?

[00:15:29] Seasonal Healing Practices in TCM

Mercy: So within the cycles of TCM, depending on what season we're in,when we were really heavy into spring, I got cases of fibromyalgia. I got a lot of cases of shoulder pain that were radiating to low back pain.

There was some people that were transitioning in life because spring is that time of that immersion of things. So that's where the clients that have come to me for pains, like the health issues that you were telling me about, and they saw, "Okay, wait, Mercy offers this but there's a little bit of a combined treatment." Then they were coming for me no longer for the health issues but maybe coming to me for the facial reflexology or the quantum facial and then having that dialogue that back and forth to uncharge emotional processes that they're experiencing or they're trying to determine certain decisions or what kind of path they're looking for.

So they get on the table, we're doing the quantum facial, or we're doing the access consciousness. And that's where the pains in their body or their physical body that kind of feels out of balance, balances out once they have those conversations. I can say that light bulb turns on and just okay, that kind of makes sense right now.

Macarena: Very, Very cool. Yeah. There's been a lot of people with a lot of pain lately. And a lot of times I think people need to slow down and see what else is going on because there's always lots of reasons for things. It's not just one. So there's usually some physical component, there's an emotional component, there's a mental component. Sometimes wonder, wellness wisdom. When it comes to the wonder part, it's like, is there something we're ignoring or denying about ourselves? Sometimes it's not something we're doing, something we're not doing, like the inner child work. It all seems to be related.

And I know you see the same thing in your practice.

Mercy: Absolutely. Yes. It's very interconnected. It's unweaving and untangling knots that sometimes could come from childhood, could come from adolescence, could be going on in the present. And that's why sometimes I never know where the conversations are going to go like how we were saying earlier, you come here and you're like, "I know it's going to be magical, and I know it's going to be an experience," but we never know what's going to surface once you get on the table.

Macarena: Amen. Amen. So yes, we never know what's going to happen, but I know it's going to be really cool. I'm a big fan of the maintenance work. Sometimes we have something acute that needs to be addressed. And I think it's great just to preemptively do the maintenance work. So a lot of times when I go for acupuncture or something like that, I'm like "A tune up!" And that's what's so cool about what we do. I know that it's going to be a tune up no matter what, and whatever needs to come out will come out.

Mercy: One of the common questions I get from clients is "How often should I see you?" And I say "In the beginning, when we're trying to work on something, maybe more frequently." And then I usually say "It's like a car. Car needs to tune up. Your body needs to tune up. Your different processes need to take place.

So you're going to know whether we're going to be seeing each other bi-weekly, weekly, monthly. There's a time that we probably won't be seeing each other because you're just flowing in bliss. It's just an amazing stage and then there's other times we need to see each other more consecutively." So I completely agree with you that coming in for maintenance, one seeing any type of health practitioner that they may be going to it, I highly recommend as well.

Yes. On one hand, I think we have everything we need within ourselves. I don't think we need external stuff for healing. However, it is fun to play with. So that's why, I know we have some of these in commons, we like crystals, we like essential oils, we're big fans of tea. So do you have any favorites now? For the summer season, In TCM, it's more about the heart connection and the small intestine. So we know that there's going to be, especially here in Miami, of course, there's going to be other parts of the world that are also either very hot or cold, but specifically here in Miami, the temperatures are going to be very hot.

So I would probably recommend lowering nutritionally some of our intake in hot temperatured foods to make sure that we can stay in a healthier state of balance. Using also some cooling essential oils. We can use some peppermint, we can use some lemon, we can use some wild orange. Either applying them on the bottom of the feet or even them on our hands would be really good.

What could also surface during the summer is we may not hydrate as well because we're on the go. We don't realize that we haven't been drinking water. And like how we were saying water is what's moving our cells, so if we're not properly hydrating and maybe incorporating like a peppermint tea, let's say, because it's a little bit cooling, our body, that's when there's going to be certain things saying, "Hey, hi, I'm not feeling so well.

We got to do something here." So that's what I would recommend for the summer.

Macarena: Yeah. Summer's been interesting because there's so many things going on, like with graduations, kids being out of school. So all that flow of productivity that I had going, I have to say, "Let go, let God." Because things are constantly in flux right now.

So it's okay, I like to think of it as surfing. "Okay, I'm just going to ride the wave I'm on. I'm just going to ride this wave the best I can." But there's been some adjustments and figuring out the flow and pacing of things, especially with so much Interruptions, even though a lot of these interruptions are wonderfully fun things that we get to do, like with traveling and such.

And then before we know it, it's fall time.

Mercy: Yes, exactly. Absolutely. Also for the traveling one, when you were saying about how there's so many things that do take place. There are some essential oils which help with the digestion process, especially with traveling. Usually a lot of people say, I go traveling and it's difficult to stay on a certain healthy regimen of eating foods that their body is accustomed to.

So like fennel with some peppermint oil, those two oils can be really help with assist with the digestion while in the traveling process during the summertime.

Macarena: Fennel and peppermint.

Mercy: The formula Digest Zen would be really perfect to be exact.

Macarena: So to honor that, can you tell me some hints like that for each of the seasons?

Mercy: So for the fall season, we're going to be dealing more with the digestion process. Each client, depending on what their patterns are, can get a little bit more assistance with herbs during that time. Wild orange, clove bud can also be used as well. It's like the warming herbs because you're in that season of the fall. There's certain formulas that would really help with the actual digestion process.

Winter is the kidney season. That's when we're more in hibernation mode. Cinnamon bark would be a good oil to use during that time or clove bud would be a good essential oil to use during that time.

 It's just here in Miami , since our season are so mixed together, you have to modify. So some of the oils that you're going to be using in other seasons, you are also using them here in Miami because our weather is all the same. So it's just they get kind of personalized. So that's something else that when the clients come in, I'll be like "You can use these oils specifically because this is based off your pattern. So this would assist." I think it determined where they're to be more precise.

Macarena: You bring up a good point. So the seasons are happening. We're talking about rhythms, right? They're seasonal rhythms. And in places like those distinctions are not that obvious or they're way more subtle here, I am finding that I do having certain things in place, like following the moon cycle, of course, the equinox and all those things to live the seasons regardless of what is visible. Because they're impacting us, even though we may not see them. And I know in Traditional Chinese Medicine, that's a big thing. So what would you suggest in places like this to move through the seasons?

Like I know some in Ayurveda, they suggest in the season change, even if you can't feel it too much, is to do a three day simplified diet, like a Congee. I might be mispronouncing that. But it's like rice and split mung beans, dal, and apples, for example.

 Just those three ingredients for three days, to give your system a break and to signal the change in season.

Mercy: So with TCM, the Congee is also one of their similar traditions that they recommend. It also goes back to certain herbs they would incorporate. So the mung bean is a great herb to do with the rice. So it is one cup rice, eight cups of water to make the congee. And then it also goes back to the pattern. Because here in Miami, we have people moving down from the north so then their body temperature is cold so they can still have warming herbs or warming beans in their congees. And then there's people that have been living here in Miami their entire life that they can either be cold because they're indoors or they're the other extreme. They just eat super spicy, their lifestyles very fast. So that i'm just like just stick to the rice, nothing else. Keep it simple with the Congee. That'll be good enough to do a reset. They also recommend in TCM that when the seasons are shifting, there's that three day window of right when the season's changing that's when they recommend the congees. Probably recommend some teas to keep it kind of light.

And I've read various books that go back and forth with vegetarian and incorporating meat. The readings are not 100 percent of whether they say when to eat the meats. They do recommend more meat during the winter time when colder. And then it's more of a vegetarian, like some fish as well, depending on the season.

The readings go back and forth depending on the climate and the person's pattern at the end of the day.

Macarena: Interesting. So yeah, eating for the season is an important thing. And I have found that Eat Right For Your Type, your blood type. That was quite illuminating for me because I've gone through many seasons of cleansing and resets and detoxes where I've been everything. I've been vegan, I've been raw. Even if I may not crave meat, when I do eat it, especially grass fed, organic, the good stuff, my body's "Oh yeah." So there's something to that which is quite interesting.

Mercy: I found that book to be very interesting as well. A massage therapist mentioned it to me. And I'm also blood type O. And I've also been vegetarian. And when I hadn't eaten meat, I totally get it. It was like you would eat the meat and my body was just like, "This is perfect.

You've just made my day." Not that I want to be eating it every day, but it was just like when I would eat it or like even drinking a cup of bone broth, my body was just like, "I'm in heaven right now." So I totally understand what you're saying about the body embracing the blood types and seeing how certain foods could not be as fitting for the body.

I would eat it and I'd be like, "Oh, it's okay." And then other foods, it would be so much easier to digest. When I read that book, I found it to be super insightful.

Macarena: I'm a big fan of the bone broth too. That stuff is amazing. We always have some going in the slow cooker here. It's a secret weapon. . It just feels good.

Mercy: Absolutely. It's super hydrating. When I talked to my clients and I show them pictures, I'm like, "Oh, so this is what I ate today." They're like, "That's a soup." And I go, "Yeah, it's a soup. Do you look at me? I'm not dehydrated. I don't feel tired. And if you look back in history and you're looking at the women, that's all they would eat. And their face looked amazing. And it was just like, they always look hydrated. They didn't have any wrinkles and it's cause they're getting all of their nutrition in their soup."

So that's like a little secret right there.

Macarena: Yeah, exactly. The soup, there's so much good to it. I travel with it if I have like a conference or something, I have found these awesome packets. I would have it like tea. I love it. We're constantly have it in addition to the fresh one we make. But for traveling, it's perfect. Because then I got everything I need. And I don't know, you get used to the taste. To me, it tastes delicious and it feels perfect.

I'm getting protein. I'm getting my good collagen. I'm getting all the things in it, like an eight ounce thing of water, which is fantastic. I recently got a little portable blender that I take with me that I use for my shakes. And it's just the best thing when travelling. So what about spring?

Mercy: The springtime goes back to the liver. So there's certain vegetables. Dandelion would be a good vegetable. There's also dandelion tea that would be good. Castor oil packs is also what I recommend during the springtime. They're a very gentle way of detoxing the liver.

And it's placing the castor oil on the right lower part of the rib cage, placing either a linen flannel or a cotton flannel on top with a heating pad so that the liver or that skin in that area can absorb the castor oil and the castor oil is able to very gently just detox, eliminate, break down.

It's very subtly. There's a metaphysical teacher. I don't know if that's his label, Edgar Cayce, that he talks so much about castor oil packs. He's like, "If you've gotten pain on your knee, just slap on some castor oil." And he says, doing that repetitively can help with the tendons or the emotion or the energy that can be stuck there.

So doing castor oil packs on the liver during the springtime, I highly recommend.

[00:28:35] Acupuncture and Liver Imbalances

Mercy: It's another one of my little tricks that I do during that season as well.

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Macarena: Wow, this brings up that book, The Body Keeps the Score, because we absorb so much in our bodies that need a way to be expressed and released. So of course there's exercise, there's meditation, there's massage, there's acupuncture. I'm constantly sending people to acupuncture. I talk to someone, "This is wrong." "Have you seen an acupuncturist?" I have pain. "Have you seen an acupuncturist?" "I'm stressed, some kind of emotional thing." "Have you seen an acupuncturist?" Go get a tuneup for crying out loud.

Mercy: And all of those things that you mentioned are actual liver imbalances. So that's the funny part.

Macarena: Really? The liver.

[00:29:52] Seasonal Rhythms and Organs

Macarena: So you mentioned the organs, but I'm curious, what is the metaphor? Because in trying to live more with the rhythms and the seasons, where does the year start? Does it start with spring? Does it start with winter? I'm just curious, like when you think of the seasons.

Mercy: I'm not sure if I've read or seen where the year actually starts, to be honest with you.

Macarena: I don't think it matters. It varies. So that would be springtime, right? Or the end of winter. So that's a good way of thinking of it. I naturally go to spring because it's like new life is emerging. But as we know, it's a never ending cycle. So there is no start, but for the sake of simplicity. So, you said the spring is about?

Mercy: Liver and gallbladder. Yes. So they're paired organs. So there's organs within our body that are more yin and more yang. So the liver in this case is more yin and the gallbladder is the most yang. So in the spring we're helping addressing any liver and gallbladder imbalances that usually during each season can arise.

And that's where imbalances can take place because that's when they're the most heightened.

[00:30:55] Elements and Seasonal Health

Macarena: What is the element then? Because I know there's always an element.

Mercy: The element is wood.

Macarena: And then, if we were going to describe this in some other way, is it about emerging or new beginning?

New beginnings. Okay, emergence. Because that makes sense. So then summer, what comes after emergence?

Mercy: So that's also the more exploring. It's the growth process. It's the development process in the summer. Summer is the small intestine. The heart is the most Yin and the small intestine is the most Yang.

Macarena: What is the element?

Mercy: Fire.

Macarena: Fire. So digestion, you said is the fall.

Mercy: Digestion is a fall. So in the summertime, that's where the heat can arise. That's where there's a lot of mental stuff that can take place during the summer. That's why I said about like dehydration and being mindful of what we're eating. There's like a heart and mind connection in TCM and probably also in Ayurvedic where they say that if the heart is over being worked or this is where a season that they also say that heart attacks also can take place. There's been research done that is when there's the most heart attacks that take place, from 12 to 1 during the day because that's when the heart's energy is the highest.

So that also takes place during the summer, which is why I always recommend clients, "Please make sure to be mindful about your hydration, not just plain water. Drink some teas because it's a different way of absorbing the water into your body. Cause the body needs lots of fluids.

Macarena: Okay, I'm following this. So then what comes in the fall? What's that element?

Mercy: So fall and autumn is actually lung and large intestine. So that is when we're reaping the benefits and it's also the process of breathing in with our lungs, which is the most Yin. And then the large intestine is also letting go what no longer serves us. So we've been in the summer, we've created all of this and then we're breathing in new opportunities, but also eliminating things that no longer serve us during the fall.

Macarena: It's interesting because it really feels like digestion is about assimilation. It's about what you keep, what you take away. You had this summertime of growth. Now it's like sorting it out. What do you do with all that? it feels like it goes with the rest of what's happening in at least in the northern hemisphere.

Mercy: Yes. With all the seasons.

Macarena: And then slowing down. So then winter, what's going on?

Mercy: The winter has to do with the kidney and the urinary bladder. That's also a process of introspection. So you're looking within. It is that winter time so it is a process of slightly hibernation, but also sleeping and allowing the body to rest and just reflect during the winter time.

There's teachings in the books that talk about that as we're transitioning out of each element, they say that's when spleen and stomach. But then there's other books that say that it's either entering from spring into summer and from summer into fall. It's a little bit confusing because depending on where they were in China, is how they would implement the earth element.

So the earth element can be either in transition of each season that as the digestion is transitioning in each season whether you're going from the summer where it's the fire element and you're going into the fall and autumn which is the lung and large intestine element that is when the spleen and stomach is helping in that transition because it is the movement of our digestion.

Macarena: Wow. I always have such a hard time remembering that, but I think with this conversation, I understand. The reason I'm interested in these things, and I think our listeners will be, is because I'm a big fan of technology. I'm a big geek. I love all of it. I do find the need for balance and the seasons are a way to live within balance, find that seasonal rhythm. I think I've gotten like the daily rhythm and the weekly rhythm pretty good. But it's different in each season. Like we were talking with vacation season or when the kids are home or the in betweens, that's like a lot of change. And then being aware of how it must change. So what did you call that?

Mercy: It's like creating a system within the season. So it's trying to keep it simple. a lot of their vegetables of what I'm observing are repeated in each of this season because they're more neutral. What I've noticed is that here in the States, a lot of our vegetables can either be hot or cold in nature.

So even if the seasons are changing, I've looked at different, nutritional books, and I'm noticing we're pretty much eating the same vegetables. They may remove or incorporate different types of vegetables, but they have a baseline. So that's how keeping it simple, like you were saying. Like finding a baseline to make it easier to transition and with like nutrition on during the season is how I've noticed. That's kind of helped me to be able to like, "Okay, these are my baseline of vegetables. And then okay, I can incorporate this meat during this season or this protein in this season." And that's helped me transition to the shift of how they eat and the herbs as well.

Macarena: I've also noticed in my sessions with clients, this idea of tuning into the season that's going on, when it is hotter, less things can happen because it's hotter in certain areas, whereas you might be inspired to do more because you're in this growth phase. It's might be physically. Difficult to actually do that. And I find that sometimes the people suffer because there's an incongruence to what they want to be doing versus what is. And again, finding that pace of productivity, of exercise, all the different things that we do in each of the seasons. I find this quite interesting, quite fascinating.

And I think it's a very useful process that we can incorporate.

Mercy: I agree.

Macarena: The seasons. Is there a good chart ?

Mercy: I have charts that help to break it down and give a lot more details to the organs and foods. It's pretty amazing that if we were to just slightly live by it, not vigorously, but just slightly incorporate certain things, how it can really help with either emotional stuff, physical things that we're experiencing in our body, just having the graph and having a visual aid.

Macarena: I love a good chart. I love a good graph. This is funny, but I think you finally, even with all the stuff we've done, with the five elements and stuff, I think this, I can actually wrap my brain around, which is very exciting. And the idea that it's not black and white, that it varies depending on how much sunlight there is where you live, there's wiggle room. I like to think of them as templates to follow and just to connect to the rhythm in a deeper sense. Which I think is beneficial since we are humans.

[00:37:28] Friendships and Personal Growth

Macarena: So last time we saw each other, we were talking about having a parallel experience. It was about our friendships and us moving and expanding and how important it is to do the inner work. And that sometimes we match with certain people in our lives and sometimes we don't. And how we have to be true to ourselves and acknowledge.

I think how we started this conversation about the needing to constantly debrief and examine our lives. And I think that's, what's cool. I know when we have a session, it's basically, me verbally examining my life. We were specifically talking about friendships and how we can love and care for people. And at the same time, acknowledge that for right now we're not vibing the same way and that it's so necessary to be true to that. I think all parties involved just so we honor where we are and we acknowledge the person and allow them, accept them where they are. I hope this isn't sounding too cryptic, but how did this come up for you in your life?

Mercy: What I've been experiencing is that every day we come across certain people that we're going to connect with and we're going to have very similar moments. It's "Oh, wow. I'm actually having the same exact experience right now with where my life is at." And then we have a friendship that grows out of that or a relationship that starts to develop.

And then out of nowhere, either one person continues in one process or I continue in one direction. And then we start to say, we realized, "Okay, we're no longer on the same page." And it's totally okay. And then we come back couple of months later and I think that time that you were on the table is I had a friend come back after I think I hadn't spoken to them in four or five months and we were able to get back on the same page, we were both in very similar paths and I was just like it's so beautiful how when we're all going at our own pace in our lives without our limited beliefs or structures of we need to stay with one another.

Sometimes it's okay that we kind of drift or we just go and then we can come back and having that ebb and flow. And as I've gotten older, that's what I've seen with friendships and even with clients. Clients will come, they get what they need and then I may not hear from a client.

I hadn't heard from a client in three years. And then they reach out and they're like, " Oh, I want to book a session." And I was just like, "Okay, I'll see you." And they came in at the right time. I was able to deliver a message they needed. And it was just the perfect timing.

Macarena: Yes. And this ties into the self knowledge also. Now it's coming back to me. I love doing the Enneagram work and I've recently dug a little deeper to the Gallup strength tests. And I have a friend, she's a relater. So relaters have just a few people they connect with deeply. And it turns out that the reason I like group stuff is because I have, I forgot the term of it, but I can see myself being friends with everyone, so I'm okay having any level of connection with people and loving what it is and not wanting more. Whereas there's been people in my life throughout that have been hurt at certain points and I'm always like, "But the five minutes or the time we shared was so beautiful."

I hold on to that. And then they're like wanting more or wishing it was different. And so it was really interesting to see "Oh," that explains several friendships in my life where I'm thinking like, "This is so wonderful and loving." And then the person's needs are not being met. And it's because I can connect with a lot of different people, where some people can only connect with a few people and that is like a very different thing because I'm always connecting people or I feel like almost a hummingbird, going from flower to flower. But some people want that hummingbird to build their nest there and not go anywhere and it's "Oh. Interesting. That's different." So it's just fascinating how we never stopped learning and it's okay. Whatever it is, it's going to be okay.

But understanding that about each other allows for way more compassion.

Mercy: Taking that Gallup also helped as well for me to understand what my strengths are and what I can focus on instead of focusing on things that weren't my strength. So I think that's how you're saying it. "This is how I show up. This is how I know who I am. And that's embracing that aspect instead of focusing "Well, I'm not this." And it's like, why are you focusing on what is it? It should be focusing on who you are. Let's focus on your positive. Let's focus on what is serving you. Who you are so that you can also serve them or be of service or even serve yourself and who you really are. So my Gallup test, one of my main qualities is a relationship builder.

That is my main thing. I am great at creating and building relationships, but I'm not good at selling. It's not a trait within the Gallup test that came out. And I think as you can tell, you and I, we've had a friendship and come in each other's lives as an ebb and flow for 10 years.

And we have deep, meaningful connection. But we don't probably talk on a daily basis and that is perfect and it's beautiful.

Macarena: It is a good example. It is exhibit A of what I'm talking about here. I have that with a lot of people. And so my husband, I don't know what his are, but he's got a different relationship to friendship than I do. So he has a few good friends and I'm like, "I'm friends with everybody." And it took a while to be like, Oh, our rhythms are different.

Our ability to connect with people are different. And that's okay.

[00:43:08] Embracing Strengths and Community

Macarena: And I think the thing I've been learning about these things, the strengths, there's somebody who has a course for authors. It's called Write Better, Faster. And the idea is forget about being well rounded and developing the things you're not good at.

The way you're going to have the big increase in success is by focusing on what you're good at. And for me, the big lesson lately has been, "Oh, this idea of community. is a big part of why I do things." And I've been completely ignoring it when it comes to my business. So it's "Oh, I'm going to focus. I'm going to build that now. Now that I understand that not only is that my why, it's where my strengths lie. So it's quite fascinating.

Mercy: Yeah.

Macarena: This whole idea of go deeper in your strengths and your talents, because that's where the goods are. And that's where the drastic improvements going to happen instead of trying to be things we're not or mold.

So now when I realized "Oh, okay. This person is looking our relationship differently." And I realized that with certain people, when we have different ideas of what work means or we have different ideas what being besties mean. It's very different and it's "Oh, okay."

And it reminds me of this really smart guy. Once he said it was his second marriage and he realized he wanted to get together with this woman. He's "Okay, so what do you want?" "I want to be loved and adored." And so he took out a pen and paper and he was like, "Please describe to me in detail what that means to you and what it looks like."

And he took notes. And then she said things like "Writing love notes." He's "I would have never thought of that. That was just not something I would have thought of." But I was like, Oh my God, that simple technique is so important. Especially when we connect with people and have that deepness. It's okay, What does it look like for you?"

And I've been giving myself that gift of being satisfied with whatever it is, whether I like it or not. I want to be satisfied because I feel like that is a way of not just honoring myself, but of raising my vibration. Sometimes things don't work out the way I want them to. That's okay. Where's the satisfaction in this? It's almost like the next face of gratitude is something I've been playing with. But then it's been funny when there's people that don't think like that. And it's "Oh, okay. That's what that looks like." So it makes me commit to living a satisfied life even more.

# perspective, contrast.

Mercy: I love hearing how for you it's been satisfaction and for me it's finding the fun in the challenging moments and embracing it as an opportunity. I think it was this last full moon because usually full moons are where things come up. and In one of my groups that I connect with to create healing for myself, they were like, "What if we made everything fun? Even if it's challenging and it is testing everything, how can I make this fun?"

So it's completely changing my mindset. "Okay. I'm in a very uncomfortable place. How can I make this fun?" Shifting my perspective about that and then trying to see a different outlook. Because sometimes when we go into that tunnel space and we're only seeing one angle, we can't see the many possibilities that could be taking place within that scenario or with that relationship or with whatever may be going on in work or whatever may be going on with our health.

We're just like, "Oh, this is what's happening." Wait, hold on. Let's take the blinders off and open up the possibility to see what could this be surfacing? Cause it's like how we've been talking about, it's not black and white, at least not in my life. My life is gray most of the time.

And I just say, "Okay, how can I make this fun? How is this challenging moment something that I can enjoy and embrace? And three days ago, I heard a TED talk about somebody, she was talking about the importance of having fun and how it can completely change a moment that can be created in our body that we will hold on to. That even if it was a challenging moment, but we're able to transition and see the possibility of fun within it, how we can perceive a whole situation completely different. It's like we may have been challenged and then afterwards, it wasn't challenging anymore. There was a growth opportunity that came out of it. So I love that we're another parallel experience that you're seeing satisfaction in something and I'm finding something fun. So it's always amazing.

Macarena: I love that mindset, by the way, of looking for the fun. And instead of black and white, I think it's multicolored, technicolor, all the colors, all the options. Always having more options comes super natural to me because as a enneagram number seven, I'm all like " Infinite possibilities."

Whereas a lot of times people, when they feel constricted, it's "No, this is what's going on." And yes, we suffer when we remove the options. And I love a good brainstorm. So I'm always like, It could be a million things that are causing this situation.

Not like the one negative thing that usually has to do with someone judging themselves or whatever. I'm like "Half the time things happen, they have nothing to do with us." There was recently an experience where something like that happened. And it was really funny because it can be perceived as a negative thing, but it did not register like that for me.

Cause I was like "Maybe it was a negative thing, but even if it was negative, so what? But what if it wasn't? What if it was like an accidental situation? Why let that ruin our experience?" And that's coming back to like you acknowledging you deserve to experience fun no matter what's going on.

That is such a beautifully empowering thing. And so it's the other side of that. Even if someone doesn't like what we're doing, so what? Coming from the marketing world, I remember once upon a time when I had a healthy chocolate, these Carobelles , I remember talking to a marketing person and I was like, "Everyone who's tasted loves them."

And she says to me with a lot of wisdom, "That means not enough people have tried them." Because no matter what, it's a numbers game. A certain amount of people are going to love everything you do. A certain amount of people are going to hate whatever you do. Those are not even the people you're doing it for because they were already decided.

So that's not even who we're communicating with. I remembered that it doesn't matter if someone disagrees or doesn't like it. That's perfectly fine. That's not the target market, right? That's not the audience. And everybody's allowed to feel how they feel.

And then when we give others that permission, we inadvertently give it to ourselves, which is what we need to remember. It's okay. We're not going to like everything. It's having a favorite ice cream, it doesn't matter. You can change your mind, because you liked rocky road before, it doesn't mean everybody who likes strawberry is wrong. That's not how it works. But for some reason, I think we get so self-conscious and limited. We walk around like those things are true and they're totally not.

 I just recently read a great book, it's called Worthy. She talks about, there's a difference between self-esteem and feeling worthy. Because self-esteem can be transactional or task-specific. Like you could be confident at math or maybe confident at playing a specific instrument versus feeling worthy comes from the inside, regardless of what's going on.

And I think again, back to the debrief, if we're walking through life and we're letting other people determine how we show up, we're making a mistake. We need to do the inner work. We need to build our self-worth either through inner work, counseling, therapy, you name it. The daily processes of how we decide to use our mindset tools, then that's how we get our power back.

Mercy: For sure. Absolutely. I agree. What came up for me was when clients come in, that's the clients that are being attracted into my office. It's they're coming in because they are searching for a connection or somebody in community where they can be seen.

And they can have a space held for them so that they can do their own inner work. Maybe they want it in a more private setting, or maybe they'll be like, "Oh, I'm ready to share this with my friends." So then maybe they can call a friend up afterward and then open up about it. But it is really about stepping into that and stepping into our authenticity, stepping into our vulnerability and looking within so that we can figure out how that is manifesting or being created within our outer reality.

Macarena: Because what's going on within us, in my humble opinion, is what presents itself in our external world. Yes, it does. As within, so without. Absolutely.

[00:51:33] Grounding and Healing Practices

Macarena: So one of the things that this whole conversation has reminded me and differently anchored for me is that idea to be present and not just present but grounded. And I'm guessing that's what happens with your work, when people come to you.

Similar thing happens with my work. When people come to me, they're usually triggered by something and then we're helped to clear everything so that they can be secure in who they are and be centered and grounded. That's what ends up happening with my sessions. How does that relate to what you do?

Mercy: It's very similar. So it's allowing for either the emotion to surface if there's any emotion that needs to be surfaced, or holding that space to listen to the words that maybe they may not feel safe or comfortable to express to somebody that's close in relationship with them. So it's hearing that out.

Then they can remove the charge or once they got on the table with the activation of the needles or with the facial reflexology, when the meridians become unblocked or there's more qi flowing, there is that sense of grounding. They feel more anchored in within themselves.

So then that's where the clarity comes up. That's where I feel the light bulb, the epiphany. They just have an understanding. They just go, "I see that situation so much clearer now. And I probably didn't have to say anything. Maybe I said two or three words or maybe I was just listening.

Maybe right when they're walking out the door, they go, "I've already figured it out." And it was just like, "Okay, perfect." I think I always say the moment you reach out and you book an appointment, your body, it's all already starting to take place because you've already said "There's something that I would like to address. There's something that I want understanding, clarity. I want to be grounded. I want to see things. And it's going to already start taking place the moment the appointment has been booked to the moment that you walk out of your session. That has been established. So that grounding and playing with that state of balance because we're always in a state of balance just sometimes this is our balance, sometimes this is our balance. But with different treatments, we get to get a little bit closer so that the scales are a little bit closer together.

So that's when our clarity, our epiphany, the light bulb turns on and that's when they can make their decisions, not from fear, in a state of peacefulness.

Macarena: I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. This has been lovely.

Mercy: I think we've covered a lot. That felt really good. We definitely entered into our space. I was feeling it.

Macarena: I was feeling it too, which is nice. And I realized, I think I help people clear more like maybe energetic blocks and mindset blocks. And you're actually moving that stagnant energy in their bodies, which is really interesting. And I think I'm also doing it by holding space. I've always seen myself as holding space, but now I see the person in perfect health, throughout the session.

And then like amazing things are happening. It's so cool. It's so cool. And like you said, I also tell people the moment they book the appointment, when they're filling out the intake form, it's happening. And then so many times, the thing that they had the issue with is resolved by the time we have our session. And then we can just go deeper. It's beautiful.

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. What a cool thing. What a cool thing. Wow. Mercy. Thank you so much. It's been so fun. I think we tapped into that magic I was talking about at the beginning that we get into our beautiful flow with just allowing the flow to happen. That's one of the things I've been loving about this process of making this podcast, these wonderful conversations with people that just take on a life of their own and evolve. We have certain guideposts, but then the magic happens, which is absolutely beautiful.

So thank you. And how do people get a hold of you?

Mercy: So I just want to tell you, thank you very much for this beautiful opportunity in this space that you're holding for anybody who wants to come on here and share this wonderful, magical experience with you. It's really beautiful to see you here. They can contact me through my website and through my Instagram, @qbhealings, which is for quantum balance healing since my treatments are not just acupuncture, but there's also like an energetic component to it.

Macarena: Fantastic. Thank you so much, Mercy. What

Mercy: 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. Until next time, keep shining your light and embracing the wonder of each day. You've got this!