Episode 52 with guest Sandy Vo - Meditation practice & Self-realization

And as I always do with all of our guests, I'm going to ask you to please introduce yourself to our audience.

And most of. Programming is against our own nature. And so we spend our lives taking actions, pursuing relationships, pursuing careers, pursuing opportunities. And we think that it's what we want. and we think we know who we are and we think that we're this role. And we think that we're everything that's written down on paper and what people know us as, but in actuality, it's not truly who we are. Mm-hmm . And so when I talk about embody your highest expression, what I mean is.

Who are you without the identities and without the roles. And it's a very scary question for a lot of people, because most of us are very, very attached to our identity. I mean, who am I without? You know, if you identify with being a podcaster, if you identify with being a dad or a mom, if you identify with being, you know, in a leadership position, who are you without these things, because so much of your life is made up of these things, but what's beautiful is when you.

Learn about your highest expression. And it's what we call self realization. You can embody the most beautiful form of whatever role it is that you want to play. And you recognize that instead of attaching yourself to this identity, that you are just a character inside of a show, the cosmic show, and you get to play your role and enjoy your life. Mm. And it just gets to be that, that simple. But it's not so , we can talk about that.

And like in that question, like, I know it's super powerful and like actually asking it. And getting the feeling because there's no answer, at least for me, like there's no clear answer. Um, so I've always been really interested in this and, and embodiment. Like for me, one of the biggest things is, is understanding, you know, um, I am a spiritual being in this body. In the physical, there's a reason why I'm here. Can I like make the most out of this?

Can I actually embody be in the body and actually explore this physical world, knowing, you know, like there sort of in different layers and dimensions and everything and, and I'm super interested, uh, on Sunday, if you wouldn't mind. What got you into all of this and how your journey went.

Vietnamese mm-hmm . And so I grew up multiracial, multicultural being, you know, born in America, but being raised by Vietnamese culture parents. And my dad was Buddhist and my mom was Catholic. So from the very get go, I had this very universal lens of the way that I viewed life because. You know, even though I was baptized as a Catholic, I still went to temples with my dad and I still experience, you know, the Buddhist world as well.

And I, uh, did everything that I thought I was supposed to do. You know, I went to school, I'm a big sister, so I really prided myself on, you know, I have immigrant parents, I need to work really hard for them. They lived in poverty in Vietnam. They did so much to get me to be exactly where I am right now. And I feel like I owe my parents so much. Like I am indebted to them.

And so I spent so much of my life, you know, not even asking my parents for much, although they gave me the world, I had a really great childhood and I would just exert so much of my, my energy and achieving. So, you know, I, I wanted to achieve graduating high school and, and being a great role model for my younger siblings. So I did. And then, um, I was like, okay, I'll go to college and I'll graduate from college. And I did that and I will get a successful job.

And I ended up getting a job where I was super successful at a very young age, making lots of money. And I did that. And I remember it was really around the time when I was in college. I was a junior in college where I experienced this notion of who am I. You know, even, even if I'm even the me, that's desiring all these things of the world, like all these achievements. Why is it that even if I'm achieving these things, why do I feel so empty?

And it really was the, the spark in all of that is, you know, I had my dad, he ended up leaving. So he, he pretty much abandoned the family and, um, cheated. And that was a pretty traumatic experience for me. Cause I'm close to my dad.

The partner that I was with for six years, you know, like your first love is like everything and you think that you're gonna be together forever, and you go through all these wild experiences and you ex explore so much of your emotions and you're so attached to it. And he ended up leaving as well. And someone that I was really close to at the time, my cousin, Lena, who was like a sister to me and the one person that I really felt like I could confide in, she ended up. Thing away from cancer.

Mm. So I felt like my life betrayed me. I felt like God betrayed me. I was like, okay. If life is, if this is. Then where are you? Like, why me? Why am I going through this right now? Why do the people that I love in my life? Why are they leaving me? You know, my mom at the time lost her sense of self. She became again, aholic and an alcoholic, and she was no longer the mom that I knew. So I just felt so alone. So isolated.

And, um, it was really around my junior year in college when I had experienced this crazy burnout and I started to, uh, completely lose all sense of self. I lost my, my ego identity as, as you. Well, really I felt so raw and so cracked wide open. And at that time, because I didn't have any practices, I, I thought that I was going through some type of psychiatric. Just mental psychosis.

I was losing myself and I went to see all these different doctors and it wasn't until I saw an IBA practitioner where he told me you're just coming out of a deep depression. And you know, what, if you're resisting medication because I was resisting medication, something was just telling me there's something more. He said, I'm gonna introduce you to meditation. So he connected me with. Spiritual teacher who is a pioneer in mind, body medicine.

He is direct disciple of Swami Rama, who was one of the first yogis who went to America to show, um, scientists that it's possible to control the heart rate and the blood temperature and the blood pressure and your internal temperatures and all of that with your mind. And they were fascinated by it and the east began to meet the west. And so he was his direct disciple, and eventually he initiated. Into this beautiful lineage. And I knew that that was my path, but I went against another obstacle.

Again, I, I was working against my own nature, so I was like, okay, well, this truly feels like my calling, teaching and serving and meditation feels like my calling, but how do I make money? So, um, I was living my life in two separate worlds on one world. I was a saleswoman. I was knocking doors and I made great money. I was leading a team. And on the other world, I was this beautiful, you know, divine, feminine energy, um, teaching meditation.

And I just felt like I was living in two, some completely separate worlds. And I had to go through another experience where I realized, wait a minute. We are not here to label ourselves or to put ourself in boxes or to say, oh, because I'm spiritual. I can't make a lot of money or because I am making a lot of money. I can't consider myself to be spiritual. Mm-hmm , we're here to enjoy all that life has to offer. And actually the mantra that my teacher initiated me with M namaha Shava.

Stands for everything is here for you to use and to enjoy, but not to possess or to become possessed by. So then I realize this is about bridging the gap between the outer world and the inner world. And when you can do that, you realize who you are, you can just live your life,

And how, like we can get to the understanding of like where you are now, and as you, and as you said, like the, the journey still goes, like, it never ends, like until the moment that, that we die or we actualize ourselves or, and light and, or however we want to call it, like we keep on going. And I think it's so, so inspiring a lot of times to, to listen to stories and to be able to share with other stories.

Of of different, um, circumstances and different backgrounds, because sometimes, like not everyone resonates with everyone, not everyone, but relates to everyone. And I think that it's so important to be able to, to share that, you know, like we can actually have all of these different aspects of ourselves and all of these different experiences and still come out of that with understanding and appreciation.

And, and to be able to, to actually understand this, as you were saying that we are here to, to play all of these different aspects of. Um, and one of the things that especially now, and that I've been like focusing more and more and more is I'm helping my clients like get an understanding that they can actually be that spiritual person. If they call it spiritual, like every single moment of every single day, even if they work in a 95 corporate job, it doesn't matter.

Like it's not how, it's not what we do. It's how we do it. Really. And that is such an important thing to be able to, to share and to be able to, to share as well, you know, like there can be like depression, there can be death, there can be like, um, trauma and there's a way to work. It doesn't mean that it's easy, but there's a way. Yeah, that's

So in terms of how I began to embody this, I mean, it was a journey and a process. Um, for me, I had hyper anxiety. Um, I constantly felt like. My wheels were spinning. Um, I didn't know how to calm my thoughts. I didn't know how to calm my mind. And as a result, my body was reacting. I was, I was panting for the majority of the time.

And I began to just tune in more to my body and I realized how connected the mind body and the spirit are. And through this one minute 60 seconds. So much can shift. You can go from a state of complete anxiety, to a state of complete calm and centeredness and peace and groundedness. And the reason being is because wherever the mind goes, the body will follow. So if you can learn how to use your breath. To calm the mind, which is a really pillar, which is a pillar element of meditation.

You're able to experience this centeredness and your entire reality completely shifts. So all the beliefs that you had in your head about whatever it was that made you anxious or the unconscious things, most times it's the unconscious things in the back of our minds that make us anxious. they become rewired because we're actually taking the time to experience it through our bodies.

Mm-hmm and if I could sum up what trauma is through my lens, this is not coming from the lens of a psychologist, um, or a psychotherapist or anything like that. But it's coming through my lens. I view trauma as consciousness. That's just stored in the. Mm. And when we can actually take the time to see it and feel it and experience it and listen to it, then we free it. But most times we don't, we keep ourselves busy.

We achieve, we stay stuck in that, the rat race of, uh, more things to do and the busy calendar. And we prioritize being busy over our own mental health and spiritual, emotional health. Mm. So integrating it is. looking at your lifestyle with a big, big overall picture, looking at the four walls within your home and asking yourself, am I, am I the highest expression of who I am? Am I the embodiment of who I am? And how do you know that?

Well, ask yourself, well, am I doing the things that truly matter to me? Like really, if you were to slow down and just listen to yourself for a moment and ask yourself, Am I doing the things that truly matter to me. You'll probably do a mental scan of all the things that happen up until this point within your day that you're like, oh my goodness.

I just did that because I wanted to please my mom, or I just did that because I wanted to make my partner happy or I just said yes to, you know, my client and an extra hours. Even though I'm exhausted because I, I just wanna serve people. And, and we don't realize how much of our energy is being drained throughout the day, because we're doing things based on what other people want, not what we truly believe is important to us.

So if you ask yourself, am I doing what truly matters to me at the end of the day? Which I really think the pandemic has created a lot of space for us to do so. It's gonna be easier for you to look at where in your life you can find more space to then integrate more of the new teachings that you'll learn, whether it's meditation or breath work, or just tuning into your body a little bit more. Yeah.

It's about escaping, as you said, like not, not connecting, I'm not wanting to see what is there, because there was some trauma, there was something and it's challenging, but we keep on carrying on that. Like I remember when I moved, um, like to New York, I was just like, I couldn't like stay in the longer Argentina and I just bought a one way ticket and I moved there. Um, The first week I Skyped with my mom and she asked me how I was doing. And I told her, I felt like a 50 kilo bag.

Like just came off my bag that I've been carrying and carrying and carrying. And I'm like that, you know, like I was all of the time doing stuff, even though I was currently that like, I was like, okay, in a sense with that, And I was like, all of the time escaping, I'm watching TV, I'm doing that. I'm like, I'm going with my friends to make this place or to the other.

And there is, of course, like more destructive, like forms of escape, like some types of drugs and alcohol and, and some other things. But, um, like at the end of the day is, as you mentioned, it's. And it's just B and it starts simple. It starts, as you were saying, like just 60 seconds, like connecting with yourself and being like, can it just B I'm asking questions that is so powerful. The power of asking questions.

I just didn't even know what I wanted. And I remember this question came through my mind and I, I remember being in front of the fireplace when this question came up and it was this very subtle voice. And it was like, who am I? And I just sat in there for a moment. And I, that was when I had this realization of, oh my goodness. I don't even know who I am. Do I really want these things, like I'm putting a, a photo of a girl with abs in front of, you know, on my vision board.

Do, do I really want abs, like, why is that so important to me? You know, or is that what I think that I need in order to be liked by the world, in order for, for men to see me or love me mm-hmm and not abandon me, you know? And so that question led me on this journey. Uh, I did body building and then I wrote a book and I became a transformational coach online, and I did all these things and still, I wasn't happy.

And so asking yourself a question is so powerful because that question came from within you. And if that question comes from within you, it also means that the answer is going to come from within you. And when you can have that back and forth dialogue with yourself, and this is why meditation is such a powerful experience, it's a powerful practice because you're just having a conversation with yourself. And it's between the higher self and the lower self.

And, and you're going through contemplation. You're understanding layers of your mind that you didn't understand before, and you feel more confident because of it because your answers are not coming from the outside world anymore. You're not Googling every little question that comes up in your head anymore and asking Google for the answers, you know, Or asking your friend for the answer and Lord knows they're going through their own things too.

And just giving you feedback that is based on what they're going through. not really based on what they know about your experience. And so it's, it's so powerful to ask yourself questions and have that time for self inquiry. Mm-hmm and that's when your conscious mind, like that's, when you begin to start taking conscious action, because you're asking yourself that question and when the answer comes from you, that answer is the conscious action that you are being asked to take.

So the next question is, are you gonna take it, are you gonna listen to. We all have that intuition, but are we listening to it? That's the hardest part. Yeah,

That all of the answers I already have them, like, I just need to ask the right question and I just need to tune in that's it like, and life will unfold in the way that it needs to unfold. And. You know, the, the way that we condition, as you were saying, like in terms of what is success and like, and I see, you know, with that, like the, like I see like a lot of vision boards and stuff like that. And I'm like, no, and I see what simple I'm like, do you really want like a, like such a big house?

Like they want like to be, you know, like having to deal with. 50 rooms and 20 bathrooms and stuff like that. Like, is that your life, or do you want to just have perhaps like a beautiful, tiny house in the middle of the forest, you know, like, and, and like, and do you want to be making, like, I don't know, like a million dollars or are you okay with like 50, like, you know, like. It's like, what are the things that we are protecting that we've been conditioned to think that that's what it is.

And the inner world is so rich. Like, I, I, not for me, I there's been times, especially when I've been doing like retreat, that is time that I go way, way deeper that it's. There's an entire world there that I can just stay there for days and days and just be like, whoa, this is amazing.

Who's to say that having a little house by the forest is wrong, right? You're you're here to experience the vastness of this human experience. And if it's in your cards, if it's in your deep desire to have more things, there's really nothing wrong with having more. But ask yourself, am I possessed by the things that I have? Because when you become possessed by the things that you have, you lose your sense of connection to what's.

What's what the journey of life is, is really for that sense of self realization. So, you know, I believe that as human beings, we're always desiring more, you know, we're, we, we can't just settle by just sitting here, like deep down innately. There's this desire for more, there's this desire to serve there's this desire to do more in a, in a different way. And it's, it's part of what we're here to do. We're here to perform our duties skillfully. And that's the question.

Are we performing our duties skillfully? And are we, um, practicing yoga and yoga stands for union. It's really about the union between the outer world and the inner world. So are we uniting every thought word in action with our own inner wisdom? And if the answer is yes, then have at it's like make a multimillions of dollars.

It's. Very beautiful to experience money in that form because money is the form of God or, or divinity or source or intelligence, whatever it is that you wanna say, it's just simply. You know, paper that's, that's printed out that has a meaning attached to it, but at the core of what it is, it's, it's pure energy and vibration. Just like you are just like, I am just like this microphone is.

And so it's okay for us to desire to have more, especially if you know, you are a spiritual teacher or you're a meditation teacher or a healer or someone that. Is here to, to do big work. And you're clear that the work that you're doing is, is here to shift or elevate, you know, human consciousness. I mean, I would love more money to come to you. mm-hmm , you know, I think the world would love more money to come to you because you're just going to distribute it.

And you're gonna be a, a better steward of it, and you're really gonna help to create a whole new, um, uh, consciousness of humanity and also a whole new experience of, of being human or being on earth. And you're gonna do it in such a conscious way. Mm-hmm . And so I think that's the challenge. There is again, just not putting ourselves in boxes or, or removing ourselves from being able to experience the prosperities of.

Because there's so much for us to experience and for, you know, some people, it might feel so perfect for them to just buy a house. In the woods or in the mountain somewhere and to disconnect from everything around them and completely be in meditation and to be in this zone all the time. I mean, you can practice meditation in action as you are a householder and do all these things.

And as you play your roles and that's really what I teach, but you can also be a monk and you can also be a Yogi that's in a Cape and you have that responsibility you're you are creating and ushering a new level of consci. Through the work that you're doing within your mountain house all by yourself. And so we all have this collective duty and responsibility, but the way that it's expressed is gonna look completely different to each and every person just like no tree is the same.

Just like no fingerprint is the same. Mm-hmm so I think that's, what's beautiful is that the divine place hide and go seek through different faces. So just like the divinity is within you. And within me, that's why we say Noma, stay. I pray to the divinity within you. Right. It, it please hide and go seek through all these different forms so that we can experience well, what is this evolution going to look like?

And that's so beautiful because no one has to be the same and we don't have to live in labels and it, there doesn't have to be rules.

And how do you communicate that and integrated with the people around you that perhaps are doing some of this perhaps, or not like, you know, how do you. Um, connect with the people or how can someone that is listening that perhaps is starting to do their own work and starting to realize, okay, like not everything around me, like it's the same and not everyone is understanding of this. How do you share that with, with people?

I think it's important on our own spiritual journey that we don't report every little thing that happens, like the way that we report this is what I'm eating on Instagram today. This is what I'm drinking. This is what I'm doing. Right. Mm-hmm and treat our, treat this very, very sacred. Experience in that way. But what I will say is when you're done.

You know, understanding your vision, uh, in, within the darkness and you're letting it marinate and completely integrate into your DNA at a cellular. And I say cellular level mm-hmm . Then you do have a responsibility to share it. Because people need to hear what it's like through your lens, right? And the way that this is shared, it's so important that it's not being shared in a way where you are imposing on other people. I tried this, this works for me.

Meditation is the best you should do it because you're just gonna experience complete, just deflection. And, um, people are not going to. want to listen to you. They're not gonna hear you. And then you're gonna think, well, I mean, I don't understand this changed my life, so it's gonna change yours. Mm-hmm and it just kind of gets you to experience a lot of friction in path. Yeah. So instead the way I think the most powerful way to share your spiritual journey is to be the example of it.

So when you show up in your life, how are you being the example of these integrations that you just received? When your partner is saying something to you and you immediately are being triggered by it, are you reacting? And when you know, uh, you are, I know, especially with females, females constantly are comparing themselves to one another, because again, it's part of our external programming and maybe men do it too. You're trying to one up the other person.

So when you have a friend and you're next to them, are you gonna continue comparing yourself with them? So the most powerful way to share some of these beautiful and sacred experiences is always to be the example. And you know, for me, that's why I, I recognize. I, I don't feel called to share the things that are happening right away. And I also, for some time made myself wrong for that.

But then I realized, wait a second, there's nothing more powerful than sharing through the example of, of who you are by just being in your own essence. And that speaks more volumes than anything your, your energy alone speaks louder than, Hey, look at this. This is what happened. Hey, you should try.

Like not, you know, what is my action? Not what is like for each of us. It's like, what's like what, from what I've learned from what I've heard, from what I know, like, what is it next for me? I'm not comparing it. I'm being okay with that. And as I said, like, for me, a lot of times it's. no, I'm, I'm just being me like, and that's, that's all that I need to do. And if someone ask me, then I'll share, this is what I do. This is what I've done.

That doesn't mean that that's going to work for everyone. Like that was me. That was my path. I'm being able to recognize that. I think that it's super powerful, especially in the world. that we we've been conditioned to have a lot of times like this, um, to be right or to, or to know. And then we get out of these polarizations and we get lot of these fights, whereas, you know, like it's okay. Like to someone believe that.

And for that one to believe that thing and for someone to neither, and it's like, you. Um, then okay. Now how do we navigate all of that within the society that actually we need to, to interact with one another. How do we bring all of that into balance? Because we are all different and we all believe different things and they are, they are all okay. yeah.

Versus if someone disagrees with you on something that you've recently discovered, and now you are just trying to convince them that they're wrong and I'm right. And that's not how you do it, or no, that doesn't make sense or your political party sucks. And mine's better. You know, I think that when you can sit in a room with someone who is nothing like you, who has nothing in common with you, at least on, in the human form, And has different belief systems than you.

And you can be like, Hmm, I might agree to disagree with this person, but I have so much love and respect and compassion for them. And it shows and that's okay. Like that's such a pure sign that you've matured and that you're ascending in terms of your own consciousness.

Yeah. And, and that they're willing to meet people at the level of consciousness that they're at, and you're not trying to say, you know, Hey, you're at a lower level of consciousness, come up here with me to this higher level of consci. I mean, that's just, that's kind of silly, right? Yeah.

Yeah. Um, I'm wondering some, if could share with our listeners, um, what is one resource like a book or podcast or a movie or something that you think that would be really helpful?

Uh, and that, that book just, it, it's such a beautiful embodiment of this ancient sacred lineage, but the way that it was. The way that it was put into this book for us to perceive and understand it in a conscious way. Um, I think that it was a gift, you know, that, that came to my teacher.

And, uh, and so, you know, he's really packed it up to, to be something that every person, no matter if you're a doctor or a leader or whatever, like can start learning some of these principles and apply it in their life. And it's really what served me to be where I am. so in terms of a movie, there's actually this really good new movie that just came out called soul. Have you watched that movie? Not

But the way that that movie highlights your purpose is, is very, um, it's just very in tuned to, to, to what really matters. So I would recommend watching that movie as well. Mm-hmm and then a Razor's edge is another really good movie. Uh, I think bill Murphy is the one that's in that movie and it's about this guy that leaves. You know, traditional habitual life and goes on the spiritual journey in India and, um, finds himself at a deeper level. So it's another great book as well, or a movie.

And if they could only know who they are, if they can know that, Hey, you are the creator, you are the architect of your own life. You define your destiny. Then they're free. They're free from the prison of their own minds. So you are so much more than you think you are. And, um, there's nothing wrong with you. You're not broken. There's no need for fixing. You're already whole, as you are.

So when the episode you see it, please comment on it and share your experience as well. So once again, Sandy, thank you very much for being here and we'll see everyone in the next episode. Bye bye.