You're about to hear a chat between myself and fellow podcast host, Liz Sever. Liz is living out her purpose of being present with people in times of transitions and often in very dark and scary times. She shares about her patterns and how she navigated them since taking the process. And towards the end, she shares a very tender and powerful moment. About an experience she had in the process. And let me just say that the fact that she shares this story and the way she shares this story.
Is a living expression of her own healing journey. Her own overcoming of patterns and her own journey to loving herself. This is not 1 to miss, and I hope you enjoy it. Welcome to Lu everyday radius. A podcast brought to you by the Hoffman Institute. My name is Sharon Moore, and I'm 1 of your hosts. And on this podcast we talked to hop graduates about how their courageous journey inward impacted their personal lives, but also, how it impacted their community and the world at large.
So tune in and listen in and hear how our graduates authentic selves how their love how their spirits are making a positive impact on our world today. In other words, get to know their loves everyday radius. Alright. Liz sever welcome to the show. Well, thank you, Sharon Moore. So glad to be here. We gotta use first and last name it sounds like. So miss Liz, the newest host of the podcast. I am so happy to have you on
the show. I'm so happy to be c hosting with you, and I'm so excited that people will get to know you in this season. So welcome to the podcast and welcome to the show today. Yeah. Thank you. I am beyond excited to be joining you and Drew on the podcast, and I love you dearly. I'm just excited to kinda get a go on this journey with both of you? Well, let's start with this. When did you take the Hoffman process? I took the process about 5 years ago, I'd say now.
And what was it that was going on in your life that got you to come to the process? It's a good question, But it's 1 that I don't think at the time I have the words for, and I think now having done the process. I'm able to go back and sort of really understand actually. What was going on in life and what was drawing me, but at the time, it was just this deep sense of loss of self. I didn't quite know what direction to go and, like, I just almost had this visceral feeling of
waves crashing over me. I couldn't quite catch my breath. I couldn't quite get ahead of anything. And I think looking looking back now, knowing what I know now, it was just this deep sense of who am I and not knowing how to answer that. Well, I think it's funny You say who am III think that is a question that is scary to admit that you have. Even though it's a question that almost all of us have on occasion. So how did you go from who am I to finding the process?
Funny that you should funny that you should ask that because at the time, I was living in a small town in Texas, and I had never heard of the process. Not not 1 Iota had I heard of it. You know, it just shows speaks to how the dark times in my life. I was looking for a retreat. Right? I was looking for an escape. I was looking for something. I knew I wanted it to be a week. I knew I wanted to kinda get away from things.
And, I laugh because there is a time in the process where we, as, students stand up and say, I heard about the process. And I remember I said I heard about the process from Google. And, you know, 5 years ago, we didn't quite have the media and the publicity that we've had now. And so I I remember waking up 1 morning after a late night, you know, Google search and opening my computer, and I was on, like, tab 5 or 6 of Google.
And there was the Hoffman process. And so, you know, that morning, I'm like, oh, this again, I gotta find that retreat. So I click on hoffman, and I just... I was immediately drawn to it. And I was sort of at desperation level because right, I was on page 6 and still hadn't found anything. And so I think part of me, and again, now I I I've really believe it
was Spirit led signed up. And I and I laugh because I remembered James, the enrollment counselor kinda had to... I was 1 of those difficult students had to call and be like, hey. What about your homework? And I'm, like, yeah, Dude, what about my homework? Like, I'm paid. I'm coming. And then you kept calling me was like, no. Like, you have to do your homework and I'm like, cheese. Alright. Let's see what this is all about. And I opened up the homework, and I was, like, excuse me.
What is this? And I called them, and I'm, like, I thought we were doing some relaxation, maybe a little yoga, some green juice somewhere in there, but I'm, like, Oh, you want to know these questions about me. And at this point, it was, again, I had procrastinate so far that it was like you gotta go liz with time
for work is off homework is due. And I think again, it all happened so spirit led because III had literally no idea what I was walking into what I had signed up for, I just was rolling with the punches. I on occasion do have students that are like, I had no idea I thought I was gonna be laying by the pool for a week and just kind of being in silence. And I I find that hilarious. Spirit led, I've heard you say that several times. What does that mean?
Well, again, looking back, I I can kind of say that I... A lot of my life has been spirit led. At the time, I didn't have the v vocabulary. I didn't have the understanding of that was what was going on. But Spirit led to me has just morph into this beautiful sort of surrender to life. This way of of tapping into the deepest knowing of my inner being and and trusting and allowing that to take for. I haven't always understood it in that way, but it is something that looking back people
ask. Why did you do that? You know, when and I'm like Don't know? And looking back and I'm like, oh, it was spirit led, but I just didn't quite have the vocabulary even the understanding of what that meant. And so how do you keep that channel open in your life today? So many ways. It is it is something that is I'm constantly
working at. I'm constantly fostering that relationship between myself and Spirit, and I think Hoffman and all of the tools that we learn really gave me the ability to to get to know her, get to know sort of these inner depths of myself, and personally, a big practice of mind is journal. It is just sort of my way to tap into the flow of life and what is going on inside this sometimes this chaotic crazy head of mine. Is there a a time or an event where, you know, you... You've brought this concept
of at the time? I didn't have the vocabulary or the skill? Is there now a moment where you could share with us where you you could literally c oh, old me would have done this. But now as I'm tapped into spirit or I have surrendered to life, this is what I did. Sure. I I feel that it's maybe hard to articulate 1, but I think that learning about patterns at the process and an understanding, weird. As I understand my patterns deeper. I
understand myself better. I have some patterns or tendencies right, to over analyze or to wanna isolate or pull back or have this mentality of, not being able too... I gotta do it myself. I can't ask for help. I can't reach out. And so I think that those are some old, just some dark side programming. Those are some some old, but yet deeply rooted patterns. And I find myself present day really able to tap into my inner resilience, my inner resources as well
as ask for help. And so I think they're... I have just noticed a shift in and everything. So it's hard to name a a specific event, but it's just more of this general sense of, I know myself better and I know when I need to ask for help. So from the pattern of I got this, I'm doing it myself. I'm fiercely independent too. This is 1 of those moments where I I need to ask for help, and I'm gonna do it. Totally,
a little backstory. I grew up overseas and that was a beautiful, wonderful life, but it it came with a lot of upheaval. It came with a lot of moving. It came with a lot of loss. And not to be dramatic. But, you know, I I was I was young, and every few years we'd move. I was really good at being the new girl. I was really good at having best friends and then losing them, having homes and then
not returning back to them. And so, you know, knowing what I know now, patterns developed, and I think this fiercely independent concept was something that I knew I was, but it I felt like it came from this place of I have to. It was you know, kind of had these beliefs attached to it. No 1 else is gonna help me. Not this this again. Like, this fiercely independent almost, I felt, like, at times felt as though it was this something this that I had to carry on my back
of, like I gotta do it myself. And through my work at the process and years after, I realized that I am fiercely independent, and I own it in a different way. It is now I like to say a quality of my spirit. That I'm am independent. I'm resilient, and it just comes with this openness knowing that yes, I'm fiercely independent. I know I got this. But I choose that, and I can also ask for help. So I look at it. It's like, fiercely independent in this pattern way versus
now. I'm fiercely an independent in the spirit driven spirit led way. This is why I love I love being a hoffman teacher, and I I love seeing the work continued to do its thing in time. You said you took the pattern 5 years ago, but this is something it sounds like that continues to get develop that you continue to hone in on. And, you know, we always tell our students that, give this some time. The path...
The the process take some time to really do its work, and I think you just encompass that beautifully. We tell our students, and I always make such a point to tell my students that very thing because I remember coming out of the process and buzzing, and I have a video of when I was driving out of white sulfur springs, and I remember thinking the colors were so bright. Like, this is this is the new me. This is life. I see things differently.
And yes, that was true, and I was able to keep that sort of inner connection and that view that vantage point for quite some time, but it did start to wear off with time. However, I would say solid year, year and a half after I did the process, there was something in me that just felt different. And I still can't put words to it. But
that is how I know. I I remember thinking, oh, I'm not handling that situation as I would have thought I would have, or you know, oh, I'm actually speaking so much kinder to myself than I ever had before. And it was... It's little things like that that I've noticed have really marinated and that time that year especially post process
I always tell my students too. It's things are happening on such a neurological cellular level that you're gonna wake up 1 day or something's gonna happen, and it's just the new you. You you don't recognize this because you're, like, I'm handling this so differently than I had pre process. Yeah. I had that too. For me, a big thing was was just the teacher training
as well. I mean, the process was magical, it did wonders for me, which is why I ended up being a teacher because I loved it so much, and I believed in it so deeply. But Mike, I grew even more, believe it or not during the the teacher training. Have you had a similar experience? Well, of course. I mean, it's it's hard. It it was teacher training was 1 of those lifetime experiences that I had several moments of, like, What
am I doing? I'm throwing myself back into this, you know, into the den again, but it was definitely the learnings and the Yeah. The the experiences of having to to look at some of the most painful places. Inside of myself, some of the deepest patterns, the deepest beliefs that I that I had about myself and confront them over and over and over again. So, yeah, teacher training was a wild ride.
What would you say if there is that either not be an answer to this, but is there a moment in the process that you could pinpoint, oh, this is a really powerful magical pivotal moment when I look back at the process. Yeah. So many. It's like, they're swirling in my head right now, so many. I have 2. So I I think kind of carrying on with this this belief or this fiercely independent
nature that I had. I remember a visualization and getting a really distinct vivid image of my younger self sitting inside of a house that was on fire. So I'm in this burning building. And people are outside of the building I myself as my spiritual self and adult self are also outside of this. And I just remember my younger self saying, no. It's too dangerous.
Go on. Don't worry about me, you know, people were trying kind of come in and rescue, and I just had this sense of this is what I've been doing my whole life. I've been pushing people away. I've been creating walls and barricades to kinda keep myself safe. Right? But yet here the buildings on fire. I'm I'm not safe. And I I just was overcome with the sense of I have to go save myself. This beautiful, wonderful innocent child of mine, I have to go and and be with her, and that was terrifying,
but so necessary. Do you feel like messages come to you in the form of images so this is an incredible image that gave you boom went straight into the depth of what you needed to hear. Is that how insights come to? Is that how your spirit communicates with you? Imagery? Oh, my spirit just chat. We get we get it. We we get it in all things, you know, images, messages, words. Yeah. I... A little bit of everything.
And I think the funny thing is as Hoffman, anytime I'm at Hoffman and really was impactful when I was at White sulphur Springs. Because I think that was just sort of my my home base when we were still teaching there, but even now fast forward to when I go into teach a across s. Spirit really does speak to me in images and little videos or, you know, scenes vi. I think there's just something about when I'm
they're teaching. I I am that much more connected on such a deep level to the grounds to you know the students to the teaching staff that spirits like, alright. It's movie time. Interesting. So movie time meaning, It's gonna just give you, like, a reel of images which is the
downloads basically. Yeah. Basically. Yeah. It's, yeah. Downloads of, yeah, videos, and just, yeah, very very vivid images, and I find that again, because of some of the deep experiences I had with visualizations at the process that has continued to be a very vivid modality for me post process. Beautiful. Yeah. I couldn't help, but but but see that this is obviously a powerful way that you get insights from your spirit. You were able to see an image of a burning building and equate that to the
message of oh my god. I've been pushing people away. Oh my god. I need to save myself. Oh my god These walls are not working because the house is on fire. Like, you were really able to see the meaning you were really able to get the message from the image. So you said there were 2. So so 1 was seeing this image in a visualization. Oh, the second 1, I still... It it makes me teary eyed still.
And it still makes me teary when I teach it, but there is a a moment or, you know, a a day in which we talk about vin. And that was a concept that I had heard of and you know, to some extent thought, sure. I'm vin towards myself, but, you know, I I don't know if I'm vin towards others. I don't know if I would associate with that. And so we explored addictive a little bit further, and we had a visualization another spirit. We had some experiences and then another visualization.
This isn't something that I talk about often, but I I was a victim of sexual assault when I was in... I was about 18. It changed my life. Friday, it it was the 1 of the most defining moments in my life. Ever since then I was filled with this immense, Sense of deep shame and self hate, self loa. I didn't tell anybody. People ask questions, horrible questions of victims, and that it was... I just didn't tell anybody. And I I did all the things that I thought I was
supposed to do. So my parents were still living abroad, and I Here I was kind of this 18 year old on my own, and this trauma just sort of fell in my lap. And I did all the things that I I thought I was supposed to do. I went to talk therapy. I thought I worked through it. And what I realized is that I just pushed it away, and I had gotten so good at that compartment minimizing, I had gotten so good at forgetting parts of my life.
Just from always being on the move that I pushed this so far down that I didn't even think it was an issue. Right? I I just... I changed schools. III changed... Degrees or majors. I changed friends. I changed everything. I changed locations, and that's a whole another story, but I pushed this part, this this act, the thing so deep down that I just didn't even think it was a thing. In fact, I didn't even write about it in my
homework. My teacher at the time didn't even know about it because I thought this is not a problem anymore. I've done the therapy I've talked about it. And vin came, and she had even said, you know, how to helped me think of, you know, my partner at the time. Let's let's... Let's are... Is there any even addictive there? And I'm like, no. And so as I was having this experience and this visualization of vin? It just overwhelmed me sort of this deepest
darkest part of me came out. And I realized I had also been suppressing that. And there was a moment in the visualization where you imagine this person or or people a group of people as babies. And you then imagine placing that baby, right that innocent soul into right into the center of the adults that they've become and visualize releasing it, letting it go.
And I just was sobbing beside myself because it was the first time that I allowed myself to to go there and to really even confront it and allow myself to begin to let it go. So that is my other sort of really defining very vivid memory in the process. And what an embodiment of you and your growth and your evolution. To be here in this moment on this podcast and share the way you just did, We talk about moments where you see the shift. This is 1 of them.
Going from, like you said, push so far down that you don't even acknowledge that it's a thing to having this pivotal moment in the process, to being able to talk about it with grace and with ease right now. That's it's taken a lot of work, but it is something that... The the process, like I said really gave me the understanding of, you know, this this defining moment in my life. I turned all of my anger. I turned all of my
my hate, my confusion in on myself. And so looking back to kind of bringing it back to, like, what brought you to the process. I think all of that accumulated in just this. I was losing myself. I was drifting away. I I was not tapped into life. I was so... Numb out, zoned out. I, you know, I resorted to work. I resorted to all of these other things in my life that I could control. And I just thought let's not think about that. You know, I was never 1 to wanna say, you
talking about call it your memories. I was like, oh, yeah I was okay. You know? I just... I didn't wanna go there, and I was damn good at that. You know, I was I was really good at just not even allowing my mind to go there, and I think I had been... I was terrified of opening that that door again. And so realizing that all of that shame that self loa self hate self blame Right? That I I turned it on myself from from that. And I was able to finally say, like, that
is not mine to carry. In the process, I hardly had to forgive myself for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. There was this sense of I just blamed myself. Day in day out for existing for being, you know, and I was when I was able to say, I did absolutely nothing wrong, and I could believe that, the doors blew open to this world of wait. That's not mine to carry. And then I just sort of
things just started flooding my way. Right? Things that I needed to heal and work on as well, but also possibilities and understanding that the understanding first that I had this belief that I was if I was to blame and then letting that go and having compassion for myself and loving myself Because then if I could love myself, I could love others. Right? And then that connection, all of the walls could come down. And you're not
going to be living overseas with parents. You're building your own life, and and these are relationships that you do want to be open to and you do wanna have connection to and and this is what it took.
I'm so moved by this This image of this young adult whose parents don't live in the country who already has had a life that taught her to be fiercely independent, get shit done, all those lovely compartment commercialization, all those things that came as a result of your childhood and then this trauma. And then your... I don't know if it was your intellect, but I did what I needed to do. IIII can see this person's like, okay, this happened. Here's what I need to do. Check check check.
And then at the process, realizing, oh, there's still so much that needs to be addressed and I have the courage to go there and you did. Yeah. And I and I think that I realized that so much of the pain and my life, so much of the disconnection. So much of that was stemming from this wound that needed to be looked at that needed to be held that needed to be loved and it was this little girl. You know trauma does incredible things. Right? I mean, it... There is a part that it protects you to some
degree. Right? I forget. I... And so I think having the courage to sit with it and say, let's... Open that. Let's look at that was pivotal for me. You overcoming this blame and shame. Doing that having that moment and then being here and speaking about it has an impact on you obviously as we hear, but also a hugely positive impact for others who are going to listen and hear and be in the presence of your courage and your healing.
Yeah. I hope, you know, and I think part of what drew me to wanna be a hoffman teacher is just this... You know, thinking I want others to know that they can heal that they can sort of go to the darkest depths of themselves. The places they don't wanna look. The places they're scared of, and you can overcome that, for me, it comes down to this learning about self love and self compassion. It wasn't something that I would say that I...
Practice, though I knew much that I had an an intimate experience with before the process. And so being able to sort of sit with people in their darkest moments, their darkest times and say, I don't know how we're gonna get through this, but I know we're gonna get through this is incredibly moving, and I think if people can learn to overcome and love themselves. It opens more room to love others. And then, you know, the world person
by person, right? As as Liza and Ras love to say, but the world becomes a better place. Case in point, you. You've experienced it single handedly it's a personal story. And you talked about healing others and and being with others and in in dark moments, and I couldn't help but think about the work you do outside of hoffman. Tell us about what you do outside of your work with Hoffman because this is a
thread for you. You love to be with people and help them and bring them to healing in a time of transformation. So tell us what you do outside of Hoffman. I guess I I guess I do. You know, it's... I didn't I don't always think of the parallels there, but it's very true. Outside Hoffman, I am a, speech therapist to speech language pathologist is, I guess, another word for it, and I work in the acute care setting. So in the hospital setting, and I work mainly with neurological
patients. So patients after stroke or after brain injury, more recently with Covid and everything patients after respiratory failure. You know, I'm there to evaluate, sort of yeah. Just like we said, moments after the most tragic thing in their lives has happened. It's sort of, I'm there to see. Can you talk? Can you think, what is your cognition like, what is your language like? Can you eat? Can you swallow can you breathe these kinds
of things? And so, I have been doing that for over a decade and just allowing as my my work at Hoffman has really even allowed me to... I think be with my patience in a different way. But there is something I find incredibly powerful and sacred. About being able to just walk into someone's room, you know, and half the time, they're not even sure what's happened
to them Right? And so just just kind of be there and be fully fully present to another human and the moment that they need that support that love the unconditional presence most. All I'm thinking right now is that anybody who is a patient of yours or a student of yours is so lucky. You are somebody who who does the work yourself and who is committed to... Like you said, I love how you said it's powerful. It's sacred, and I am fully fully present with them, and we're talking about basics can you
swallow? Can you eat? Can you talk and you're right there all present? Will we'd have to ask on the former students former patients. Because I push. You know, I I'd push but I'd push from love. I'd push from this place of, you know, honest, believe in just this radical transparency and honesty, and it's like, you know, let's go there. What's what's going on or, you know, for patients like, what what was life like before? What
what are you feeling right now? But I I hope that they'd feel that, but I suppose we'd have to get some firsthand accounts. Yeah. But but but teachers and doctors and healer. Pushing is part of it. You you you know this from both of your lines of work. And that makes us love those people think about your moment when you are in the the visualization that you spoke of, It was a teacher who encouraged you to to reevaluate who you should think about. Right? That's pushing.
That's pushing in the right direction. So spoke You'd like you said. It's pushing out of love. Pushing out a left. Totally, pushing out of love and kind of commitment and vision of what's on the other side for you. Let's go. Let's do this. Liz, what a beautiful soul I am so like I said, just happy for pass. And present in future people who get to cross
paths with you. And I'm so happy for me that you are 1 of our c hosts will be able to bring beautiful things out of all the people we feature in our podcast. Thank you so much. I've I've enjoyed it. And I I've... As well I can't wait for... For what's ahead for the future. Yeah. Me too. Thank you so much for being here, and more soon, we'll see you all next week. Thank you for listening to our podcast. My name is Liza and Grass. I'm the Ceo
and President of Hoffman Institute Foundation. And I'm Asking Rossi. Often teacher and founder of the Hop institute Foundation. Our mission is to provide people greater access, to the wisdom and power of love. In themselves in each other and in the world. To find out more, please go to Hop institute. To dot org.