Transcript

Ani
Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Somatic Coaching Academy podcast. Hey, Brian.

Brian
Hey Ani.

Ani
So glad to see you and have Janice. Janice Grodsky joining us. Hey, Janice. Hey, Janice. Welcome to the Faculty Lounge.

Janice
Hi, friends.

Ani
It’s so good to see you here. Janice is our actual faculty. Janice is an assistant in the Somatic Coach Professional program. She helps us with the Sensation-based motivation coaching. Janice, one of my favorite things that you do is provide what we call the quintessential sensation-based motivation coach experience for people because Janice is really like a stickler – sticking with a process. It’s one of the things that I love so much about you. I love having you in that program. She’s our assistant there, and she also does some of our calls for people who are interested in to have a call and do a where they want to have a quintessential somatic coach training. I’m sorry, a sensation-based motivation coaching experience. They have that with Janice. We are so excited to have you in the faculty lounge.

Brian
Janice is the glue of that program, really. I mean, so many times, Ani and I can be running around with our hair on fire. Well, maybe you more with your hair on fire than me. My head’s on fire. Just, there’s so many different things we’re managing and doing within that program and with the other programs that we run, too. Janice is just the glue of that program in so many amazing ways. Janice, I just want to thank you so much. I’ve tried to thank you as much as I possibly can in other ways. I just want to say it here again, how important you are to provide what Ani is saying, that experience for the students. It’s so wonderful every year to see how much the students value you in each cohort and do a fun little appreciation things for you at the end of the program. It’s really super fun to see that.

Ani
What did the students call you last year in the cohort?

Janice
They called me their spirit animal.

Brian
That’s right, Janice was their spirit animal last year. Oh, that’s right. That was so good. Everyone needed a Janice spirit animal or something.

Janice
Yeah, something, hashtag something like that.

Ani
Yeah, right? They pulled out T-shirts that said something about more Janice.

Brian
Yeah. Everybody goes to Janice. It’s like, they have a problem. Janice is always to support people. I’m just so appreciative of that. That program would not be what it is without you, Janice. It’s so really important.

Ani
We love having you, Janice.

Janice
Thank you. I love being part of our team. It means so much to me, and it really feels like home.

Ani
It feels like home having you there. You make it homey. Speaking of home, today we’re going to be talking about saying yes to growth during big life transitions. And that’s why we invited Janice to be on this episode in the faculty lounge to talk about that, because there’s a lot of life transitions that people go through. The life transition that you went through when you became a student was so profound. I think for both, Brian and I, it just really, really touched our hearts to know that you said yes to yourself and continue to, and continue to watch you say yes to yourself. But let’s back up so that everybody can be on the same page with us. I don’t remember what year it is. Janice had contacted us. Janice, I think the first time we actually did some work together, you were referred by a friend because you had a frozen shoulder and you did some cross-mapping with us. Is that right?

Janice
That’s right. I was referred by Julie, and I had frozen shoulder and gone through the medical system, and it was really invasive, and it didn’t work. I didn’t have full mobility. Julie was like, “Hey, I have friends”, and she directed me to you, and I got the video that Brian had out for physical cross-mapping, and it worked. I was in. In from then on.

Ani
I love that story because the cross-mapping method is so powerful for physical stuff like frozen shoulder. And that was exactly how you opened the door with us. And then we hosted a live event that for you was a flight across the country in 2019. And for whatever reason, and I’m interested to know why you chose to make that. That’s a big leap to fly across the country and see us live and in person. What was going on in your mind about that?

Janice
It was a big deal. It really was a big deal. And so prior to that, I’m not sure if it was 2017 or 2018, we did Our Soul’s Agenda. We did Finding My Soul’s Agenda together. That’s right. And then I knew that I needed even more Ani and Brian. And where I was at the time to make the trip I had been caring for my mom, and it came up. And of course, I wanted more, and I didn’t even think it was possible. I’m not a big traveler. So the whole thing was like, across the country, it must be thousands of dollars, and the hotel must be thousands of dollars. I mean, really, I’m not a traveler. And I just thought that even the whole financial piece was just out of my scope. When I actually made the decision to look it up after getting care and coverage for my mom, I found out that I had been living… This travel story is not really true. I had made things like I had thought traveling anywhere was just really out of the realm because I wasn’t working. I had very limited income at the time.

Janice
Once I realized that it was actually doable and affordable, I needed it for myself, and it was fantastic.

Ani
I don’t think it really hit me before. What a big deal that was for you. Now that I know you so much better, and I know that you’re not somebody to just hop on a plane, I didn’t know you that well at the time to know that that was such a big deal. But it wasn’t just the fact that it was hopping on a plane. Were caretaking for your mom. Give us a little background story about what life looked like for you at home.

Janice
Okay. At home, so I had just recently left Arizona, left my husband, and moved back home here to California. We were separated and most likely divorcing. So I moved in with my mom. And over the next couple of years, I realized that my mom’s health and well-being and ability to be alone were not feasible. And the unexpected role of being her caregiver is what my life became. My ex-husband now moved out to California as well. We co-parented our son. I took on a lot of the parent role stuff as well. I was really caring for about three full human beings full-time. It was two because I really didn’t have space and room to care for myself.

Ani
How old was Jack at that time, your son?

Janice
Jack was- let’s see. When we moved here, he was 10, in sixth grade. When my mom’s health started to decline, he had just started high school, and she passed during his senior year.

Ani
During his senior year, yeah. That’s a full house. And boy, teenagers require so much mental, and emotional attention, and with the divorce, and the move, and your mom. I mean, that’s a lot. So I can imagine you needed a few days to yourself to come visit us in Burlington for that live event.

Janice
Yes, absolutely. The fact that I had set up where a friend would meet me, and then we had a little vacation time afterward was like a cherry on top and then got to meet some really incredible people actually at the event who, of course, at the time, I didn’t know would then come back into my life and who are now a big part of my life. It was really the beginning of finding my peeps, finding my tribe, finding my like-minded people who I really want to spend my time, my career, my life being around.

Brian
Yeah, actually, I’m having some fond memories of that event, actually. I remember, Janice, I didn’t know really your story at all at the event, not to the degree that I do even today, hearing more about what your life was like before. I wouldn’t have guessed that. In a lot of ways, you showed up to the event and you were so enthusiastic. I remember you taking Burlington by storm. You were just like, This is an amazing place, and you were going out to lunch with people. This restaurant. Setting up this restaurant and that restaurant. You were just such a bright light in the room in a lot of ways. Just these light bulbs going off and a lot of the questions. I know you love to use that little brain-exploding emoji as one of your favorite emojis. It’s like that was just happening in the room the whole time. It was just so engaging to have you right there at the front table for that event. I remember it well. It was just an amazing event. When are we going to do that again? We have to have Janice be a part of that.

Janice
Yes.

Ani
I love hearing Janice talk about how you didn’t know it at the time, but you were surrounded by people who were going to become your closest community members.

Ani
I’m thinking back because there were people in that room who were already somatic coaches who were trained by us. There were people in that room who were going to go through the next cohort with you. There were people in that room who weren’t going to go through the cohort for another year or two, as I think back. It was such a special time to be in that community. It’s a conversation that I remember having with you because you were thinking about whether or not you were going to come get certified with us. I just had this, once in a while, I just had this… For once in a while, I just get a super hunch. I had this super hunch that the community was the biggest deal. Did you know at that point when you were in Burlington with us that your mom was going to be passing, Janice?

Janice
I didn’t. That was early in 2019. Actually, after I came back in the next month or two, is when really there was a big decline. Then around July, I found a hospice company, and we put her on hospice. And it was during that time that really was a pivot turning point in my life, my own life.

Ani
Setting up this scenario, it could sound crazy that you would move forward in growth during this time. People have health challenges. People have family challenges like you had. People have job challenges. People have home challenges. They have to move and these things. And oftentimes, what can happen is people say no to growth during a transition. They put the brakes on because they think it’s going to be too overwhelming or it’s going to be too much or any of that. Back in the room with us in Burlington, as you were considering joining the certification program, did you have some of those thoughts on your mind?

Janice
Oh, absolutely. First of all, not having any career idea for myself of what I was doing. I had been doing some energy medicine and things that have been part of my life. I was doing a little art. That’s part of my past as well. But I really wasn’t thinking fully about myself because I didn’t know my mom’s time. And then also Jack’s senior year was coming, and all the things. He was also an elite athlete. So he had his water polo season and potentially a swim season if he was going to make that decision, other things, prom, graduation, all of those things in the mix. I also knew that there would be an after.

Ani
Yeah. Right.

Janice
I knew that the program was something that I wanted to do for sure. Really, it was just the idea of when. Every time I share this part of the story is when I get choked up because it was, I think, not only the most pivotal decision that I made for my own personal self in my life, I’ve made a lot of other decisions that involved other people, but this was fully about myself, is, Ani, the conversation that we had together and the way that you guided the conversation and held me, it was really like, we know the academy is going to be here. The program is going to be here for you any any time. The question that you asked me was not about, first of all, not about selling the program. There was nothing about selling a program, which is unlike other folks out there in the world. I’ll say it that way. Our conversation was really about, When did I want to begin my future? Want to start it now or did I want to start it after? And, Ani, we’ve talked about this many times that we both knew somehow that during the program if I joined at this time, my mom would pass during this program.

Janice
We just had that connection of knowing. And I think one of the most important parts of that is we didn’t know when, what it would look like. We just knew it would be okay. I knew that if I joined the program, even if I had to stop for some reason, then it would still be okay because we would work it out. That’s how I felt. And the question was, do you want to start now and be ready for after, or do you want to get ready after? And when it was put to me that way, and again, with the way that you just held me and loved me, at that point, I already knew. We just had this connection, I made the decision for now because it was scary. And I think it also… Knowing the community, from what I felt in Burlington and Brian, we had even a very special moment in Burlington where you changed my life by giving me that simple answer, I looked at your face and said, Well, what do I do? I want to be different because I was having a big struggle in helping my mom. I was not my best person.

Janice
You looked at my face and you said, You make a decision and you run with it, something like that. I didn’t even know that life decisions could be that easy. I know I’m going back forth between these two different time frames, but really making that decision and knowing with both of you on my side and the community that I didn’t know yet that would be there, but I knew a community would be there, gave me what I didn’t have here in my home and in my family as far as support.

Ani
We talk about this all the time, Janice, in class, about it’s that decision point that we help people to get to. It’s not whether they say yes or no, whether we’re their prospective clients or their current clients who were helping to make powerful decisions in their lives. It’s not about the yes or the no. It’s helping somebody to come to a decision. And that’s what we were able to help you do. And then for you, you embraced that decision and were able to really fall into…It feels a little bit like a safety net thing, like falling into our arms, the community’s arms, around being able to then let go and think and create for yourself with that new vision and all of this stuff that went along with it. You did that, to be able to let go and then be able to do that all at the same time, to have things that were dying away and have the new growth. It was just so remarkable. Yeah.

Brian
You know what makes me, what I’m thinking of right now is we have a tenet as a part of our organization, like one of our values. Yeah, values. The value is ‘we got you’. And, Janice, I have to say that I so appreciate you taking that step to trust Ani and me with that value of ‘we got you’. And it’s so rewarding for me now to know that you epitomize that. You do. Our community, that value is like, oozes from you so much that when people come into the program and you’re acting as the assistant for the Somatic Coach Pro Training program, you got them. And then they feel that from you. And that ‘we got you’ principle, I think in a lot of ways has evolved and revolved around you being so important in our lives and being a part of our community. And I’m just here having that reflected back to how important that was for you to have that value of ‘we got you’ shared with you. You epitomize it for everything that we do in this work.

Ani
Do you feel like you were able to really embody that through the course of your relationship role model through us? Because you do, you epitomize that now as a value for us with the students.

Janice
Yes, absolutely. Really, it’s a part of me that has been hidden deep down. It’s really caring for people, taking care of and caring for, holding space for, being there for all of those things in this space that we’re talking about is such a huge part of who I am naturally, that in the past, I wasn’t able to express. I did as a mom, but that’s a lane also. And then it really began to grow when I was caring for my mother because it just gave me the grit part of what we need sometimes. And then also just allowed me to just have the freedom to be me. I get to show up in the academy as myself. I get to show up on every call. I don’t have to try to pretend to be a mini Ani or a mini Brian. I am Janice wholly.

Ani
It’s wonderful. I do love that, too. All of our faculty get to show up and be wholly themselves. We’re not trying to make, thank God, mini-Anis and Brians. As the faculty continues to grow, the enrichment of that for the community and who each of us gets to model and shine for each of the students and the different aspects that they are developing within themselves is so beautiful. So let’s go ahead and talk a little bit about the transitions that happened. And then from there, what was able to blossom for you? Because your mom did pass and Jack did graduate, and you also had a transition around the house, too, Janice. There was a lot of transition that happened. Am I missing anything?

Janice
There was a lot. Yeah, there was a lot. Well, and COVID started. Oh, truly. Yeah, right. Yeah. That little thing that happened. A little blip. Yeah. My mom passed away a couple of months after we started the program. In the fall of 2019, and then, of course, Jack graduated because schools closed down. Basically, school ended around March, and then we didn’t know what was going to happen. And then June was actually his graduation time, and we had finished the academy all of this one time. And there was also some turmoil in my life after my mom’s passing. So it was a lot. It was a lot.

Ani
Yeah. And you navigated those challenges, and you had community and fast forwarding, you’ve created a new career for yourself and you’ve redefined yourself. One of my favorite things is hearing you say that you feel like you’re doing what you’re meant to do with the people you’re meant to do it with.

Janice
Yes, absolutely. I have had businesses in the past. Basically, I’ve been an entrepreneur my whole life. I’ve had other successful businesses and very different than what I’m doing now and all meaningful and helpful in their own ways. Also, creating this coaching business the way that I have built it with the tools from the academy, with my energy medicine background, and of course, growing my energy medicine background through the academy as well, has given me freedom and a way to help people that, first of all, I never knew was possible before. From personal experience, this is not even just from my clients, right? From personal experience of the internal transformation, the understanding that the change really starts with our body. I am a person who I am in my head so much, and I never knew how much I was in my head and not in my body until learning so much. Also knowing really how important it is. My clients have had major transformations. Part of my giddyness of my business is getting to witness that. I love working with individuals and then also with groups in my business. The one-on-one that I love and then the community that I love.

Ani
I love hearing about your client case studies. You have some really cool ones that might be fun for another faculty lounge someday.

Brian
What I’m curious about, Janice, is you had all these transitions that were going on during that time, right? With your mom passing and Jack graduating and house transitions, how was being a part of the certification program, how was that supportive to being in those transitions? Do you have some specific ideas or are there examples of how it was supportive to be in the program?

Janice
Oh, gosh, Brian. Well, first of all, I knew that no matter what, every Thursday, I could show up no matter what I was feeling or what was happening or what had just happened, I could show up and I would be fully accepted and supported. That in and of itself made one of the biggest differences for me. So knowing that I had a place to be once a week for sure when everything else was so chaotic and uncertain and unscripted and not reliable. The community and each of you, so the two of you together, and then each of you individually as well, just really supported me in a way that I don’t know that I ever will be able to express gratitude for.

Ani
It’s a really interesting point, Janice, about the stability within the chaos. It reminds me of the Yin-Yang that we teach over and over again for different reasons, and the predictability of having a place to show up and learn and even focus on what’s not going on, focus on me and focus on my growth and stuff, and that predictability within the unscripted, so beautifully said, chaos. I think that is a way that you, whether you knew it or not, brought intentional balance that allowed the transformations to go more smoothly.

Brian
Yeah. That was going to be my follow-up question, too, is, Janice, what do you think that year would have been like if you said no to the program?

Janice
Oh, my gosh. Talk about recognizing your sensations. My heart center just contracted. I would have been so completely alone and lost. I don’t even want to think about it.

Brian
Enough said.

Janice
Yeah.

Ani
I remember thinking about that for you and looking ahead a little bit and thinking about what would happen. This is what I want to say. You are such a family person, and you were such a family person. And the family was this anchor in your life. It’s such a big deal. And then having those transitions and not having that anchor, I was concerned you were going to become untethered.

Janice
For sure. Because going through everything that I did, separating from my husband, getting divorced, family issues that came up through my mom’s transition and passing, and then COVID, everything was separated. Actually, even prior to coming here and taking care of my mom, I just wanted to be free. I wanted to be out. I had felt for a very, very long time that I was stuck and I was trapped and I was in a place of where… A situation I didn’t want to be in and I had to do things for other people. I love doing things for other people, but not to the exclusion of myself. There has to be something in it for me.

Ani
Yeah.

Janice
And I say that now, I’m laughing about it. However, it’s really important for us to put ourselves first. And I didn’t know a single thing about that prior to the academy either, by the way.

Ani
So let’s just go there for a second. There are lots of people listening to this who are resonating with your story and loving to take care of people or do things for other people, but also not wanting it to be at the expense of themselves, but also feeling like it’s at the expense of themselves. Do you have any advice for those people or what would you tell your younger self, too? You could frame it like that. If other people are finding themselves in that situation where it doesn’t feel like you can see your way out of it, but you know there’s got to be a better way.

Janice
It can be an ‘And’. It doesn’t have to be an ‘Or’. It didn’t have to be, I took care of other people or myself. It could have been an ‘and’. ‘And’ is actually my favorite word. I would say if you’re able to be curious, be curious. If you’re able to be kinder to yourself, be kind to yourself. If you have a desire to feel differently in your body, in your mind, in your spirit, choose you.

Ani
And that will make you whole, right, Janice?

Janice
And that will make you whole.

Ani
Beautiful. So good.

Brian
Janice. Janice, I would love that. That’s a great finish right there. It’s just amazing.

Ani
It’s so good. Janice, I’ve loved having you in the faculty lounge. It’s so wonderful. Every time we get to spend together is so wonderful. The more time Janice and I spend together, actually, the more our brains meld. Janice and I both sent each other a text about the same exact thing at the same exact time yesterday.

Janice
Sure did.

Ani
I love you so much, Janice. Thank you so much. Thanks for being here, Janice. Yeah, and for being a part of the academy.

Janice
Thank you so much for having me, I love you both so much, and I look forward to more time together. Yeah.

Brian
And the next cohort.

Ani
That’s right in the next cohort, which is coming soon.

Ani
If you’re listening, I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Faculty Lounge with us. We hope that it touched your heart because that’s what Janice is really great at, is touching hearts. I hope it inspired you also to know that there is an ‘and’. There is an ‘and’ for you when you’re going through transition and there are all kinds of stuff happening in life. Remember you and remember your soul’s calling and remember yourself because that’s important, too.

Brian
Yeah. And those opportunities that the universe places in front of you at exactly the right time that you might not recognize to have exactly what you need.

Ani
No accident. Everything’s happening at exactly the right time. Yeah. Thanks for joining us. We’ll see you next time. Thanks so much. Bye, everybody.