Have YOU ever felt like you “can’t meditate” or meditation just doesn’t work for you? This episode is for you! After a profound year of loss, trauma and huge life changes, Kara Goodwin was seeking peace. Although meditation had called to her in the past, she felt unsuccessful and unsure if it could actually work for her. At the end of her rope and in desperate need, she resolved herself to figure it out. Today she is sharing her journey through the depths of her soul to the place of finding solace in meditation and her expert advice on how YOU can do it too.   

As the conversation flows, we also delve into the understanding of how time works as a spiral from her own meditation mystical experiences. Plus we’ll touch into Astral Travel, how meditation expands intuition, spiritual awareness and that illusive space between being awake and dreaming!   

Show Notes: 

Kara Goodwin is a certified meditation teacher and the host of the Meditation Conversation podcast. Kara passionate about helping those who wish to expand beyond their body, thoughts, and emotions to tap into the wisdom and gifts within them. She uses meditation, mindfulness, breath-work, and works with the subconscious to help others grow into a higher version of themselves.   

While she derives great fulfillment from swimming in mystical waters, she equally values nurturing her Earthly side through motherhood, animals, and plants.   

Kara says. “I came to meditation several years ago, in an effort to get through a particularly difficult year. I was dealing with an inordinate amount of death and disease within my family, and I needed something to help me shift out of hopelessness and give a more solid foundation to my life. I had tried meditation off and on for years prior to that and had never been able to make it "stick," but this time I sought out a teacher and received methods and techniques to help me establish a consistent practice. From that platform I have been able to use meditation not only to help me cope with the knocks life inevitably delivers, but I have truly transformed the way I see, interact with, and am received by the world." 

 https://www.karagoodwin.com  

https://www.instagram.com/kara_goodwin_meditation/  https://www.facebook.com/karagoodwinmeditation  

Get a free 10-minute meditation at https://www.karagoodwin.com  

Kara’s Podcast: Meditation Conversation  Podcast link: https://www.themeditationconversation.com

Episode Transcript:

Hey beautiful soul Welcome to Spirit Speakeasy. I'm Joy Giovanni, Joyful Medium. I'm a working psychic, medium, energy healer and spiritual gifts mentor. This podcast is like a seat at the table in a secret club, but with mediums, mystics and the spiritual luminaries of our time. So come behind the velvet ropes with me and see inside my world is I chat insider style with profoundly different souls. We go deep share juicy stories laugh a lot, and it wouldn't be a speakeasy without great insider secrets and tips. You might even learn that you have some gifts of your own. So step inside the spirit speakeasy. Hey, beautiful soul I, as always, I'm very excited for our conversation today. So many of you tell me on a consistent basis that you feel like you can't meditate. You don't know how to meditate, you think you're doing meditation wrong? Well, today, we have a meditation expert. Not only is she a trained meditation teacher and certified, she's going to tell us her whole story of that how that came about for her. But she's someone who has a background in tech in the corporate world who did not come from a space of meditation. So she has some great tips, some great suggestions. She has a free guided meditation that she offers on her website. And we really get into this additional conversation about the gifts that have started opening up for her and the experiences, the mystical experiences as part of this meditation work over time, plus these beautiful understandings that she has about the way that our universe works about the way that time and energy actually work. So it's a fascinating conversation. I had a great time I would have loved to have talked to her you guys will be proud of me. I didn't even ask tons and tons of questions because our conversation was just so rich already. That that I didn't even go into all the extra elements that we could have gotten into we could have talked for hours this conversation flies by I know that you're gonna really not only love the meditation tips, and techniques and tools, but the conversation into more of the spiritual realms and the way our soul works in our higher self and time. So without further ado, here is my conversation with the one and only Kara Goodwin. Hey, beautiful soul Welcome back or welcome in for another episode of spirit speakeasy. Our guest today is Kara Goodwin. Kara's a certified meditation teacher and the host of the meditation conversation podcast, Kara is passionate about helping those who wish to expand beyond their body thoughts and emotions, to tap into the wisdom and gifts within them. She uses meditation, mindfulness breathwork, and works with the subconscious to help others grow into higher versions of themselves. While she derives great fulfillment from swimming in mystical water, she equally values nurturing her earthly side through motherhood, animals and plants. Welcome in Kara Goodwin,
thank you, Joy, I'm so happy to be here.
I am so excited to have you here and to hear about your journey. I don't know if you know this. But for me, I believe Meditation really is the foundation of being a working medium. So I'm excited to hear it. As I was telling you, before we hopped on, I read a little bit about you. So for me, it was it felt like such a big block in my life to commit to meditation. I felt like I couldn't do it, I felt really unsuccessful. And I know that that's a part of your story. So it's one of the reasons I'm so excited to have you here to share all about it. Yeah, well, thank
you so much. And I know that that's a lot of people's story. I think anybody who is would consider themselves a meditator today has been through that, that stumbling block where it's like, wait a minute, this was gonna be easy. I'm not supposed to be doing anything, right. Like, why is it so hard not to do. So?
That can be a big hurdle, too, because we want to feel reasonably successful. Right.
Right. And so I definitely had that and before I actually developed a proper what I would call a proper practice, meaning just continuous and it was dedicated and I was, you know, I was dedicated to doing it. I would hear like I would hear from joy Giovanni and she would talk about how meditation was so foundational to her becoming a medium and, and how critical it is in everybody's lives. And I would think everybody's supposed to be able to do this. And I'm going to do it. There's some secret power Were in there, you know, and yeah, and I would try it. And I think for one thing I was probably trying for like, oh, meditate for half an hour, you know, right away and all those things and not really knowing what I was doing. So like, I'm going to sit here, I'm going to close my eyes and not fall asleep, but I'm not going to think. And then very quickly, thoughts would come in, and then you're just spending like, all this time getting frustrated that you keep thinking. And so that's the experience that I kept having. I would get inspired, and I'd want to try meditation. And then I would very quickly kind of fizzle, it would fizzle out, because I wouldn't feel any effects. And I wouldn't really know what I was supposed to be doing. So that is up until a few years ago when my whole world turns upside down. So I was living abroad, I was living in Italy with my family. And I have two kids and a husband. And I want to pause
you because this is an interesting part of your story that I want to make sure people know you come from an IT background, like not a yoga teacher. Right. Yeah, that's
a great, that's a great point. So I up until this point, up until we moved to Italy, I was a corporate, you know, working at Blue Chip companies Consulting at Blue Chip companies, I T background, eventually going into sales. And so I was very, you know, mainstream, and very focused on also, you know, the balance of having kids and little kids at that point. And so, yes, that then we moved to Italy, and I stopped working so that we could have that experience. And a couple of years into that experience things just like one thing after another tragedy upon tragedy was just everywhere I turned. So it started with my my sister in law passed away. And she was one of my closest friends. She took her life really shocked, Molly, thank you. She had two little kids. And it just really kind of really threw us for a loop. We knew she'd been depressed. But just really was very shocking. Yeah, of course. And like three weeks later, our dog died. So again, not to put those on the same level.
I have a Natalie of animals or family members here too. They
are they are in.
But just that on, like compiled like, oh my gosh, we're already going through this. And now our dog. A few weeks after that my stepdad was in had to have a surgery, he had spinal stenosis. So they had a really delicate surgery on his brainstem. And of course, you don't know like, what's going to happen with that. Luckily, that went well. Bit of a recovery period and things like that. But that was another stressful worrying thing. And then shortly after that my mother in law was hit by a motorbike when she was crossing the street. Oh my gosh. So she's mourning the death of her daughter and ends up in the hospital with all this trauma. And then by the by Thanksgiving of that year, my stepmom leading up to Thanksgiving was in the ICU with a failing heart, jetted heart transplant the day after Thanksgiving, so she in to get to the top of the heart transplant list, you have to be very sick. So that's an indication not only of just the seriousness of that level of surgery, but also just how sick she was up to that point. So Wow, is
this like a one year scan for you? This
was from the time that my sister in law passed away till the heart transplant was under seven months.
Oh my gosh. So really getting tossed around by the waves of life there.
Exactly. And we were like I said, we were in Italy. So my husband's English. So my in laws were in England, my family was in, in America. And so we weren't even easily able to be with anybody as as I keep getting this news and this news and we've you feel even further away. And so it was just a whole heap of things. And that's just our immediate family. Like my husband and my immediate family. We also had a very close friend who was in our wedding, you know, 20 years ago, but in this time, he also was diagnosed with a brain tumor and he passed away the next year but you know, dealing with like him, and life and death situations too. So it's just sort of like everywhere we turn Yeah, just felt like bombs were going off in our lives. And, and so that was really where I had been drawn to meditation over the years before that, and like I said, just kept giving up on it because I wasn't making it a priority. And like, I wasn't really feeling like I was getting any anything out of it. And I also didn't really feel, I guess I did feel the need for particularly when I was working. But I because I didn't feel like I was getting a lot out of it. I didn't put a lot of time into it, because I had very little time. So
there's a difference between the need that we all feel from the stress of life and the desperation from this level of loss. And tragically,
yes. Right. And this was really when it was like, okay, my I don't even recognize my life anymore. And I feel like, every day that I wake up, like what's going to happen today, you know, and then was too small kids too. Right? Right. Right. And it's like, if the phone, I don't want to answer the phone, because every time my phone rings, it's bad news, because you don't text bad news, you call for bad news. So anytime that phone rang, it was like, Okay, what now and really, it really was, every time my phone rang, it was something huge. So so it was just a really hard time. And I at this point, I was always really curious in things like mediumship, I probably didn't even know what that word was really back then. But like, you know, reincarnation stories about children remembering past lives, that type of ghost stories, all of that sort of like, little bit of peek behind the veil of saying there is more going on than what we're led to believe. I loved reading books about things like that. But I didn't at the same time, I didn't really, I was sort of not like a agnostic, I guess, you know, I had grown up believing in God, I'd always believed in God, but but I had gotten to a point where it's like, I don't know, maybe it's just imagination or a control mechanism, or you know, all these like cynical ways to think about the purpose of believing in a god. And, but in the midst of all of this, I distinctly remember walking, we walked the kids to school, when we lived there and walking home and having this inner dialogue with God, well monologue. And I was, you know, like, okay, something needs to give here. This is like, I really feel like this is a huge that you're trying to really get my attention here if you exist. And I've always felt drawn to meditation, I feel like there's something there with meditation, but I have tried it, and I can't get anywhere with it. So I think I need like, maybe a teacher. So if this is if you're real, you think that I should meditate. If this is like, a wake up call for me, then point me to a teacher, let me not miss it, and let it be an English. That's a good point. Right? Because you know if it's gonna be I think by that point, I had actually stumbled upon a meditation group that somebody in one of my Italian glasses had invited me to. And I went to it, but it was in Italian, and it was not really relaxing,
but not what you needed. Exactly. And
because I was just trying to keep up and translate everything in my head. And and, um, so through that I was led to a teacher, kind of, it's one of those in hindsight, I'm sure you've got things like this, where you sort of throw it out there. And then it's like, and then things do start to happen. And you're like, Okay, well, I'll try that, you know, that showed up. But I didn't I don't think I even necessarily was like putting it together that because I was curious. And I was looking out for it. So then, but looking back, I'm like, wow, it became really easy to find a teacher. Like once I put that out there.
That's such a good point, too. Because I do think many of these things we only can recognize, in hindsight, and we expect for media and for it to be this clear. Rom Com style. Oh, whoops. Now the feather. It takes me over here like that. Maybe serendipity or whatever. And it's it's not like that typically, yeah, the teacher shows up, but you might not in the moment with everything going on realize like, Oh, this is my moment, you know? Yes.
Right. And I know like a friend of mine just happened to recommend the book awake. It's Sorry. It's a documentary called awaken. It's a story of Pam Honza Yogananda who I'd never heard of. He's the author of Otto Biography of a yogi. Are you familiar with his? No,
I'm surprised too, because I feel I watch a lot of documentaries. So I'm, I'm like, in my mind thinking like, Have I seen that? And I've just forgotten because I watch a lot of them. Yeah, that's interesting. Well,
in her it was funny because her mom recommended it to her. And then she's like, my mom just told me about this documentary, I feel like you would like it. And she's like, I haven't watched it yet. But let me recommend it. So I just watched it, like, really soon after. And I was like, Oh, my gosh, who is this person? I want to learn from him. He died, like in 1932 1952. I think it was 1952. Anyway, he's been he's passed, he passed away a long, long time ago. But his teachings, there are still groups that teach his methods. And he was very much a like cause and effect, you know, like, do this with the breath. And it will make your mind do this, or make your body do this. And that was important. With my corporate background with my it kind of analytical brain. I
liked some action steps that are equatable to real time results, like who doesn't like something we can test and prove ourselves? Right?
Exactly, yes. So that was a really, that his teachings and the organization that I There he is, there are few organizations that are associated with his work. That was really important to me for a couple of years. And then I, you know, felt like I needed to move on from that. But I still do utilize those methods. Like when I teach myself, that's what I got certified in were his methods. And they're still a foundational part of my personal meditation and what I teach. But that was, that was the journey. And then once I did have a method, and I had a teacher, I had several teachers at that time, all from the same organization, but that I could ask questions to when they came up, and they could reinforce the teachings and we could meditate together. And they were kind of helping to support this new habit that I was trying to develop. And, and it was a place for me to put my attention that was supporting the person I wanted to become, which was important to me, rather, that was a definitely missing element, when I was just sort of spitballing it. And I didn't know what I was doing. I mean, I think that like the reinforcement and having like seeing other people being connected with other people who it's becoming important in their lives to and how they're working around it. Or, you know, there are they've been doing it longer, like how did what happened with them when they had these stumbling blocks and things like
Don't be parts of the journey, right? There's so much value in being able to have a mentor or teacher or a group to write, you know, I think it's sometimes with the beauty of technology, it's sometimes that missing piece when there's no component that involves conversation ability to ask questions, I can imagine how valuable that was for you.
Yeah, exactly.
So then you just smoothly sailed into how long did it take you before you felt like competent? As a meditator?
That is such a great question. I don't even remember, I got certified after certified to teach, I want to say like, within a year and a half or two years, I think. And that was also you know, there are a lot of like, yoga, teacher training and that kind of idea where it's like, just go deeper into like, the techniques and the methods. And so you do, you're not necessarily going to teach but you want to really like immerse yourself deeper in it. It was sort of like that, like, oh, this course, learn to teach meditation. Okay, let's dive in. But, yeah, I don't know how to answer that. Because it's always practice, right? So even with it being several years later, now, you know, and I have a daily practice. And I think I'm past the point now where I'm like, judging my meditations, I think that's great. A common thing where it's like, oh, man, my mind was all over the place where I was really locked in there, or, like, I don't really pressure myself to, you know, like, Was that a good one? Or was it not? But I yeah, I mean, I think there were, it's almost like in those early years, I was doing the, you know, the again, I was part of that organizations, that was part of it, too. They sometimes have these really long meditations like three hour meditation or an eight hour meditation Gosh, and you know, with having a family as well, that's all still in the house. It's, that's a big commitment for me to be like, Okay, I'm gonna give up my whole day, guys, and you're, you know, like, Don't bother me. I'm gonna be in my room. You know that but I was more I would do things like that or like, okay, they're saying that there are benefits to doing this for three hours, you know, I'll do that. And I'm definitely less inclined to do that. And like, I don't really I don't know, i There is definitely benefit to doing that. But it's I have not, I'm not as inclined to do that. Now. It's just like I can, I can drop in deeper. I have noticed this about myself, I feel like this is common for many people. But I know it's true for me where, like, if, if I have a really long stretch of time, I will take forever to drop into meditation, I'll sit down, and I'll pray. And I'll like, go through the motions, but I will feel like, oh, I'll just entertain this thought for a while because I've got three hours, you know, three hours, really long time. Right? Whereas if I'm really like, you know, oh, I've just, oh, I've got to cut gotta keep keep it concise. You know, then I'm much more focused. I feel like so,
um, yeah. I have a question that I don't It's okay, if you can't answer I it's just something I ponder and think about with curiosity from my work, because I wasn't always in this work either. For me, things started to kind of open up and almost settle into place, as I learned to understand the difference between the way we commonly talk about things and what the actuality of it is in either different wording, or does that make sense? The way I'm asking it, like, when we first come to meditation, we're thinking, okay, everything's supposed to magically become quiet. And I'm supposed to do this, and it's supposed to feel like this. And in my experience anyway, which you're probably much more experienced than me, that's not those words and terms. And, for me, the best way I can explain it is just released an episode about being an empath. And the wording is that you will feel other people's emotions, but the assumption with that wording is that you will feel them equal to and as consciously as your own emotions are in the same way. Do you know what I mean? Did you find that with meditation, too, when you were learning? Yeah,
like maybe you're in teaching, I guess. Yeah, like common misconceptions. Do
you? Yeah, kind of or just like you'll hear the way someone's describing it. It's like, well, that's, I know, those words are sort of what it is, but not exactly what it is, you know? Yeah.
i Well, I think for sure in in these spaces there. There's so much that's ineffable, you know, it's indescribable. It's like you try your hardest to put language to it. Yeah. And I've been on both sides of that, you know, where I'm like, trying to explain something. And I'm like, I know that this. You don't know where somebody is going to be able to meet you. Right? Yeah. And
so is there are ambient noises here in my home studio. I live in the downtown area. So everyone that listens is Easter, Roman. Things pop off, and we just let the universe universe right
there really underscoring this point up here is
important. Sorry about that. That's okay.
But it's, it's sort of like, you know, you do your best with words. And then I've had it where people have tried to describe it, like, I really want to understand something. And I really, you know, somebody's trying to tell me about like, a mystical experience they've had and, and I'm like, so what was that like? And they're like, ah, yeah, I kind of let you know, when you're trying to fit your own experience into it to be able to say, like, okay, I get it, or I don't. With meditation, I mean, especially if you start experiencing energy, you know, you start feeling yourself as vibration as frequency. That's, that is really, really difficult to try to convey. Yeah, absolutely. But you know it when you experience it, right. And that's something that's another example of like, I've had, I have tried to understand like, Well, how do you experience energy? And people describe it? And it's like, well, yeah, I've been till I've had that experience, really hard to understand. But one thing that comes to mind with what you were saying is that, like, I'm going to sit here and I'm not going to think and that's something that I alluded to, in the beginning of like trying to meditate. I'm using quotation marks if you're listening. But trying to do the meditation, trying not to think I'm supposed to just sit here not think. And I think that that is a misunderstanding. That's a misguided expectation of meditation where it's like we're not actually trying not to Think. But it's rather being aware and mindful. And I don't feel that I really practice quote unquote, mindfulness. But if we all understand what it means to be mindful, which is just to be aware of what's happening, because so much is going on that we just don't pay attention to. Yeah, but it's like really paying attention to, oh, here's a thought. And I have thoughts all day long. And the same thoughts keep cycling through and it's really easy for them to just be on autopilot and me to just almost be a victim of my thoughts. Like whatever thought pops up. That's what I'm going to think about. Yeah. And I, it gets my attention. If it pops in, it gets my attention. And then, if another thought interrupts that, then that's what gets my attention. And I'm just, again, like, just a victim of whatever's coming in, rather than being mindful, being aware, paying attention and saying, oh, suddenly, I'm on the thought train. How do I get on the thought train I was, I was focusing on my breath. And now I'm suddenly thinking about being in my third grade classroom or whatever it is in the grocery
list. Like you're you're halfway down the grocery aisle, and you wrote, oh, wait a minute, I chase that rabbit down the the thought rabbit hole. Here we are. Yes,
exactly. And so and so then it's just noticing, like, oh, in thought, I'm at the grocery store, but I'm actually supposed to be in meditation. Let me disengage. It's not a whole conversation. It's just an instantaneous, like, Oh, I'm on the thought train, come back, I was focusing on my on my breath. Let me get back into the breath. Let me get back into noticing the breath. And just know that we have a lifetime of notice of paying attention to whatever thought comes up at any given time, without really any discernment about if we want to be thinking about that or not. And without maybe even any awareness that we have control over the thoughts that we entertain. So that's what that made me think of is just Yes,
this is so good. This is exactly what I'm, that's exactly what I'm asking, right? Because
it's changing the narrative and the expectation, because then and that helps us also to not feel that we're terrible meditators, because everybody who tries meditation, everybody, I go, Well, maybe I shouldn't say that. Because probably there's been somebody, Jesus, maybe when he started, he was great at it, I don't know. But most people, when they try meditation, and they're in their early stages, or even when they have some experience, they're going to get carried away by thought. And if you have this attachment to like, Oh, that makes me a bad meditator. Or that means I can't do this, or I'm not good at it, you're not going to enjoy it. And it's also not true. It's a training, like it's a practice. And so the more the more you can be dedicated to your practice, and be dedicated to saying, like, Oh, I got caught up in a thought, I'm coming back, you're just training yourself, that's just a training where it's like, oh, look at me, I would notice quicker and quicker when I get caught up in a thought. And then I'm able to come back and not get triggered by that not tell myself some story about what that means about my value. And
I think it's such an important for me, it's like, the most important point at the gates of like, when someone wants to start into meditation, because I think that's where we kind of, you know, go back to go and say, like, okay, I guess I have to like, I guess I'm gonna put this aside for a couple years and try again, when I'm, you know, whatever. And you said it earlier was that you now really are in a space where you don't have to judge your practice, which I think is so important to have this the earlier in our journey, we can have permission for that. I think, the better of just well, can you define success? As I showed up and sat? And did my attempt today? Like, could it be an attempt instead of a? Oh, my, you know, my mind was very thoughtful for me personally, it even after, like I said, I would have sworn two years ago, they absolutely could not do it. And now after years of doing it, I still have certain days for you know, maybe I'm more stressed out, maybe there's more going on that I noticed my thoughts moving more frequently than other times. So I just think it's so important, what you're doing and what you're the way you're educating people that know everyone can access this practice. It's just about taking all of those expectations and judgments off of it. So I'm pretty excited about your work if you can't tell.
Well, thank you so much.
Yeah, so many different Oh, sorry to interrupt you. There's so many different types of meditations too. And I think that's somewhere else where the water gets a little muddy for people that are just I know it was confusing for me early on. Will you just kind of touch into a little bit even from your perspective as a teacher and with what you teach some of the different types and like their, their purposes, so people can have a little bit more of like a, it's more of a buffet than a one way only, right? Yes.
I love that approach to where it's like take what what works. And this was one of the, one of the places where I got where I started to realize when I, you know, when I first learned meditation, and the organization that I was learning from, really benefited me for a couple of years. And then it was time to go. And the reason that I started to feel that was because of the constriction and the restriction, it was like, this is the technique. This is what we teach. This is what we learned from Paramhansa Yogananda, and this is what there is, and if you get distracted by the next shiny thing, then you're gonna get, you know, pulled away from your enlightenment, or however, you know,
yeah, becomes very dogmatic. Exactly, yeah.
Even though the whole appeal in the beginning was like, we don't have dogma, this isn't religion, you know, whatever. But but if you start to talk about other modalities, it's like, Wait a minute. Master didn't teach that, you know? Yeah. And so So, yeah, so that's where I started to feel a little bit like, you know, I'm just rehashing the same thing over and over, and I wanted to learn more, and there's so much out there. Yeah. And that's the other piece to it is like, if you've tried a meditation, and you're like, I did not get on with it, I didn't feel anything from it, I didn't enjoy it. There are so many different teachers, there are so many different styles, there are moving meditations, you can learn how to combine like walking. With meditation, you can use sound, there are a lot of beautiful meditations that use sound, you the breath is a really important elements, there are all kinds of amazing breathwork practices out there that can be incorporated into meditation. And I always like to start my meditations with breathwork because of the direct effect it has on the nervous system. So it can like really easily shift you into that rest and restore sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system setting so that you're out of that fight or flight that we're in, you know, with modern living we're in fight or flight so often, but the breath is like this back door, you know, it just physiological response to help calm your, your body. So there are all these different types of meditation and, and there are also a lot of people who are guiding meditation. So there's like, there's an App Insight Timer, you know, is a they've got a ton of guided meditations, you know, I've got a free 10 minute meditation on my website that I've got different different guided meditations sprinkled throughout my podcast, which is meditation conversation. But But lots, lots of resources for guided meditations. And Matt can make it so easy as well, because then you're just following along. So somebody is telling you like, Okay, now count, like, inhale, and I'll tell you when to stop inhaling, okay, stop inhaling. And now hold your breath. And I'll tell you when to stop. Now stop holding your breath. Now exhale, and you know, you just follow along and your, your nervous system and your mind can can relax in a different way than if you're trying to remember what the next step in the process is. And yeah, you know, if you're worried about time, or whatever it might be. So there are, there are so many options. And it's really, you know, if you learn any sort of meditation, you know, I talked about how it was so helpful for me to have a teacher to help guide me. And it's a double, it's a double edged sword, right? So it's so helpful to have somebody who has experience who can help you with this new terrain and kind of guide you along the way. And you want to be careful that you're not with somebody who says like, this is the only way this is the way this is the fastest way this is, you know, that's those are red flags right there where it's like somebody is like really benefiting from you following along what they're saying and not looking at anything else. But just that like understanding that there are a lot of different things that you might resonate with, and there might be different things. For different times of your life, that's going, once you have a couple of years experience, you may be attracted to a different type of meditation, that might get you to the next kind of launching point. And that's completely valid, you know, it's it. For me, in my own experience that's kept things from becoming dry, you know, from coming, this like, Okay, I'm just doing it because I'm supposed to do it every day and not, you know, like, that's, there's no difference between that and just going to church every Sunday and sitting in a pew, because you're definitely going to get into heaven if you do that. Because I sat here for an hour every Sunday. And that's all I needed to do. Now, I've checked that box. And, you know, it's, that's the same mentality of being like, well, I have to meditate every day, because that's what I'm supposed to do. Rather than really like getting something out of it. And it being this thing that lights you up and that you really enjoy doing. I find that that continuing to learn and to explore and try new things has been imperative for that. I
got so important and I mean, it's I think it depends on the intention someone's kind of coming into a meditation practice with maybe it's that they realize they're stressed and and need breaks in the day, maybe it's better sleep, maybe it's, you know, all the any of the things. I want to talk about your guided meditation really quick, you have a few different options on your website, I have the free meditation version that you offer, because I wanted to hear you. Because I'm a nerd like that. I really liked it. It's available to everyone tell us where it is.
Yeah, so thank you, you can get that on Kara goodwin.com. So I spell Cara with a K or my parents spelled Cara with a K and I just stayed with that. But Kara goodwin.com And then right there on the home screen, I think it's like the second section will link in the
show notes to so everyone can find it much more easily wherever they're listening or watching that meditation that you did feels very relaxing, and it is guided, obviously because you're guiding it. Is there a general purpose for that meditation? Like if someone's like, Okay, what would I use this one for? How do you recommend people using it? Or what are some of the ways?
Yeah, that particular meditation it's very light filled in. And so it to me, it is a you know, you just want to feel more on more connected. My, you know, I mentioned that when I began meditation. In the beginning, I was basically agnostic, I was curious about things behind the veil, so to speak, but I wasn't totally convinced. Yeah. And I really was unsure about the whole God thing. Like maybe there were ghosts, but I wasn't sure about the God thing. And so when I started meditation, it was very secular. very, like, even though I was learning for monks, everything's so ironic, you know, it's like I'm learning for monks. They're very spiritual, but I and I'm so I was taught to pray, I would pray like before I would meditate on their online meditations, but then by myself, that wasn't really a big part of my practice for a while. But now, you know, as things have shifted, it's become like, that's my primary reason is to is to connect with the spiritual world around us to connect with my own soul with my own spiritual essence with the the eternal aspect of who I am. And that's, that's always like, my primary motivation for for meditating. And so that meditation really felt like it was connecting people with their light with their spirit. So it's it's a pretty like, it will make you feel calmer it will induce like a state of calmness and relaxation but that's kind of what's going on you know behind with that behind the scenes I
love that in that just in that 10 minutes to you actually are you you knows obviously what you're layering in these very foundational ability your idea to move your awareness to different parts of your body ability to come back to the breath in and habit you know, Phil all the way to your toes and those it feels maybe so simple in just like saying like, What do you mean I'm just moving my awareness but it's not my in fullness, right kind of blend it in of how often do we take time to like focus our energy into our knee? Or? It is I mean, I think it's a great, a great little meditation highly recommended for anyone who wants to try it out. And like I said, I'll link it in the show notes. Is that what happens for you, as you continue forward into your practice? Do you start having more unexplainable experiences or more spiritually connected feeling experiences?
Yes. Well, thank you for the kind words about the meditation and yes, I definitely as I have gone deeper into meditation, I have started to have more of those mystical kind of non non physical non, you know, the ineffable difficult to explain experiences. But funnily enough, like the most powerful ones that I have, of that type of thing tend to be when I'm, when I'm transitioning to sleep. But I don't actually go to sleep, I'm still awake, and I'm alert, and I'm aware, but then I'll start to see energy, feel energy, start to feel that I'm moving through different layers of densities and seeing different, different things getting different insights that can happen during meditation, but it's like 95%, sorry, 95% of the time that I experienced the mystical things. It is in that that space, like where I'm about to drift off to sleep, and then I don't drop off, drift off to sleep.
And I just have a different that you're talking
about. It's it is such a Do you feel like meditation has allowed you to, again, the word has not been for as long as you know me, everyone here is used to me complaining about the languaging of these things. But do you feel like it kind of helped you expand that space where you're more conscious of that, in between space, that astral space, whatever word someone likes in there of, okay, this is this in between time when I can just pause and be here and allow instead of just immediately transitioning to sleep? Yes.
So the more that it happens, the more kind of control for lack of a better word. Yeah, there is in like, in being on that edge without dropping over into sleep. But I have a long way to go before I master it, you know, it's like, there are a lot of times where it's like, right there. And then I'm like, Okay, if I want to go any further, like, there's a really good chance I'm gonna fall asleep. And often I just fall asleep. AND, and OR I just can't remember it. It's like, I may not have actually fallen asleep, because there are definitely times where I will look at the clock. And it's been, I've been awake for like an hour and a half. So while and I in that time. At that moment, I remember what all has been happening. But then in the morning, I'll be like, Well, I remember that I was awake for at least an hour and a half. But I can't I can hardly remember, you know what came through? Or?
Yeah, and I mean, do you feel like it's that sometimes we are not accessing all of those things on the conscious level. I mean, I believe our soul still is traveling and experiencing and doing things even though we might not consciously bring that information back. It's in our soul somewhere.
Yes. 100%. I love that. And that that's a lot of times when I'm in this space, like even just last night, I was in that space. And I was telling myself, you will remember and it was like a command you will remember. Because it I have so much experience of like, it's all so familiar when I'm in it. Yeah, like oh my gosh, yes, this again, but I've never been able to remember this. And I'm like, it's like a command that I'm giving myself you will remember you will remember and then who knows how much I'm actually remembering. Right? You remember some but also, I think you do. I think you're like the consciousness just goes places that the human aspect of us can't hold that frequency or can't Yeah, they can't, it can't resonate. And so we just lose access to it. There is so much going on, in my opinion, so much going on that our consciousness is aware of that our human aspect of that consciousness is not aware of and I think I don't know what you think about this like that dreams are a lot not maybe not all the time. I think sometimes dreams are just like processing thing. But I do believe that sometimes our dreams are like a screen. It's like a way that our Mind, our human mind comes in and make sense of what the consciousness is doing. Like, when I have the midst of these mystical experiences or multi dimensional experiences, most of the vast, vast, vast majority of my experience is seeing patterns, colors, lights, hearing sounds, and, and just seeing this movement, it's like this constant like movement and feeling like vibrations within my body. Feeling different areas of my brain, like almost like they're, like, fingertips touching different parts of my brain, like cool in different places at the same time, but like, it's an instrument, yeah, it's being played. And so things like that, rather than it being a Bing came to see me and told me this thing, and it says Bing that I always see, and they've always been with me, like, I hardly ever see beings, I will sometimes hear voices. Sometimes. It sometimes sounds like I'm just picking up on like, I'm overhearing something inside my head. But it's very, very rarely like form. It's very rarely like a landscape, like I was in this place. And there was a garden. And you know, it's very rarely like that. Yeah, when I start to fall asleep, if I'm in that state, and I do start to go over the edge, and I noticed, like, Oh, I'm falling asleep, because I can stretch that part out a lot of times, too. But I'm like, Oh, I'm in a dream, like my mind is making a dream. It's putting it's putting things over the top of the energy that I was seeing. So it's like taking parts of the pure energy that I was experiencing, and almost like draping it with form. And like a story starting to like my mind's like, creating a story out of what I'm seeing almost. And I'm like, Okay, I see that I'm, like, creating this, this story that's happening. And I'm, it's what I would know, as a dream. But I'm not still not quite asleep, but I can tell like, just give it a minute, and I will completely fall asleep. Yeah, so because I've had that I'm like, Oh, I think our dreams in some cases are like, overlays of work that our consciousness is doing or things that our consciousness is experiencing. But it's like how our human mind? Yeah,
it has to like filter through our own lexicon of experience, and might be a little outside of that, but likely not going to be. And I think sometimes that's why things are merged together in ways that are maybe not exact translations of what's happening. Or in mediumship. The, for me, the way it works is essentially my soul is blending with the soul that's outside the body. And they're not putting new memories in there. But they can access my entire database of memories, whether I remember seeing it or not. So it's kind of kind of similar to what you're saying, where it's like, oh, I might just have plucked that face of some random person that I saw at some point and don't remember and put it on this other thing, because it's my system trying to translate it in a way that can be articulated or even written after a dream or something. Does that make sense? When I'm saying it out? Out Loud?
Yes. I love that. It's very complimentary to what I was saying. Yeah.
And there's so much overlap. And all of this, it's one of my favorite things is, you know, people that are even in just like, totally different areas of this work have similar experiences or similar understandings. And yeah, it's extra validating in some way. I
think I like it a lot. Yeah, completely.
Is that a part of I know, you teach quite a bit, you know, different different things. And then also, with your podcast, you love sharing other people's work and experience like I do, is that part of what you teach in your meditation is how someone can extend those times that they get to that advanced place in their work? Yeah,
that's something that I talk about in I have a group that I meet with, like, once or twice a week called the healing hearth, and we will meditate together but that's also where I will share things on consciousness and give suggestions on you know, try this to, you know, work on manifestation or to
real life stuff, too. Right? Yeah, exactly.
But that's where I will and that's a that's a range, you know, group of people that some of them have been meditating for a while some are newer. So it's not always the more and stuff, but I will, you know, give what I can. Yeah, when it's right there. Yeah,
I wanted to ask you, I have this little list of questions, but like covered most of them as we're talking, as we're talking about that kind of in between time in, in the dream space, or in that transitional space, one of the things that I wanted to ask you was about your experience, in through this work and those experiences understanding more about how time works, that's always so fascinating. Yeah.
Yes. So that was one of those experiences that I was talking about, that I had, you know, at nighttime, that actually the very, very first time that that happened, which was maybe three years ago or so.
And I was I,
it hadn't happened to me, I knew that these kinds of things could happen. But as it was happening to me, it was like, Oh, my gosh, what am I seeing what is happening, you know, and I felt that I was like, rising through these different like, layers of experience. And they were kind of like getting thinner and thinner. So it was kind of like, you know, in the beginning, I would see all these like, like, almost almost like psychedelic, colorful and energetic and moving and and then as I would rise up, that would kind of thin out and then there'd be like, really thin golden lines that were that were like, within what I had been seeing, it was like that would sort of dissolve and disappear. And then I'd see like what was within that structure, or whatever, you know, is almost like scaffolding. So cool. Being able to see like the skeleton almost of those, what I had been seeing, but anyway, at one point, and I just kept rising, and I would like experience different things. One of the parts was like I was in space, but these, I think they were octagons, like octagonal windows, there were two of them. Sorry, they could have been hexagons, but um, and it was like, suddenly I'm looking at space. But I noticed like, oh, there are two octagon or hexagonal windows. And they were lined with these really thin, like metal frames that had all this little etching on it. And, but I was looking out into space. And so at one point when I in so it just kept kind of changing, but where it was like, Okay, now I'm in space. And I look like I'm looking out at these windows, but I'm looking at space. But what so one of the phases that I kind of went through, took me to this spiral, like I was looking down. It wasn't really a spiral, but it was like, it was it was like everything was almost like looking down at a labyrinth. sort of you know, yeah. And there were all these different levels. Two, so it wasn't just like looking flat. It was like looking, but there was all the steps in it, too. And what I understood all at once, as I was looking at this was that this was time, like I was looking at time. And so I put my awareness on something like on one spot in this circle, you know, the spiral. And I was a I was looking at a little girl that was like, nine, let's say, and there was a like kind of an oppressive sky heavy sky. And she was standing by a horse and there was like a big tree there. And then behind them was this like stone house it looked like it was maybe like a two story like kind of thin stone house and I just understood that it was in Scotland or somewhere like Great Britain for sure. And maybe Scotland. And it was in like the 1800s. And I just understood that by focusing on that spot. That's what was happening there. And I didn't even really think to say like, is that me like is that a former version of myself? In my car connected somehow it was just like, oh, it just was what it was. It was like oh, if you put your attention right there, that's where that's what's happening right there. And And then I just then it all changed. And something you know is like not, it was, I wasn't in that labyrinth or looking down on that anymore. But all the levels I understood to word the possibilities of experience within any experience. So it's like, every experience has a range of possibilities. So depending on where you focus within the experience dictates what your experience is. So if I were to it's, and it also felt like a record needle coming down on this, so like, if I put the record needle on where we are right now in time and space, like you and me, joy are recording this meditation, or this, some podcasts, excuse me. And that's what's happening at this point in time. And wherever we want to have that, there's a whole range of experiences that we can have within this one experience. So at one level of this experience, we are both having an amazing time, where we're so enjoying being with each other, we feel so grateful that we're getting to share this time together, then there might be another level of experience where we're just triggering each other and, you know, you don't like my shirt one bit, it's nobody's happy. And, you know, there might be something where I really stick my foot in my mouth, and I, I offend you, and you react to that. And it's just, uh, you don't even want to release this episode. And and that is totally another way that we could do this. It's an available option that we could have. And it's just where we want to be, you know, where we want to have that assurance. So
do you feel like that needle in this analogy is directed by our freewill choice and contribution? What do you feel directs that needle to those different potentials?
That's such a great question. So it, it's our choice, it can be part of our choice. But later, in this same experience, I saw and just experienced myself from the perspective of like, this giant sphere of light, I was just this huge sphere of light. And I had this connection that was very far away from little Cara Mia, that you're seeing in front of you right now, I was connected to that human experience. But it was like, from whatever perspective, this was, from a, quote unquote, distance perspective, it was very far away, but I still was connected. And we were in constant communication. And we were in constant communication via light. So my human self constantly is directing. I call that my creator being so that was like your
Higher Self could Yeah, our highest version of you are Sol Sol for any of those words. Any
any fine. Yes. So what came to me in that state was like, This is my Creator cell for I don't even remember but, but I identified like the little tiny little spark of light was Kara, like me, my human self. And I understood that Kara is constantly telling that huge sphere of light, what experience to project based on her and it's all communication by light. And of course, light if anybody has done any level of metaphysical studies, or even you know, scientific studies, they understand that that light is energy. Light is a communication frequency, it's, it's, you know, there's a lot of talk, when you start learning about these things about frequency and vibration frequency is the measurement of vibration, but the higher in frequency we go, that tends to give us a more positive experience just kind of very, very oversimplifying everything but yeah, but I am always in the same as for everybody, I'm just using myself as an example. We're already example. Yeah, we're all doing this and it's, we're communicating what we want our experience to be based on our light and based on our frequency, so the more that I am in a high frequency, then I am emitting a stronger light and my my higher self, my creative her being is receiving that communication saying she wants a hot, she wants that level of experience, she wants a high frequency experience. And so we're doing this unconsciously most of the time. But we also can choose to become aware of the thoughts that we're thinking. So if we go back to, even in meditation, becoming aware of the thoughts, but even when we're outside of meditation, becoming aware of the thoughts that we're entertaining, aware of the thoughts that we hold on to, because thoughts may come in, that are not high vibrational that are not serving us, and they may come in, and we don't have to get really judgy with ourselves. If we think, you know, oh, I recognize that I am entertaining this thought of jealousy, or greed, or anger or sadness, or, you know, any of these, or hatred or any of these lower things that I don't enjoy feeling. And I don't want to make bigger in my world. So oh, I noticed that I'm feeling this way. So let me tune into that. Let me see. You know, we can kind of become curious about what's going on there. Is this true? Am I entertaining? Something that's even true?
I lower is one of my favorite questions. Is that true? Yes.
Or am I telling myself some story that is actually not even true? And isn't benefiting
voices that is that a past? Something? Someone said to me, for example, or Yeah,
yeah. So we do have, even though this is happening, subconsciously, it's happening behind the scenes, the more we get into our own creatorship, and take responsibility for the thoughts that we think and the the words that we speak, the actions that we take, then the more we we kind of come into harmony with that creative force. Yeah, it's helping to drive our experience here. And we, you know, can amplify the light and receive that back in our lived experience.
That's so cool. And it really, I always learn so much chatting, and this is true. Now, in my work, if I'm doing like a psychic reading for someone, the way I believe is that no one can definitively predict the future. I don't think it's pre decided for us. But the way I explain it to people is it's so resonates with everything you just said I I'll explain it as I can become aware of potentials and possibilities. And then you can use your freewill choice to navigate towards or away. And in the way you're describing it, the way I keep seeing it, I keep seeing that MC Escher painting, where it's like the staircases that go around and around. And it's not really a spiral, but it also is, and it's all existing at the same time. But it's like the dominant frequency perhaps or where they're resting most of their attention will probably help decide which of these possibilities they're kind of pointing their radar towards, and, and moving towards it. So the way you've just described, it is so fascinating. And I'm so excited, because it's like, oh my gosh, I know what this is, I just didn't have those words or experience in that way. So I love that because we do have an element of choice. And we are here, I believe, intentionally and with that choice to have these experiences. But I love this idea, the way you're describing it, that it is this two way communication between this human self that we have, and this higher self creator self divine self, that the way you articulated it just helps explain or express so much more clearly how that needles being, you know, it's it's not chance, like it's not just oh, you just happen to find that meditation group. That was the first entry point for you.
Right? Yeah. And I love what you bring to that too, with just, there are so many different ways to look at it. And their true, you know, like, this is just one sort of facet of the prism. And, and when I had that experience, I was like, Oh, this is how time works. Like I was I was like, oh, okay, I get it. And then a few months later, I saw it in a completely different way. I saw it more like there were screens over it. And there were like filters. And so there was like, one, one screen, but then we all had these different filters over it. And the filters changed based on frequency. And so it's
not like one for two. Pardon. That makes so much sense to like the lenses we're seeing the world through the exactly the culture, the way we grew up the things we believe the geographic location, all the things right
and they were really like overlays, which you know, it felt very physical, like there was physically a screen of reality and then there were these overlays that each of us have and that felt so real is Like an ad that was related to timelines, and you know, how you experience any moment as well, like, what filter do you have on what screen and then I, then months after that, or a year, I don't remember, saw it as like, these huge like being out in space again and seeing these giant gears, like just huge gears. And then there was they were just like, in the, you know, they were like really thin, kind of like when I described the thin gold lines, how things started to disappear. And then there were like, these thin golden lines, these were just like thin lines, but they were gear shaped. And then there was another plane that went so that was like vertical. And then there was another plane, but not just like flat because it went all over. But it was like up and down. And then there was this, like spinning Galaxy kind of which was actually the spinning galaxy was the first sort of visual I ever had in meditation was like, why am I seeing that? Yeah, but and that was a horizontal, like spinning galaxy. And those two things eventually like intersected and I was seeing both of them at the same time. Wow. But then they looked like, you know, X Y axis. And it was like, they, they came together at an angle. And so whatever angle they it was like the angle, then shone light. That was like a projection of reality. And that was based on your perception again, but like, the gears were like time, yeah. And the galaxy was like space, so like time and space intersecting, but then they're not intersecting like necessarily to 90 degree angle, they, the angle keeps changing based on based on the perception of who's, who's the witness, like, who is looking at, and observing this reality? And what angle are they at, that changes the light, like, it literally changes the light changes their perception. So three, like totally different. But like experiences, but all relating to time and how we perceive reality and the effect like then there's always there always undertones of frequency and light and vibration. And so it's really fascinating. You know, it's
like, so fascinating. There's
so many different layers and levels to it. So, so much I have a
science catches up and proves all this in a way that people can digest and accept.
Oh, that's all. So fascinating.
I know, we're already over time, which I feel like I could talk to you for 10 hours. I did want to ask you, what's a good starting point for someone who kind of like we're talking about the beginning has had this experience of, Oh, I really want to do this. I feel like there's something there. But maybe it's not for me, because maybe I'm not good at this. And where can someone start? That's, but what do you want to say gonna make them feel successful, but you think you know what I'm asking? Yes,
yeah, I go back to that guided meditation thing. I think that's a great first step for people where they can kind of take the pressure off of themselves and just let somebody guide them. So again, I've got that 10 minute one on the website, Kara goodwin.com. But even if you you know, if that feels like too much of 10 minutes feels like too much they can look on my you can go to the meditation conversation.com and just search for guided meditations. And I've got so many out there over the years, at different lengths, like I literally have one minute meditate. I have a one minute meditation out there. I have a two minute meditation, I have a three minute meditation. They're a few years ago. So you want to kind of just do a search to make it easy. But that's such a great first step because you don't have to go and study like and learn the techniques, you can just dive right in and, and just take it easy on yourself. Like keep the expectation light so that you're not like, you know, man, I thought this was supposed to be easier.
I'm gonna have a party to this question too. For me, I try to encourage people to that it tried at different times of the day because maybe one time feels more spacious or, and my kids are big now they're grown now. So it's that's changed a lot over the years. It might not be okay, this is the way I do it forever. Do you feel like that's part of it, too?
Yeah. I love that. I I think that first thing in the morning is always is a really that's a really friendly time for your body. In terms of like, if you're not digesting breakfast yet you haven't had time for like you haven't checked your email yet and your texts and you're you're like utilizing that soft space that you get when you're not asleep, the more you can utilize that the better. But for some people that's not going to work, they they're in a rush to get to work or whatever it might be. So I love what you're saying is be a living laboratory, if you're having a hard time with what you think, you know, if you think that you can only meditate as soon as you get home from work, because that's the only time that it's going to work. And that's not working for you. Because you're you know, you're too stressed by that point or whatever. Try waking up five minutes earlier, and try it right in the morning or lunch break or right before bed, or whatever you can do. But it's such a vital vital tool with endless rewards. So keep, keep exploring. Yes.
And we didn't get to talk about the rewards. But I feel like there's a lot of data about that I was just so excited to hear your experience. And of course, we're going to link not only your website where they can get that meditation and learn all about the other offerings that you have. But also the podcast which I've been listening, there are lots of great talks on there, you ask, like the questions, I have your you're asking them. So I'm like, Oh, this is amazing. She's asking. She's asking these advanced questions. So I love that. I know we're over. Are you up to do our spirit speed round? Yeah, quick. It's, it's speedy EPS.
Did you really come on the podcast soon. So I am.
I'm pretty excited about this. So we'll have to you guys will hear about that, too. I'll be linking it in the places. I'm really honored that there's a lot of great content on there. So anyone who's into any of those, I highly recommend checking it out. Spirit speeder, and like I said, link in show notes for all that spirit Speed Round is really fun, easy, quick, will you share one thing that really shocked you or was unexpected about meditation.
Over the years, one of the things and I know I'm supposed to be quick. So it's
just take as much time as you want. Well,
it's really more around the people utilizing spiritual space and the meditation space to take advantage of people. And that has been like a tough pill to swallow. And so it just people are in such a vulnerable place. When they are coming to me and I feel like spiritual connection is the most sacred like, it's so so sacred. And I'm just continuously shocked by by how many people out there are, are like, just sucking people dry. And
it's so unfortunate. You really think it wouldn't be that way. But it totally can be Yeah,
so big watch outs out there, not to enter it into it with fear, but also just knowing like, you really need to be savvy. And keep keep yourself in your power not like not see somebody who you know, is spiritually connected and like put them on this big pedestal and believe that you know, you need to do whatever it is that they tell you you need to do. You still stay in yourself, keep
your own, keep your own. Be who you are, keep your wits about you. I always say do your research too. And look into that person a little bit and see, you know, what, what do other people that work with them? How would they said see their work? See their, you know, precise? And I guess they also shouldn't be asking you to do anything that feels outside of your morals or ethics or anything like Yeah, well,
sometimes such a good point. Yeah, it's blurry. Because sometimes they'll say like, you know, it's about surrender. And you know, you really are, are you going to surrender or you're going to be you're going to hold yourself back and and you know, surrender is a big it is important. Yeah, and trust and all of this, but then it's like they're getting people to do just like just the twisted, you know? Yes, just even Yes. It's just there various
documentaries that I've seen that are different spiritual groups or Guru type people that and to see it from the outside. I feel like it's like, oh, yeah, of course don't do don't do that. Don't wear the shoes and drink the Kool Aid, you know, but to be inside the experience, it doesn't. It's just one baby half step further. It doesn't feel sudden or exactly of color sometimes.
That's exactly right. It's it seems normal at first and then the more like you keep trusting keep trusting and so that's where you just have to keep yourself in check. And I've been in that situation myself where I'm like, I don't know about this But it's okay so far. And so I'll join the next webinar and see how I feel from that. And then it's like, okay, this feels good. And then, you know, and then it has gotten to, you know, few months and where it's like, wait a minute, no, no, no, you know, yeah, I'm adding I've had what
sounds like a similar experience. So, yeah, they're sometimes, I guess, depending how autonomous we remain. At some point, there can be a place where you're like, oh, yeah, I know that, that know that. Maybe no, but for some people, it's the way the marination comes, you know, are their own lens that they're experiencing through from maybe they've, you know, had different experiences and been part of groups that you kind of go along with, to get along? Or whatever it is. So yeah, that's a such an important conversation.
Yeah.
Do you have any tips for for discernment, besides just be aware? And, well,
you know, your body is giving you so many signals all the time, and in our mind, can override what our body knows. And so often, when people have these sorts of experiences, they look back, and they're like, Oh, that felt off. Yeah. But I, I explained it away, or somebody else explained it away, or, you know, whatever it is, and once we get that mind in there, that rationalizes it. That can be work against us. But it's, it's difficult, because we value our thoughts, so much, we value our intellect so much. And so and so, you know, we don't want to jump to conclusions or be closed minded, or all of these things, because I know with my own experience, it was like, you know, I these, this group, that immediately, immediately, I was like, that's a coal. Immediately, I just looked at the picture. And I was like, that's a coal. And then I was like, What am I doing? I'm being so judgmental. What are my What am I projecting into this picture? What's the fear that I'm feeling when I, you know, why do I think I know everything. And so I dug a little bit, and then I started liking what I was seeing. And I and I resonated with it, because it was stuff that it was a mix of things that I already knew, and some things that felt more advanced that I hadn't been exposed to before. But because I knew the other stuff that gave validation to the stuff that I hadn't heard before. So they, so I convinced myself, you know, like, Oh, I was being judgmental, and and then when it eventually came in now, this group has definitely, like, pretty recently been outed as 100% of cult. But so many people who left who I stayed in contact with for a little while, you know, they all had their stories of the flags that they were getting. You know, so it's, it is tricky. It
is when you said it earlier to if, if someone is saying in a leadership position, this is the only way or you have to cut out other people or only be here like it's the very black and white allowances, I guess is yes. Is something to pay attention to, to
yes, they benefit a lot if you're never going to look at any other teachings. Yeah, because one, they can plagiarize, which I've seen, you know, they'll just like rip things from other sources. And, and I'm still discovering that with the group that I mentioned, where I was just reading something a couple months ago, and I'm like, oh my god, I think they got a lot of their stuff from this book. And then I confirmed with somebody who had been with them for quite a while. And they're like, oh, yeah, they were they were all about that Book and or in the earlier days, they were having everybody read it and then they stopped kind of pointing everybody to it so that they could claim it for themselves but but also if you're then they're also your only authority as well. So like everything that they say that's the only input that you're getting and that is very that makes you more controllable if your whole world is is them, and that's it's but they might say like oh you're gonna get contaminated if you however they want to put it you know, their work
through your resistance, you're resisting, releasing these negative influences are tricky. Yeah. This is a very shocking thing when we learn it in this work that this is exists a lot.
Yeah. And it's not just in our world. I mean, it's personal coaching programs. It's it's alternative health program fitness
and health. And yeah, it's definitely even in the acting world, there are some really entry points into cults with sometimes it'll be a well respected casting director, and you're gonna get to have a talk from them and a group and then you got to also take this class with this pamphlet and watch this movie. And it's all over. Oh,
interesting. Yeah.
But it's what you said. I mean, they're preying on people's vulnerability or desire or desperation or something in there. Yeah. I promise you four quick questions. So sorry, but you're so interesting. Like in this conversation. If you got to spend a whole day in the spirit world, you got the full tour, you got to spend time with everyone you've ever known has crossed over. And it's almost time for you to return to your human life. And your guide tells you, you have one hour left and you can spend it with anyone who's on the other side. Who do you choose and why? Wow, I love
that thought experiment.
I feel like, oh, gosh,
I don't You don't have to pick this one you can pick as well.
I mean, I like I'm really boring. But I would say like Jesus Yeshua. I'm not even like, I don't have like a hardcore Christian background or anything. But the more that I've understood Jesus, or Yeshua was his Hebrew name. From a like a mystical like Mystery School standpoint. And some of those like the, the scrolls, the Dead Sea Scrolls, like, the sort of hidden world of Yeshua, some of that has been channeled. So it's, you know, I just find it really fascinating. And it seems like an amazing, amazing being with so much to share, so I would say, Jesus slash Yeshua. And there's this book, I think you might love this book called walking through walls. You're heard of that book. Now. The author is Philip Smith. So there are two books with that title and one's female. It's Phillip Smith is the author of walking through walls. And if you do like to read, this is a wonderful and if you're interested in the healing arts at all, and being a medium, like there's mediumship, but it's a lot about the healing arts, but it's very well written. It's funny, it's engaging, it's vulnerable. It's awesome. But this is the story of his father growing up with his father and his father was like, way ahead of his time. His name was Henry Smith. And he is just fascinating. This book is fascinating. And I think I would I would also pick loose Smith.
Okay, that's that and that I wanted to dad the doubt of that author of okay, yeah, I'm gonna link that book in the show notes too. So in case anyone else I'm going to check anyone else? Well, I
do have the author on a couple of times. So if Oh, great. Check that the the episodes out first and then see, like, if you're not a big reader, you may just want to listen to the episodes and then you can get a flavor.
Worse. Yeah. Oh, interesting. Okay, that's a cool answer. I like that answer. Even though we have spiritual gifts, we have very human lives. What's one quirky thing about you people might be surprised to learn?
Oh, goodness, um, I
like things that come up seem pretty lame, but Well, I was a beekeeper. i This is the first year. I haven't kept bees. But my bees didn't make it through the winter. I. So I have passed that on to somebody else now. But yeah, I love love animals love bees. I love to laugh. And so that's, I think that's one of the things like people probably, I feel like when people are first getting to meet me, especially in real life, they expect me to be like, pretty serious. Because meditation is this like sacred and it is sacred. Yeah, but I also just love to joke around and be silly and, and I love jokes. And so that might be something that I because I feel that with people were like, I'll be cracking jokes, and they're kind of like yeah, oh, I
like that. Yeah, we get we have funny, quirky sides. Will you leave us with a pearl of wisdom? What's one piece of advice that you wish you'd had earlier on in your understanding of meditation,
I would just re emphasize the importance of our own personal power and being careful and mindful about how, how important it is to stay sovereign to stay in our freedom. And it doesn't mean that we don't have teachers that we respect or that we don't learn from other people learning from other people can be a shortcut for us. And we also just, you know, I just see so much like this, putting people in pedals on pedestals and, you know, doing it would would do anything for somebody that that we put on those pedestals and, and that's not necessary, and it actually is a, it's a hurdle that we have to ultimately overcome, because the more that we're letting anybody interfere with our own connection and our own intuition, then that's to our detriment. You know, we're, we can only go so far in our own path, while still like, looking for somebody else to tell us how to be you know, yeah,
that's great advice. Well, this has been an awesome conversation. I wish we could just have someone else to listen to an all day podcast. I feel like there's so much more to uncover. Thank you so much for being here with us today. Make sure everyone checks out. Carrie goodwin.com. Thank you for shining your light.
Thank you so much joy, this has been so much fun. I really appreciate it. Thanks.
Well, if that conversation didn't give you plenty to think about, I don't know what will, that idea of time being almost similar to a spiral and the way that our physical universe interacts with energy and time and the perception of the way we are in continual communication with our higher self, a lot of us say it and a lot of us intrinsically somewhere deep inside know it. But just the way that she described it, through her experience, I feel like was beautiful and powerful. And I'm really going to spend some time thinking about this and sitting in meditation and asking for more details and further look into that. If you're someone who is brand new to meditation or like we were talking about in the conversation you have felt like it's something that you have a hard time doing or you don't know if it is for you check out Cara Goodwin's website, Kara goodman.com. Again, I'm gonna link it in the show notes. Her podcast is also wonderful, which will I will also link in the show notes. It's called meditation conversation podcast, and really check out her guided meditation because as she was saying, you know, don't put so many limits on yourself, be flexible, and just let yourself have an experience and practice and guided meditation is a great entry point. So I've been honored to get to talk with Kara today honored to have you here listening. And if you have someone in your life that says that they can't meditate or that they're not good at meditating or that meditation is not for them, share this episode with them. And then you guys can try it together and have some conversations about it. As as we know, one of the beauties of life is opening up conversation and connection. So thanks for being here today. Big hugs, lots of love from inside, Spirit Speakeasy