Hello everybody and welcome to season two, episode one of the Awaken Together podcast.
I'm Kat.
I'm Jen.
And today we are going to do a little catch up with you.
It's a new year, it's 2022 and then we're going to get into some real soul level conversations
about the power of the collective.
Yes, we are.
Yes, it's going to be a good one.
So to give you a little insight into my life, the past month or so has been a really great
time for reflection for me personally.
I've been doing some grounding and considering all that I was building in 2021 with my business,
with aligning my life into one that feels really aligned with my purpose.
That was my year for 2021 was aligned and now heading into this new year of 2022, I've
set my word for the year as rooted.
I have some big things in the works.
Yeah.
I like it.
I have a new job coming up down the line which, Jen and I can't wait to tell you about that.
We are going to be officially co-workers.
How funny.
If you listen, you know our synchronicities already.
This is just meant to be.
It's amazing.
I'm so excited.
It is.
So we're going to be co-workers.
Kyle and I are looking to buy a house in the next three months and just grounding into
everything that I've been building with my health coaching practice, with retreats and
some more joint efforts with catalyst living and sensible wellness.
So that's me.
I want to turn it over to you, Jen.
Yeah.
The New Year's processing was great.
I loved our season one, Waking Together event that we got to do and we'll definitely do
another one after season two.
That was so nice.
We still have a lot of family stuff coming up over on my end.
So there's been a lot of kind of reintroduction of old wounds and triggers, but obviously,
yeah, it's really beautiful to see how I've evolved and how I handle those things.
And it's definitely always a interesting thing to get to watch.
But I did my vision board for the next year, which was so creative and fun.
And it's a very inspiring board.
I have kept it close and I'm really looking forward to next year.
I reflected and said my 2021 year ended up just being magic.
I couldn't remember what word I had set because my journal for last year was left in my storage
unit along with all my other stuff.
But for this year, I set my word to inspired action because I was just thinking I just
love that feeling of knowing that what I'm doing feels truly inspired.
And I just want to live in that as much as possible.
So set that kind of as my goal.
And yeah, I've been really working on a lot of grounding this last couple of days, especially.
So love the rooted theme too.
I'm sure that'll fall on my path as well.
Oh, yeah, for sure.
It's meant to.
So I was kind of in between grounded and rooted.
And here we are using our tools when we need them.
Yes.
So today we are going to talk to you about a concept that is definitely far out probably
for some people, but it is very beautiful when you kind of grasp this concept or at
least consider this concept.
So we're going all into collective consciousness and we thought that would be a great way to
start season two because our inspiration for even naming the podcast, Awaken Together,
was knowing that there is a collective mentality that me and Kat definitely prescribed to.
And we wanted to be able to share some of our deeper thoughts on that concept in general.
Yeah.
So to talk about the power of collective, collective consciousness, we wanted to start
off with a little definition for those who this may be very brand new to.
So collective consciousness is the set of shared beliefs, ideas and moral attitudes which
operate as a unifying force within society.
So for all of my empaths, raise your hand.
Hand is right.
Yeah, I know, I know, right?
Oh, chances are if you're listening to this, you've had at least empathic moments if you
don't fully identify as one at all times, but chances are you've felt that collective
energy before.
It's all about feeling others energy really tangibly rather than just a hint or a semblance
of it at some points.
And in season one, we talked a lot about like ego versus the soul.
And ego in its essence, it's your identity in human expression.
So that's where we get those I am phrases of like, I am a teacher, I am a salesperson,
I am a student.
It's what tells us what's wrong versus what's right.
And it's also kind of a defense mechanism about protecting yourself.
So in many ways it is necessary for us to continue functioning as human beings, but
we don't need to be living from this place of letting our egos dictate and rule our worlds.
It's a big part of what keeps us separate rather than one of the whole.
Yeah.
And so I think when it really comes down to, I think all of us can see that there has been
further division.
And we've talked about it as some are awakening and some feel like they're just falling into
really old patterns.
And I think, but when you take like all the superficial stuff and the kind of general
disagreements that people have, I do think when you trace those down to their origin,
it's a big difference in individual thinking versus collective thinking.
And so yeah, when we talk ego versus soul, when you do believe that it's about you and
only you and you take everything personally, and we've talked about disassembling kind
of the personality in general, those are the things that I think we've built our world
on.
I think we've built our world in a system that has function on ego and personality.
And so for many of us in the kind of more awakened mindset, I think it's very exciting
to think that we're dismantling a structure that was built on kind of that.
Yeah.
Some people have it, some people don't power kind of mindset and breaking that down to
we are one.
And if we all deeply do that healing work within ourselves, it's going to change and
reflect what our actual reality looks like and the way the system is structured in general.
Yes.
So what affects collective energy?
A lot of what we're talking about is rooted down to feelings and feelings that cause us
to act in a certain way.
And so in society, we see fear.
Fear causes division.
It causes disconnection.
It's a really strong emotion that has power in driving forces.
It can be used for good in some ways when it's not just fear alone, but it's actually
paired with here's what we do about it.
Here's how we help each other.
But we do see fear used as a tactic by toxic leadership, by politics sometimes to gain
that power and further divide and kind of increase the ego and the need for it and the desire
to protect yourself as an individual rather than thinking about your neighbor and how
this affects us as a whole.
We've seen that a lot like with global events, the pandemic, right?
Yeah.
And I think if we look through history, there's been individuals that have been able to stand
out to create larger movements.
And some of that has been done in the name of ego and some of it has been done in the
name of love or fear or looking back and forth.
So I think you can definitely pinpoint the power of one person standing in their beliefs
and being able to shift the mindset of a lot of people around.
We talked about it a little bit in our nervous system regulation, talking about groups of
people kind of, it's that group think mentality and you can think of it somewhat from a psychology
point or you can look at it even from an energetic standpoint or even they've been able to prove
physical links and groups coming together with similar intention.
But when we trace that down, the soil that that is built on can still be done out of
fear.
So if a entire group is coming together in the name of everything is wrong and we have
to fight and there's this kind of maybe mindset of we're in danger, maybe that group doesn't
end up creating as much of the changes they want.
And that is what we're hoping to do in the kind of spiritual community is I think remind
people of this greater flow state, this greater belief that if we all deeply love ourselves,
we can reflect that love and that changes can occur without even having to be something
we necessarily fight through.
But when we're standing in our own truth and power and that's rooted in love that can also
have just as much significance and lead to just as much change.
One of the things we were talking about when we were planning for this episode is I think
one of the scariest things when you start talking collective mentality is it can sound
very scary if you look at some of your maybe more dysfunctional people in the family that
you've removed yourself from or you think of individuals that maybe you would have labeled
as toxic or I don't want anything to do with them.
And then when you're talking collective and that we are all one, it's very scary to lump
yourselves up with some of the people you've labeled as yeah, being completely different
and opposite to you.
So to address a little bit of that, I love the book The Seat of the Soul.
I've talked about this book before on our podcast, but I really think when we zoom out
from the individual and you get that mindset anyway, you see that someone's toxic behavior
is so much more than who they are as a person, but it's zooming out to kind of that dysfunction
that we've created in society anyway.
And maybe they are a side effect of that disconnected society versus they are so intentionally
trying to be the worst person.
They could have prescribed a lot more to deeper collective insanity in a way, does that make
sense Kat?
It does, yes, absolutely.
We can kind of instead of feeling this responsibility of like, man, we all have to rise as a collective,
but look at all these people that are holding me down and holding society down.
I love what you're saying, Jen, of like shifting that perception of rather than I need to disconnect
from all of these people, there is something to setting boundaries and that's important,
but seeing them as from that lens of love and compassion as they are victims of their
dysfunctional environment and how can I tap into my place of love and centeredness and
just show up as the best version of me and hopefully that can inspire someone else to
be vulnerable enough to do that themselves and show that it's okay because when we show
up as being the most rooted, plugged in versions of ourselves leading from that place of compassion,
then we inspire others to do that too.
So rather than just avoiding the areas of people that maybe you have a hard time with,
try to just see them from that different lens and of course keep your boundaries sturdy
and steady, but just shifting that simple, that viewpoint can bring a lot of peace for
me.
Yeah, because when you're sending hate their way because of all of the things they've done
wrong, you're affecting your own energetic body as well.
When you can zoom out, even if there's a long list of personal things that person has
done to affect you negatively, if you zoom out and see it as being a side effect of something
deeper, you also then are viewing them with more softness and that doesn't take as much
of your own energy reserve either.
So it's bringing it back to forgiveness and the significance of forgiveness.
It's just a different charge that you're giving other people then.
So I think whatever perspectives you can gather that sends softness to people that maybe think
opposite than you or are so kind of stuck in mindsets that you can see are toxic, if
you can find a way to view them where you're extending more love and light, it really does
not only shift how much of your own valuable energy you're expending on trying to not like
that person, but you're also then letting them meet some light.
So it's a beautiful way to think for sure.
Yeah, there's a wisdom there, right?
A hundred percent.
And yeah, we were talking about that too.
Believing that we're a part of something bigger, like one collective maybe moving forward wheel
in some way, when you think that way, you no longer are, you know, it's tough to do
your own personal journey and really see the significance in it when you're not kind of
zooming out to think of it being as part of something bigger.
For me, that belief system that there is a higher flow state or a higher force guiding
us and that when we can be in tune to that, it's so much, it's not about us.
It's about something so much more beautiful.
I think that has been a beautiful anger for me to see the significance in doing all of
the work, even beyond just what it feels like to me.
Of course, it feels amazing once you learn how to take care and love yourself.
But I think that's what kind of can be something that keeps guiding me back.
If I feel a little lost and helpless, knowing that it's a part of something more beautiful
definitely is grounding for me.
Yes, it's so beautiful.
I love that and I definitely resonate.
It makes me think about a little bit of past lives and how we just continue to come back
here until we have fulfilled our souls purpose.
We'll get into this in another episode with the Akashic Records and past lives.
I highly recommend it for this season.
Yes, yes.
I've been listening, making notes, so that's to come for sure reincarnation.
But yeah, it's like when I feel like I am living my truth, I'm living my purpose.
Not only do I shine my light for others to be inspired to do the same, but I'm in my
flow.
And when I'm in my flow, I affect others and others go into their flow and knowing that
we are all connected and supporting this higher mission, it just feels so good.
It feels so much better than just thinking that I'm just someone here twiddling my thumbs
because then what's the purpose of life?
Yes, agreed.
And so we thought it was important to mention too.
I think when you go into kind of any collective group, we have built tons of structures within
a structure.
We've talked about continuously eliminating your boxes so that you stay receptive and
open to a sense of flow.
But I think when you enter into any community space, I think especially in this wellness,
spiritual healing, even in that sector where people are trying to find more collective
good, you can still feel this root of fear at times where people are looking to what
is pulling us away from knowing we are one?
What are the things creating disconnection?
And I think you can get so caught up in that fear thinking of what things are keeping me
from being able to communicate with my spirit guides, being able to tap into higher powers,
maybe manifestation and you start trying to find the root of what's pulling you from it.
And so we can get into this really lost mindset of the government and all these deep things.
You see these concepts, I think if you're new to the awakening journey, maybe you haven't
met that side of the communities, but it definitely is out there.
And so what I try to remind myself continuously as a gauge is, is this making me, like, I'm
living more fear.
Am I all of a sudden then wanting to view other people through the lens of hate because
I think that they're doing me wrong?
Because then that's if you recognize from the conversation, all that's doing is bringing
ego back in.
I need to find who's doing something wrong.
I need to find someone to blame.
That's looking outside of yourself yet again.
So if you're finding that mindset being thrown onto you and your social media, you're seeing
that fear based thinking remind yourself that ego can creep in into the most healed version
of somebody and try to make identity out of it, where then all of a sudden you're right
and someone else is wrong.
And so keep checking yourself on that because it's a never ending journey of letting go.
Definitely wanted to preface.
Yes, I'm so glad you brought that up because pointing fingers gets really dangerous.
You're always looking for someone or something to blame when things go wrong and like you
said, it takes us away from what's true and what's real.
So let's talk about fear, love, and hate for a second because these are some of the most
powerful emotions that do drive behavior.
We touched on a little bit before.
But I really like to come back to that ideology that hate is just the other side of the same
coin of love.
And we need to be really passionate and care about something in order to quote unquote
hate it.
And so I think coming back to that of like, we all just care so much.
We all just care and what a beautiful way to level with someone is even if you see differently
like Vax versus anti Vax division, extreme opposition.
It's like the beauty that we care.
And we all at the end of the day want the same things.
And Aristotle in his work, Politics, he referenced this, he said it as wisdom of the crowd.
And so I just love this whole thought that forever, for so long, people have known that
group think, herd mentality, the wisdom of getting more minds together is more powerful
than just being siloed.
And that's a way that we as humans are designed, right?
We weren't designed to live on our own in the woods forever.
We were brought up in tribes if you trace our lineage all the way back.
And even when we consider child rearing, like we were brought up in tribes of aunts and uncles
and cousins.
And so it's no wonder sometimes we can feel a little isolated when that's no longer the
case and we live in our homes and sometimes far away from people.
So just returning to this idea of like this is what's true.
This is what's meant to be.
We are actually better together and together we can uplift each other.
Yeah.
And that is definitely the way we structure society is that you're out for yourself.
You need to, yeah, you know, our whole entire society is set up for just like your own household.
That's, we very much lost that community link.
And I do think that's the lingering loneliness.
A lot of us feel is that it is supposed to be more than that.
But at the same time, we see a beautiful change in a lot of people doing this, this self-love
work and the mental health stuff is being very recognized.
And I think we're just really starting to, you know, everyone's theorizing on why we're
seeing an uptick of so many problems.
And I do think in the separation that we have had, we've also been able to kind of restructure
and find it even online social media.
People are kind of creating their own little communities and we're getting back to that
and realizing the value of that.
So hopefully we can get back to a society that gives us more space and room for that.
And we can if we all deeply believe that for sure.
Yeah, I think now we have the language for it too.
Things that have always been true.
Now we have more ways to connect for better or for worse, right?
Sometimes it can be a little exhausting to always be so plugged in.
But you know, when we take away the comparison and just trust that, yeah, we're all brothers
and sisters here as an integral part of the whole of existence.
Like, whoa, that changes the whole energy of it.
It really does.
Little perspective change, 100%.
Yeah, so we wanted to talk about some of the just overall positives.
Now that you have some context of the kind of what it all looks like, what it all can
feel like, the moments that I have felt the biggest collective shifts in my own life have
pretty much all occurred at different yoga retreats, different yoga events in yoga class
even when I've been in that moment of just seeing everyone in their rawness, their wildness,
leading with their weaknesses, not trying to hide and shield their weaknesses, but being
able to be authentic.
Those are the moments when I feel almost a cord tying myself to every single person
and it's receptive and it's not just taking, it's like a perfect balance of giving and
receiving.
I'd love to hear, Kat, some of the moments you felt that real collective mentality.
Yeah, definitely.
So one time where I really remember this, like I'll probably never forget, it was early
on in my yoga practice and I was in Shavasana and I was very much in my shift of understanding
what kind of life I wanted to live and what I wanted to let go of and my identity and
what that meant for my work and the people I hung out with.
But so I was going through all of that just mentally, emotionally, physically and at the
end of my yoga practice, I was just laying there in the studio in Shavasana and I was
just overtaken by this sense of love and calm and peace in this collective consciousness
that we're speaking of.
And I just remember thinking like, whoa, if everyone could just experience this feeling,
the sense of calm and peace, there would be no war, there would be no hurting each other.
All of these global issues could be resolved just because of this one feeling.
So that has stuck with me and I returned to it often in Shavasana and in meditation and
just knowing that this is available to all of us but sometimes we don't know how to access
it.
And so that's why light workers, healers, even just everyday common people, just turning
to meditation and taking moments to check in with yourself, have some quiet time and
still your mind, that's everything.
And then the other times that I've experienced this sense of collective consciousness that
screams out to me is music festivals, which is such a big part of who I am and what's
made me who I am because I'm telling you, the dance floor is my church.
And moving and grooving and just looking around and catching a smile of a stranger through
the crowd and just knowing that we are all looking out for each other, like we are all
there together, vibing to the same beat, same song, and that we care and that there's just
so much love there.
That's when I also experience a collective consciousness to the highest extreme.
Yeah, so beautiful.
And I'm sure in those moments when you're, yeah, I think that happens a lot on dance
floors when people are truly just expressing and you see that movement in someone's body
and it's just raw and wild.
Like, you know, I think, yeah, you can go to a dance floor definitely where people are
still very scared to fully move and release their body.
But when you're in those moments of just like unmasking, which is another topic, I definitely
we're going to delve into this week or on the season is, yeah, what it looks like to
like unmask for especially like the neurodivergent minds, but I've been focusing a lot on that
myself that when I lead with my raw, wild, it's kind of what maybe would be previously
labeled as weird side.
I'm also giving so much permission for people to meet me with that same type of energy.
And I think the more spaces we can create where we are standing in our authentic truth,
the power behind that and what can happen is truly unreal.
I really, really, really do believe that.
That is why we are in this space doing this podcast.
We really deeply, deeply believe in collective change.
Definitely.
Yeah.
And a big part of this podcast is making these big ideologies digestible and accessible
to everyone.
So in just thinking about that, I mean, meditation is a really direct, fast, powerful way to
magnify your intentions and your energy.
And as you focus on sending peace and healing and love to those in need, you also become
a healthier, more joyful version of you.
And I mean, a loving kindness meditation where you think about your own desires to be happy,
healthy and free, and then rippling that out to someone you love, and then rippling that
out further to someone who's neutral to you, and then going as far as considering someone
who maybe you dislike or have challenging times with considering their want and need
for the same exact things.
It takes that mask away.
It kind of levels us.
It brings me to my knees.
And just, it's very humbling.
So that's one tool that immediately comes to mind for me.
There's also some pretty powerful visualizations that you can consider, such as the way that
a tiny pebble, when you throw it into a lake, causes large ripple effects on the water.
Something like that about how every little action ripples out.
And it's important, like you transmit vibrational energies, and by you doing so, that sends
it out to others around you, whether you see it or you feel it or not.
It's powerful stuff.
You are not just a drop in the ocean.
You are the ocean in a drop.
One of my favorite sayings, like embodying these mentalities can do wonders.
Yeah, and my advice is to show up in all versions of yourself.
Don't feel like you can only leave the house when you're having a really high energy, happy
day.
Show up in the days that are really hard too, so that people can see that there's not one
emotion that's bad.
Show up in your silly version, your loud version, your sorrow version, any way, because honestly,
we all have the same underlying emotions.
It's just the fear that we are alone in them that really creates that disconnection.
Beautifully said.
So much truth there.
Yeah, and it's like we are not here to be carbon copies of each other or just to transmit
love and light all the time.
That runs flat, so yeah, showing up exactly as you are gives permission for others to
do the same too.
Yes, and we will talk more about Soul Blueprints in next episode when we go into astrology.
Lots to say on that.
So yeah, I hope that this conversation hits you in the heart and you see the deep significance
of what we're doing and we're so thankful that we're building this Awaken Together community.
If you don't follow our Instagram page, it is Awaken Together podcast and we share the
episodes on there and we also are going to be doing a schedule change.
We'll announce that on the page too for the podcast.
So we're going to do this episode.
We're always going to put a week in between, so it's going to be bi-monthly most of the
time.
So when then, we might throw you guys a little guest episode as me and Kat definitely have
some people we'd like to bring in to help share some other subjects and new insights.
So be on the lookout for guest episodes this season too.
We're definitely going to share some of that, but every other week generally.
So if you want to stay up to date on when we've launched an episode, just follow our
page.
Yes, we have lots of good stuff on there for you and it's the most direct way to give
us your feedback on these episodes and any topics that you'd like to hear more about.
This is for you.
This is why we do this.
So we love connecting together in community and we have a really exciting announcement
for you all.
I wish I had like a little drum roll.
Yeah, right?
So we are announcing our very first joint Awaken Together retreats.
It's going to be, yeah, it's going to take place the last weekend in April from April,
what's the date, the 27th until the 1st of May.
It'll be in Breckenridge, Colorado.
So for all of our local people, hopefully you can drive on over and for those who aren't
local, it'll be a really beautiful way to connect.
It's going to be full of yoga, wellness, nature adventuring, self love circles, sisterhood,
and we're not announcing this to the public quite yet.
So you are our inner circle.
You get first dibs.
The way where you can learn more about this and sign up is on my website.
It's www.catalystliving and that's Catalyst with a K. www.catalystliving.com slash offerings.
And you can read all about it right there.
Let us know what questions you have on Instagram.
And if we don't fill our limited 10 spots, then we will be going public with this, but
there's a lot of interest.
So we're stoked about it.
It's going to be really special.
I'm so excited.
Me too.
All right.
Well, we thank you guys for joining us and we will see you next week.
Goodbye, Cat.
Goodbye.
Happy New Year again.
You too.
Bye.