The Power of Woo Woo Spirituality

Welcome to the USU podcast,

Now reaching earbuds in over 175 countries and growing.

I'm Julie Riesler,

An interior designer for your soul.

I'm a master life coach,

Author of Get a PhD in You,

Founder of the Life Designer Coach Academy,

Professor at Georgetown University,

And host of this powerful show.

I created this show because I believe you are meant to expand,

Evolve,

And express yourself fully as your most authentic,

Extraordinary,

Truest USU.

That dream that lives within you,

It's meant to manifest.

Tune in with me to hear life-changing conversations with leading experts,

Spiritual luminaries,

And fellow entrepreneurs and creatives to help guide you back to your divine self,

To your inherent worthiness,

Your sacred purpose,

Your right to prosperity and full health,

And your ability to do,

Be,

Or have whatever lights you up the most.

This podcast will help you live a life that's designed by your soul and not your fear.

Now that we've got that clear,

I'm just going to remind you one more time.

You were born to fully be your USU.

It's your time.

Are you ready to join me on this journey?

Let's do it.

Well,

It is such an honor to be here with you today,

My friend.

This is Julie Riesler.

I am so honored to be in your earbud,

Be part of your life,

Your learning,

Your lessons,

Your growth,

Your self-expression.

And ultimately you stepping into and being your USU.

That's the whole goal here.

So I'm really excited about this topic today.

Today it's going to be you and I hang in one-on-one.

And it'll be a conversation that I think is one,

Hopefully,

That will open minds,

Open hearts,

Open our greater understanding and connection to our higher self,

To the divine.

I have been wanting to talk about this subject for a while.

And I just said intention,

Said a little prayer before I started hitting record,

Because I really hope that this chat,

This fireside chat together with me,

Sharing some of my feelings and thoughts,

Insights.

I hope that as always,

You take what resonates and you discard the rest,

But that you really can hear this with an open heart.

So we are going to dive in today to all things,

Quote unquote,

Called woo-woo.

So maybe you found yourself in a situation where let's say you've gotten more into practices like mindfulness,

Spiritual connection,

Meditation,

Yoga,

Using crystals,

Oracle cards,

Anything in that realm and beyond.

And maybe you heard yourself or someone else say,

Oh my God,

Friend,

You're so woo-woo,

That's so woo.

Like maybe you've used that term.

I know that I have done that quite a bit in jest.

And I actually want to talk a little bit about this word,

Like what it means.

And you know me,

Hopefully by now,

I love making up meanings and new words.

So I want to share an inspiration,

A thought that came to me about a month ago when I had used this term,

Kind of making fun of myself a little.

And the truth is I was upset with myself after because I thought,

Why did I just say that?

Why did I say that's so woo or so woo-woo?

Like I actually feel like that can do a disservice,

Especially to all of those of us in the world of healing,

Of energy practices,

Of integrative and alternative healing modalities,

Medicine practices.

And also just,

You know,

For me,

I'm all about how do we create more connection to our inner wisdom to the divine,

To something greater.

And oftentimes the word woo and or woo-woo,

I'll just sort of use them interchangeably,

Can really be used as a derogatory term,

Sort of as a negative,

Almost poking fun type of term.

So I thought what I would do is just share,

I did of course what we all do,

Right?

I Googled woo and woo-woo,

And I thought I would share with you what it said.

So the first definition was unconventional beliefs regarded as having little or no scientific basis,

Especially around spirituality or alternative medicine.

So that was the first definition.

The second that I saw underneath that was woo-woo is basically connoting that which is spiritual,

Mystical,

Healing,

Heartfelt,

Intuitive,

Or alternative.

And I got to tell you,

My friend,

When I read that second definition,

I felt it in my gut.

Like,

Wow,

This term,

Which can be used so,

You know,

In a way that can really be kind of to put down,

Make fun of,

Belittle,

Even ingest,

You know,

Even ingest still,

There's I think some truth often in using this term that says it's not legit.

It's not legitimate.

These practices are not true or real or science-based.

And so I thought we would look at that today together.

I thought we'd look at that.

And I have some thoughts that I think might shed a new light on this word.

And frankly,

You know,

This idea of what is woo,

Right?

And what is woo-woo spirituality?

Like what does that even mean?

I'm curious.

So you'll have to let me know.

Have you ever been called like,

Oh,

You're so woo-woo?

Or have you used that term?

Like,

I'm curious to know your relationship with the word.

For you,

It might be,

You know,

It might feel like,

Yeah,

I do these things,

These practices,

These ways of grounding and being connected.

And I think of them as woo-woo.

And it doesn't really,

It's not an issue for me.

Others,

You might feel like,

You know,

It's a little bit pejorative.

It's a little bit,

It's kind of putting down this whole field of spiritual connection.

So curious where you are in the spectrum.

There is no judgment,

By the way.

One thing I have noticed though,

As I have been doing this work more and more,

Especially I'm located,

You know,

On the East coast.

And I just have to say this,

Not that everybody in the West coast embodies these kinds of alternative healing,

Mystical,

Intuitive practices.

But I can tell you whenever I've spent time,

Especially in,

You know,

Out West in Sedona or in California,

I notice a lot more openness,

Right?

I just a lot more openness.

Now I've seen a huge shift for sure,

Especially where I am in sort of that East coast,

Kind of near the Southern,

You know,

Between South and Southeast and East coast,

I'm in the DC area.

I've seen a shift.

I've seen people that I would never think be into these kinds of practices waking up,

Opening up.

And so I'm just,

Again,

Going to invite you just like a flower that's opening.

Just allow yourself to be open here.

You don't have to accept or take in all of this.

And as always,

You know,

Notice how you're feeling.

So first what I want to do is I want to talk a little bit about this idea of woo-woo being this,

You know,

Unconventional beliefs regarded as little or no scientific basis.

So before I give you my definition of woo,

Which I think is actually pretty solid,

Like I love it.

It's been really helping me.

Before I give that to you,

I do want to share that there is actually so much science out there today.

So much science supporting healing around being able to change our energy and body chemistry.

So if you've been a listener for a while with me and on the show,

Then hopefully you've heard some of the episodes,

Some of the interviews I've had with,

With incredible luminaries and experts like Greg Brayden.

I've had three times and he is the author of many books,

One including the Divine Matrix.

And we talked about the quantum physics,

The energy,

The science behind how the field of intelligence works.

And I will make sure to link these episodes below.

So if you want to go deeper with me,

My friend,

I will,

I will say,

I will hook you up.

You know,

I had Dr.

Bruce Lipton who wrote the biology belief and literally goes through the scientific biology of how we are programmed to have beliefs that can affect our wellbeing.

And one of the findings that he shared is that 99% of our,

Of our health,

Of our wellbeing has everything to do with,

With our thoughts,

With our beliefs.

Only 1% is connected to our actual genetics.

This whole field is called epigenetics.

So I just want to share,

There are grounded scientific principles studies,

So many ways of actually breaking apart what is considered quote unquote,

Woo,

Where we have data that supports evidence that we are connected.

We are connected to what we think and what we believe that our mindset,

That our,

Our heart,

That it's all a part of how our life shows up.

So I will definitely put a link to Dr.

Bruce Lipton's episode as well,

Because we went really deep into the impact of stress on your life,

On how that can affect your,

Your wellbeing,

Your health,

Your,

You know,

Whether you are struggling with disease and illness is very much connected to how you see yourself,

How you speak to yourself,

The beliefs you have.

And I think it's just so important to understand how powerful you and I are.

And that's one of the takeaways I'm hoping you get from this is truly the divinity that lives within you,

How powerful you are,

How powerful as a human being you are to write your chapter,

To write your life story,

To,

To use these tools of,

Of spiritual connection,

Of energy healing,

Of intuition,

Heart intelligence,

Right?

All of these mystic traditions to really design your best life.

So we'll make sure to put Dr.

Bruce Lipton's episode.

And then I do want to go into for a moment into what I have really,

I've done,

I've taken a nosedive into myself,

Which is heart intelligence.

I've had Dr.

Debbie Rosman.

I've had actually twice,

And I've had Dr.

Roland McCready,

Both with the HeartMath Institute.

So I just want to share with you a little bit about your heart because you may not have heard that episode.

Maybe you're a newer listener,

But there's real science here,

My friend.

And I think this is going to help with that,

That whole,

Like,

This is so woo.

So I'm just going to read to you.

I am certified with the HeartMath Institute.

I have a ton of certifications.

This is one that I did a couple of years ago.

I wanted to be able to facilitate and do more because it's so powerful.

So I'm looking at my notes and,

And,

You know,

I want to talk about the heart.

First of all,

Yes,

Your heart is obviously a physical organ that pumps blood tirelessly throughout your organs that has literally been with you since the first organ to form in utero.

It's,

You know,

When you,

When the mother goes in,

I know when I went in for an ultrasound,

That's what we're looking for is the heartbeat.

Right.

And so there's the,

The technical,

The physical function of your heart,

Right?

It's also though an information processing center.

It sends important signals to the brain and to the rest of the body.

And one thing you may not realize is that heart is also associated with a deeper wisdom and intuition.

It is truly the core of our authentic selves.

There is so much research done on the science of intuition and how it's connected to our hearts.

And again,

I will link all of those episodes.

So if you want to dive deeper,

You can really get into that.

But I'll give you a little bit more information here so that you can just kind of grasp how powerful your heart is,

Not just as a powerful organ pumping blood and life force.

But I want you to understand the heart produces an electromagnetic field.

This field is measured with a device called a magnetometer,

And it can be detected up to about three feet from your body.

The field is carrying information about our emotional states.

Our nervous systems can detect the magnetic fields that other people around us are radiating.

And the information carried by the heart's field can affect other people in measurable ways.

So here is the thing,

Your heart,

How you're feeling,

Your energy,

What you're thinking and saying to yourself,

What you're saying about other people.

Are you in judgment?

Are you attacking yourself?

Are you in love,

Kindness?

So here's the cool,

Crazy,

Amazing thing that is considered woo,

But is not woo,

Because it's backed by science and it's real.

Your heart has an electromagnetic field.

It is picking up other people's energy and it's also distributing and sending out your energy.

So in a sense,

My dear friend,

We are broadcasting our emotions.

In many ways,

It's through these energetic connections that we sense what others are feeling and others can sense what we are feeling.

Okay?

So this is really important to understand.

We literally have electromagnetic fields.

They are three feet beyond around our heart.

This information,

Which is influenced by our emotions and inner attitudes is being broadcast and can have beneficial effects on those around us.

They can also have negative effects,

Right?

If you are in despair or depressed,

You know,

And no judgment,

But that can affect your energy and the field.

Greg Brayden,

Dr.

Joe Dispenza,

For those who might not know Dr.

Joe Dispenza,

Who does a ton of work using these heart math,

These principles,

Talks about this all the time.

So we are constantly either adding to the field or not through our heart and through our emotions,

Right?

So right now someone might say,

Oh,

Wow,

Julie,

That sounds really woo woo,

Right?

But it's scientifically backed.

I'm not going to get into horses because I'm not an expert on horses.

But one thing we know,

You probably have seen in the news or been reading about the importance and the rise of equine therapy,

Especially for those who've suffered trauma,

PTSD,

Veterans using equine therapy horses to heal.

Horses like humans also have a large electromagnetic field.

I believe it's even larger than human beings,

Electromagnetic field around their heart.

And it can pick up the human being heart field as well.

And one of the things that's so helpful is being able to tap into their heart,

Electromagnetic field with yours and creating bonds and safety.

And I won't get into that,

But I can tell you that there are hundreds of studies done through the HeartMath Institute.

And again,

We'll put the links below that really are spending time,

Resources,

And science in such a powerful way that is measuring the impact of our heart,

Our heart intelligence,

The electromagnetic field.

I mean,

I could go into coherence,

Which is the cooperative alignment between the heart,

Mind and emotions.

And this can be measured by looking at changes in our heart rhythms,

Our heart rate variability analysis.

And literally HRV is heart rate variability.

So there's a device,

I've used it,

Called the Inner Balance.

I've used it many,

Many times where you can actually learn how to change your heart rate variability so that it is in a coherent state.

We know when we're in coherence,

When we are coherent,

Our nervous system heals,

We're warmer,

We feel better,

We are in those heart qualities of appreciation and love and kindness.

So I just want to say,

And there's so much more about heart intelligence that I could get into.

Again,

I'll share the links below,

But I want to remind you that this is something we all share.

We all have hearts,

Right?

And so what could be considered quote unquote woo or woo woo is actually it's basic science.

It's crucial to understand this is a unifying force.

This is a golden thread.

We are all part of the same makeup,

My friend.

I don't care your religion,

Your race,

Your background,

Your gender,

Where you're from.

You have a heart,

I have a heart.

Our heart is here as a guide.

So intuition,

Getting into the science of intuition,

It's connected to your heart and your heart intelligence.

We know that our heart has over 40,

000 sensory neurites and that those neurites,

Like our brain,

Gathers intelligence from the field around us,

Right?

Through our electromagnetic field and the field that we live in,

Because we're all made of energy.

So this is like,

It's real important to understand that there is backing behind a lot of what can be considered out there and just kind of shoo,

Shoo,

Just kind of looked at as not important and not concrete and not backed by science or practical,

Real substantiated research.

And that's not true.

So again,

You don't have to believe this,

Right?

You can definitely do your research.

You can listen to the other episodes,

But I thought it was important to bring that research in as well.

So what came to me about a month ago is I was thinking about this topic and I was upset with myself.

I'm like,

Why did I use that word?

And it really like puts down this whole field,

This whole arena.

Frankly,

I believe part of what is happening in our planet right now is there is a call to action of the greatest kind,

To be the greatest kind,

To be our greatest kind,

Literally to be our greatest,

Most kind selves,

To see the oneness in every single human being,

To see the unified fields and force,

To be in a state of unity.

What that means though,

Is that we've got to start with ourselves,

Start looking at how are you being towards yourself and to others.

So things like,

You know,

When you have thoughts that are attacking you or others that would look like judgment,

Right,

Or fears or jealousy or envy or any of that,

That kind of that realm is to start raising your awareness,

Start turning the volume up,

Turning the knob up on awareness.

We start with awareness.

You don't want to start judging yourself,

But you do want to start noticing.

So I was really sitting with this and I thought,

What,

How can I look at woo in a more positive light?

Like I have a coaching background.

My top strength is positivity.

Like I'm constantly like,

Look,

How can I look at this from a better place,

More positive light?

And it occurred to me,

I was like,

Oh my gosh,

I'm going to redefine woo.

So that's what we're doing here together,

My friend.

We're going to redefine it because if it's going to be used,

Let's use it and own it or let's not use it at all.

Right.

And I say,

If we're going to use it,

Let's own it.

And so my definition of woo is wisdom of oneness.

Try that on.

So next time you hear someone say,

That's so woo,

Or you say that,

Maybe try on a new framework for woo.

To me,

It's really the wisdom of oneness.

What I just talked about with Heart Intelligence,

With the HeartMath Institute,

All of their work they're doing with,

You know,

The work that Dr.

Joe Dispenza,

Greg Brayden,

Dr.

Bruce Lipton,

Lynn McTaggart,

Who is on here,

I'll share her episode.

She has studied the power of intention for years,

Years and years.

I'm talking hundreds of studies on the fact that as human beings,

You can set an intention.

And if you hold that intention and get really specific,

And then let's say you even bring others in for the same intention,

You can literally create world peace.

You can create healing.

You can create the desired outcome of that intention.

And I encourage you to read the Intention Experiment,

Incredible book that she wrote.

And I interviewed her and we talked about this.

And I've led my own,

You know,

Intention experiment groups and it's so powerful.

So I'm kind of here just to stand in this place of,

Let's remember that although we're,

You know,

We think we're these human beings,

We are spiritual beings having a human experience.

And just like the divine,

We are divinely gifted with these attributes.

Let us not forget our strength,

Our ability to tap into something way greater.

And the fact that this wisdom of oneness,

This woo,

Is actually part of your birthright.

We actually,

In my humble opinion,

Are meant to be kind to one another,

To see the divine in one another.

And what namaste means,

By the way,

For those who've gotten into yoga and mindfulness practices and all those things,

Consider quote unquote woo.

Namaste in Sanskrit means the divine,

The light in I,

Sees and honors the divine light in you.

How might you start showing up in that way,

Truly seeing the divine in everybody,

The person who's in the grocery store aisle,

The person who's asking for money on the side of the highway,

Right?

The person who just annoyed the crap out of you.

How about yourself,

Right?

How can we start living this wisdom of oneness and start to do that with ourselves and with others?

How can we see that unity,

That oneness?

How can we be wise enough to start making that a priority in all that we are,

In all that we are doing,

In all that we are sharing?

And so I just hope that this conversation with me and you together,

A little fireside chat about the wisdom of oneness,

About woo and about spirituality has perhaps opened a door,

Has perhaps opened you up,

Opened your heart,

Given you some nourishment and food for thought.

You know,

I'm aware that in a day and age in society where we're constantly being challenged by social media and TV and advertising and Photoshop photos and just beliefs that are really not necessarily in our highest good,

I just invite you to really take a pause,

Take a beat.

And the next time you hear the word woo or woo woo,

Maybe you embrace it.

Maybe you remember and you write down,

Oh,

That's wisdom of oneness.

You know,

I'm actually a stand for that.

And it might not be everything that comes under the sun of what that means.

Maybe you're not as much into alternative healing,

Right?

Or the mystical,

That's okay.

Maybe it's just that you are a stand for living in your heart and for all of us living in our heart.

And so the next time we put that down,

I'm just going to invite you and me to really redefine this notion of woo,

This notion of,

You know,

These unconventional beliefs that are regarded as impractical,

That are regarded as not,

You know,

Up to the standards or scientifically backed.

I could go on for days.

There are the studies Dr.

Imoto created around water and the power of water in our thoughts and our words.

If you've heard my interview with Dr.

Jill Bolte-Taylor,

I've done two interviews with her.

I will put both links below.

She gets into the incredible power of our brain and mind in the left and the right hemisphere and how we actually have four characters,

Aspects that are always at play.

Two in the left,

The left brain,

We've got the emotional and the thinking tissue and two in the right brain,

The thinking and emotional tissue.

And she reminds us,

Especially in that right side of the brain,

That that fourth character that's connected to the all that is the divine.

This is what Dr.

Jill Bolte-Taylor experienced when she had her stroke.

She did her first TED Talk,

A Stroke of Insight,

That went viral.

That was her first book.

And she's since wrote the book,

Whole Brain Living.

I've talked to her twice.

She's become a very close and dear friend and I love her.

And she's talked about moving from that highly intellectualized,

You know,

Life of being a neuroanatomist at Harvard,

Which is nothing wrong,

It's fantastic,

Yet it was her stroke when she lost the ability to reason,

Her left brain that was dominant in her life,

That ran the roost.

You know,

It's the highly intellectualized,

Often our ego slash the part of us that is all about making rules and sticking to plans.

We need that.

We need both.

Yet she had this magical experience as she describes it,

Where she lost access to that for a long time and lived in the right side where it was joy and connection to all that is.

She was living in woe,

The wisdom of oneness.

And she wasn't sure she wanted to come back here,

But she decided she wanted to come back and get better because she wanted to be able to teach what's really happening in our brain.

So I hope that this just reminds you that the wisdom of oneness,

This idea of oneness is it's not pie in the sky.

It's not airy-fairy.

It's actually,

I think,

Something for all of us to aim for in our own way.

And of course,

You know,

I believe that everything on the outer,

Our outer world is reflecting our inner world,

Our inner thoughts,

What we are saying to ourselves,

How we are behaving in the world.

It's just going to show the law of cause and effect.

So the place to begin in this wisdom of oneness,

My dear friend,

Is with yourself.

How might you find that oneness within you,

That sense of calm,

Peace?

And one of the most recent interviews I did with Alan Cohen,

He wrote a book about A Course in Miracles Made Easy.

And we talked about this a lot,

About eradicating fear,

Letting go of fear.

So the way to get rid of fear bit by bit,

Right?

Because we live in a society that I feel sadly,

You know,

Has really birthed a lot of fear,

Instigates a lot of fear in a lot of different ways,

Whether it is fear of not,

You know,

Of looking older,

Fear of aging,

Fear of not being liked enough,

Fear of not having enough followers.

I mean,

We could go on and on about the fears.

The way to let that fear subside is by creating peace,

Creating peace and harmony and a unified field within you.

And guess what?

The ways to do that,

Going back to Wu,

To the wisdom of oneness,

What are those ways to create calm?

Just like the ocean,

Right?

Our thoughts can be like turbulent waves that feel like they're pummeling us,

Or our thoughts and our way of being can be like the bottom of the ocean,

Calm,

Steady,

Collected,

And peaceful.

The way to create that calm,

Unified,

Wise self is through these practices that are often considered Wu,

Through meditation and mindfulness,

Right?

Through connecting to your inner wisdom,

Your intuition,

Through somatic healing practices,

Through modalities like coaching,

Right?

And counseling as well,

And Reiki,

And hands-on energy work,

Acupuncture,

And mystical practices and prayer.

So the next time you put anything down that's in that realm,

I just encourage you to put down the putting down,

Put down the judgment of yourself first and foremost.

And I'm going to take this on as well.

I've been doing this as I've been working personally in my life.

I've been working,

Of course,

In miracles every day,

And it's been life-changing,

Game-changing,

And many of the practices that I've just shared with you,

This wisdom of oneness,

These Wu practices.

And as we put down the put down,

As we lift up a world that is focused more on kindness and peace,

We truly can start to shift both our own energy,

And we can start to feed the field with more heart,

More heart felt energy and intelligence.

And I can tell you from all of the studies I've read and what I've learned,

Especially through the HeartMath Institute,

You and I have the ability,

And we don't need everyone to be able to do this.

It's actually a small fraction,

Although I'd love to see all of us in the world do this,

But it matters.

You and your energy matters.

You're tapping into wisdom,

To that wisdom of oneness,

It matters.

You showing up coming from love and grace and kindness and forgiveness,

If we can start to learn to forgive ourselves and forgive others,

That my friend is wisdom of oneness.

And that is what I believe our world is asking for.

So bring on the woo,

Bring on the wisdom of oneness,

And bring on you and me remembering who we really are,

Tapping into your divine nature and mine,

And may we each see that in each other.

So I'll end with this.

Namaste.

The light in I honors,

Sees,

And loves the light in you.

As always,

It's an honor to be here with you,

Take what you love,

Leave the rest.

And I love you.

From my heart to yours,

May you embrace this wisdom of oneness in all areas of life.

I'm so honored to be a part of your journey.

Thank you for listening to this episode,

And I hope it inspires you to remember who you really are and who you chose to be in this lifetime.

If you're interested in becoming your USU,

I would love to guide you.

Please check out my website for additional information on how we can work together.

And if you feel moved,

Please subscribe,

Rate,

And review this podcast so that more big hearted individuals can find these inspiring conversations.

Honors to being and loving your USU.