EP 269 - The Journey to Simplicity and Inner Peace when Life gets Uncomfortable

Hello Magical Human & welcome back to Madison Mindset the Podcast 🧚🏼

Episode Overview: 
• Exploration of comfort zones and their impact on personal growth 
• Comparison of life in cities versus the tranquility of nature 
• Importance of minimalism for intentional living 
• The cycle of retreating to comfort versus pushing boundaries 
• Strategies for embracing discomfort and pursuing growth

This episode dives into the nature of comfort zones, exploring their role as both a safe haven and a barrier to personal growth. Through personal anecdotes and insights, we discuss how stepping outside our comfort zones, even when uncomfortable, ultimately fosters resilience and broader horizons.

You are capable.
Love,
Madison M xx

Chapters

• 0:20 Embracing a Minimalistic Lifestyle in Cities
• 12:15 Living Mindfully in Consumer Society
• 22:38 Expanding Your Comfort Zone for Growth
• 30:56 Embracing Growth Through Discomfort
• 36:37 Embracing Self-Development and Empowerment

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:20

Hello Magical Human and welcome to Madison Mindset podcast. Hello Magical Human and welcome to Madison Mindset Podcast. My name is Madison.

Speaker 1: 0:37

I'm a yoga teacher, a mindset and spirituality coach and a complete earth fairy. I see a world that is peaceful and easy to live in, humans that are awakened and enlightened towards who they are and what life truly is and why we are here. I understand life can be really hard. I've had a huge journey with anxiety myself. I understand what it's like to feel overwhelmed, overworked, stressed and frustrated within this earth. It is this journey that led me to begin my own growth journey, and it's only through those struggles that I was able to birth this podcast, so that you can have the tools and techniques and knowledge to help you step forward and be a being of light, a magical earthly being who's grounded, supported, who takes on challenges with love and embraces the lessons that each day brings. You are that being. I am here to walk you there.

Speaker 1: 1:50

You will find many different kinds of episodes through this podcast. All are created in the moment and with love for you. Find the one you need for this moment and enjoy. Take a moment for yourself, sit down with your journal and tune in. Welcome, let's begin.

Speaker 2: 2:15

I'm going to go ahead and do that. Hello, magical Human and welcome back to Madison Mindset, the podcast. Welcome, it's 2025. This is my first full episode of the year and I'm so excited to be back. I had a really nice break. I went away for three weeks. I actually crossed Australia in the van with my partner, which was amazing. We went across this desert called the Nullarbor you may have heard of that, you may not. It's basically smack bang in the center of Australia and it goes on and on, and on, and on, and on, and on and on. It was very mentally challenging and very hot because it's summer here, but it was a great challenge and the van was just perfect and everything was amazing. And, yeah, my partner and I just have gotten so close during this time and it's just been amazing. So, yeah, had a great break. It's good to be back. We're here. We're here Now. This episode.

Speaker 2: 3:52

We're going to talk about the comfort zone. The last episode was 20 minutes of motivation, so if you haven't already checked that out, definitely go and check it out. It's really going to help you to find like inspiration and to begin to motivate yourself. But for this episode I wanted to go a little bit deeper into the comfort zone. So we're going to do that together, because the comfort zone is a really important thing to talk about. Everyone thinks they know what it is. Many people get it wrong, okay, so we've got to get this clear so that we can work with it to do what we want to do with our life and to move forward all of the things.

Speaker 2: 4:25

Okay, before we begin, I want to chat quickly about a DM that I got while I was away. I just went through them all and there was one here that came up and I thought, well, most will answer this on the podcast because it might help, right? So this is from Eleanor Madison. How are you? I really love your content with nature. I wonder how I can live a more minimalist lifestyle and content to the beautiful, relaxing nature, shop less and enjoy more. I live in a crowded city, okay, so from what I got from this is basically you know how can I live a life that's more minimalistic even when you live in a city, and to connect with nature and shopping less and enjoy more. Basically, this is it's complicated because cities, cities, man, I don't like cities, like seriously.

Speaker 2: 5:19

While I was away, like I've, I live in a town of like between 40, 50,000 people. You know it's. It's a small community considering what could be out there. Um, and I visited three cities while I was away and I was meant to go into Sydney as well. Um, there's a lot of main cities in Australia, so I've been into Sydney a lot. That's the one that's closest to me, it's only three hours away. So if I need anything an airport, something in the city that's the one I go to. The ones I went to are ones I haven't been to before, which is Perth, over in Western Australia, other side, adelaide, which is South Australia, and then Melbourne, which was Victoria. I didn't like any of them. I'm not going to lie to you. I didn't like any of them. You know, I've heard a lot of good things about Melbourne. I've heard a lot of good things about Perth, heard a lot of good things about Adelaide.

Speaker 2: 6:08

I have to say there is nothing natural about cities. Nothing, nothing natural about it. There are too many people, right, there are so many people that no one can care about anyone. There's no compassion, there's no kindness, there's no, you know, support the stranger next to you, or let someone in in traffic, or smile at someone at the street or get to know anyone in the coffee shop. You can't do that. There's too many people, so everyone's just shut down. In that way, no one cares about you.

Speaker 2: 6:40

The other thing that I noticed, and my partner noticed as well, is that everyone you know I'm not going to say everyone, because I'm sure it's not everyone, but from what I saw there is a lot of ego, there is a lot of self-obsessed people, and that's probably because there's too many people to care about. You know something, a really good point that my partner brought up with me. He was just like you know. It's a good thing when there's few people in a town, when everyone kind of knows everybody or you know someone who knows the people you don't know, because it keeps you in line, it keeps you in check. You know you have to be a good person, you know you have to think about other people because it might get around, you know. So that kind of keeps you in check a little bit.

Speaker 2: 7:21

But when you're in a city and there's so many people too many people, you know chances are you don't know anyone. Who's driving next to you, who's walking next to you, who's living next to you Chances are you don't. So you can just get away with everything and you can just be this self-entitled version of yourself and it's all ego. It's all ego. So everyone's, you know, focused on what do I look like? Look at me, I'm going to have this attitude and it's just not healthy and it just drove it. I'm quite sensitive, right, I'm quite a sensitive person. I can feel energy of people.

Speaker 2: 7:55

I did not feel good there, I think. Yeah, I didn't like any of them. The places I liked were the ones that were smaller towns, smaller towns, and you know what? They're more beautiful. Who wants to stare at big ugly buildings? Why? There's nothing natural about that. There's nothing natural about it. Okay, there's nothing natural about it. The amount of inflammation, radiation, the quality of the food, the air pollution, it's all nonsense. Seriously, seriously, it's bad If all other animals have vacated the premises except pigeons. You know you're in a dodgy area, right? This is not natural. It's not. That's the end of it.

Speaker 2: 8:33

If you have to live in a city, I would say do your very best, do your best to be on the outskirts of the city. Try and live on the ground and not up in a sky high rise somewhere. You're not meant to live in the sky, you of the city. Try and live on the ground and not up in a sky high rise somewhere. You're not meant to live in the sky. You know you're not a bird, right? You need to live on the ground. So try and have the ground and try and have a backyard. Try, right. If it's not possible, make sure you know where the closest park is and make sure you visit it daily, daily, and I'd be looking at.

Speaker 2: 9:07

You know that radiation protection stuff and I've done an episode on that. I interviewed um. Who is it? It's Gerald Gerald. Yes, it's Gerald. It's Gerald from All Grown Effects in Melbourne. He does amazing products to support you with getting away from the radiation. There's many other companies now. Find something to support your home, your pet, your family, yourself, to protect yourself from all the nonsense.

Speaker 2: 9:34

You know the thing about cities, like, if you're in a city right now, jump onto your settings and go into Wi-Fi and notice how many networks pop up. If your phone can sense those networks and it's showing you hey, do you want to connect to this? Sorry, there's an alarm going off. We're going to ignore that. If your phone can see a network, that means that network is reaching your body. If your phone is in your hand and you can see that your phone has recognized the network, that radiation is going right through you. It's a signal. It's a signal. It travels through the air. You can't see it, but if you walk far enough away from any Wi-Fi router, you notice that the network drops off. Your phone can't sense it anymore. It wasn't plugged into the Wi-Fi device, was it? No, it's sensing it. It's in the air, it can feel it. Okay, that signal is going through you. So if you're living in a city and every person and their dog has a Wi-Fi router in their house or wherever it is, all of that signal is going through you, all of it.

Speaker 2: 10:46

This isn't is a lifestyle that will inflame the body and it will impact your mind, your mental health. So I'm not for it. I don't want to visit cities. I go there if absolutely have to, if there's a reason that I have to, but other than that, I avoid it. I avoid it like the plague, because it it is a plague. It's not natural. Everyone's living. You know they're plastic, it's all plastic, everything's fake. There's no nature and clothes, everything. You've got to be so careful.

Speaker 2: 11:16

So if you enjoy cities, I'm not having a dig on you. Okay, you're allowed to enjoy cities. I just personally don't. If you enjoy cities and you don't care about any of the things that I'm saying, you're like whatever. I like cities, then go for it. Live your life, do your thing, everyone. Just do the thing. As long as you're happy, I'm happy for you. I'm just giving you things to think about because it is a reality of the situation. It is a reality of every city and, in my opinion, all cities are the same. All cities are the same. In fact, the only city in Australia that I have noticed that there's clearly something different is Sydney, because of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House and there's actually some landmarks. There are some beautiful things around Perth, around Adelaide, around Melbourne, but the majority of it is nature, right, other than that, historic buildings are pretty cool, other than that, shops who's going to the shops? Seriously, like there will be an episode coming out in the near future.

Speaker 2: 12:15

I talk about shopping as a hobby. You know you don't need to shop. Think about what you need and buy what you need. If there's something that you want, make sure you don't want everything, because you can't have everything. You don't need everything. Just focus on the things that you like, the things that maybe that you've desired for a long time. You have a specific reason and get that thing and then let it go.

Speaker 2: 12:40

There is so much rubbish At the moment. There's an area of the town where the council comes around and does a big cleanup so you can dump your stuff that needs to go to the tip and the rubbish dump or whatever. You can put it out the front of your house, onto the porch or onto the what's it called, onto the curb, on the sidewalk, whatever you want to call it, and the council comes around and picks it up. Right Now, people start putting their rubbish out really early, like weeks in advance, so everyone else can look at their garbage for a few weeks, you know, because who doesn't love that right? So everyone puts their garbage out and you drive past it and sometimes, if you're lucky and you're observant, you notice that that same person who put that stuff out drives into their house, opens the door and brings out bags of shopping.

Speaker 2: 13:29

Why, why, seriously, we're buying stuff, wasting money for no apparent reason, only to throw it out at the next tip pickup. It's ridiculous. Okay, we have to start getting a handle on how we're doing our life. Okay, so this is a long rant because I'm super passionate about this topic. Okay, trying to keep the advice short, Madison, keep it short.

Speaker 2: 13:52

If you have to live in the city, make sure you visit nature as much as you can daily. You need to get your feet on the ground grounding, earthing, please go. And if you're on Spotify, wherever you are on, spotify is easiest. I think that's the one I use. But any other podcast app I'm sure you can do this.

Speaker 2: 14:11

Go to the top of Madison Mindset, the podcast search earthing, grounding. You'll find episodes on that. Go and listen to them. You know, if you don't listen to them, find someone else. Read a book, listen and learn about earthing. You need to have contact with the earth daily for at least 15 minutes at least, at least.

Speaker 2: 14:31

But on the weekends maybe you go a little bit further than just the park. Go a little bit further. Find a forest, find a beach, whatever, whatever you want to go to and be with nature, touch the trees. Don't take your phone, you know, just listen. Take out the AirPods, take out the Bluetooth headpieces, you know. Stop doing, stop listening to things, stop it and just listen to nature, watch nature, Be with nature.

Speaker 2: 15:02

All the answers are there. All the answers are there. If you want the truth of reality, nature will tell you Don't look. If you're in a city for a long period of time, it will change the way your mind functions. It's not natural. It's not normal. It will change you. You're living in a plastic world. What's it going to do to you? Think about it, Okay. So if you are living in a city, if you don't want to shop again, I'm not telling you what to do, okay. I don't want anyone to feel like I'm telling them what to do. I just get very passionate about these topics. This is my beliefs. If you're still listening to me at this point, you're either interested in my beliefs or you agree. Either way, just absorb and just do what you want. Do what you want, but as long as you're fully informed, then I'm happy.

Speaker 2: 15:46

Shopping was created, at the end of the day, to make money for everyone else, but you To make money for big companies, corporations, society in general. They want you to go out and shop. They want you to be a shopaholic, because that makes money for everyone else and stops you from saving too much money. So you have no power. You end up in debt and everyone else has your money. Okay, shopping, getting people to shop. The best way to do that, the best way to get people to keep buying stuff they don't need is to tell them that they're not good enough unless they buy it.

Speaker 2: 16:28

Welcome ads that make you feel bad about your body, bad about your living situation, bad about your financial situation, bad about how many holidays you've had or your partner. All of those ads, all of the shops, all of the things are 50% off. Do this, do that? You know all of them. They're trying to trick you. They're trying to get you to walk in. They're trying to tie their products to your self-worth. And then you go through this unconscious process of going I need that thing, you buy that thing, okay. And then it's addictive because it feels good for a minute, doesn't it? And then you forget about it. And then you put it out the front of your driveway for the council to take it to the tip, because you can't be bothered to take your rubbish to the tip. Okay, you know, you don't have to think about where you're dumping it on the earth.

Speaker 2: 17:11

I think they should make everyone go to the tip. Go to the tip. If you have never been to a tip before, if you've never been to where all the rubbish goes, after it leaves, after the big truck comes and takes your bins right, if you think the rubbish rubbish trucks are gross, go out to the tip. Seriously, it will make you think twice about what you're doing. That's where it all goes. Look at the little spot in nature that's been dedicated for human junk. Look at how it's poisoning the world. Go and have a look. You know a lot of the people. I've seen some tip I. You know a lot of the people. I've seen some tips. I've been to a lot of tips. I'm curious, right, some tips are really clever. They're really trying to make it work. They're really trying to get it to dissolve or whatever. But at the end of the day, this is not healthy.

Speaker 2: 17:57

So if you've not been to the tip before, go to the tip and look at it and then think about what you're buying, okay. So if you don't want to be shopping, or if you are doing it because you know you're addicted to how it makes you feel, or whatever it is, whatever it is, take a moment when you're out. Whatever you're doing, have and think about the purpose. Okay, every time you go to the shops, every time you see me at a shop, I have a purpose. There's something that I need, something I need to get. Okay, and when I do need to get something, I will go to the most ethical, the most sustainable, the most organic, the most locally produced option that I have. I'll do my very best to make sure it's not one of the big chains, one of the big companies. They don't care about the earth, don't care about how the products are produced. They just want to mass produce products.

Speaker 2: 18:47

Seriously, think about where it comes from, think about where it's going. Okay, you might have your dress, makeup, plastic container, whatever it is. You might have your clothes for a few years, maybe a few decades. Eventually you die, right and leave everything else behind. The earth has to hold that nonsense for a lot longer than you do, a lot longer. And just because you throw something in the bin or give something away doesn't mean you've taken the responsibility off the earth. Okay, so just think, have your intention. Do I need to shop? No, great, that frees up my time. I don't have to go into those shopping centers. Okay, spend more time with nature, the best you can Think about what you need.

Speaker 2: 19:25

Make a list of what do I need in my life and what's luxury. What you might find is all you need, right? Some clothes, shelter, food, water, love. Can't get that at shops, right, that's it. That's all you need. Can't get that at shops, right, that's it. That's all you need. That is all you need. Everything else is a luxury, right? You don't even need a bed. In fact, our spines would probably be happier if we slept on the floor, right? It's much more natural. Okay? So, whatever else you decide to bring into your life, understand that that is a luxury. It's a luxury. And if you keep indulging in too many luxuries and no longer luxuries, they're necessities and it becomes a stress. So the short answer to all of this is you know, how do I live more mindfully? How do I get out into nature more? How do I handle living in a city? You know the answers, right? My number one advice leave the city, leave the city.

Speaker 2: 20:29

If you can't leave the city, be as mindful as you can about where you live. Live in the best possible place on the ground, with some nature would be great. If you can't do that, protect yourself, protect your home from all the radiation, from all the stuff that's going on the air and everything. Do the best you can Be mindful of the water you're drinking as well, because chances are that's got rubbish in it as well. Okay, and then go out and visit nature as often as you can to make sure that you're negating the effects of the constant radiation. Okay, so that's a short answer to that. You know, if you want to live a more simple lifestyle, look into it. There's some great books. I have a book on minimalism. I can't remember what it's called. I think it's called minimalism. Actually, I can't remember who, who wrote it, but there's some great stuff, really good stuff. Go and listen to it, you know. Go and read it and discover how. You know, go and look up steps to creating a minimalistic home. You know, I started with the capsule wardrobe and all this stuff, and if I buy anything, I have to throw something out. So that way I only buy things that I know I need. You know, because I have to get rid of something. So it's, it's a great way to do it. It's a great way to do it. You don't need everything, it's fine. So, yeah, be nice to yourself. This is a hard process and if you have to live in the city, it's sometimes. It's a reality for all of us. So, yeah, anyway, that was the very long, short response to that one DM. Wow, you see how passionate I am about these topics.

Speaker 2: 22:07

All right, let's get into the comfort zone. Okay, what is the comfort zone? Basically, the comfort zone is something you've created. It is a safety circle. Okay, it's a safety circle. It started to be formed from the moment you were born, maybe even before you start, with your family and the house, the environment, and slowly, as you get older, you start to expand and more and more comes into that safety zone. Some people come in, everyone starts off as strangers, right, but eventually they come into your circle of comfort.

Speaker 2: 22:38

Some experiences and tasks, as you learn, as you get older, you start to learn how to walk, learn how to talk, learn how to tie your shoelaces, learn how to make your lunch. You're just adding and adding and adding to that comfort zone circle, but in the beginning it's really hard. It's really hard to learn how to tie shoelaces. It's hard to learn how to cook. It's hard to learn how to walk and learn how to talk. You know it's a hard thing to do, but once you get it it ends up in your comfort zone and now you don't even think about it. You know I'm not planning each word as I say it. I'm confident in communicating in this language.

Speaker 2: 23:15

Okay, so basically, your comfort zone is just created by you and that's why, whenever you go through a change a new job, a new house, a new car, whatever it is whenever you go through that, there's a period of discomfort or of excitement or of nervousness. There's always a little what's going on. You know I'm out of my comfort zone here. A bit of fear, a bit of worry. All that stuff is a sign that something is outside your comfort zone and you're engaging with it. But, as we all know, the longer you stay with the new job, the longer you stay at the new house, the longer you stay with the new partner or whatever it is, or the thing that you're trying to learn, the more it comes in and in and into your comfort zone. So you can think of things coming in to your comfort zone, or you can think of your comfort zone expanding out to meet that thing. Whatever works for you is fine, but bottom line is it was created by you and it is your safety circle. Now, that's a great thing. The comfort zone means safety.

Speaker 2: 24:12

I like to picture my comfort zone as a cave. It's a great place to go at the end of the day to retreat, to rest, to be comfortable and happy and calm and relaxed. You can't relax outside your comfort zone, no way. You've got to be inside the comfort zone to recover and to heal and all of these things. Okay, so you come inside your comfort zone. It's a great thing to do.

Speaker 2: 24:38

Hopefully, every night you go to sleep, you're in your comfort zone. You ever find when you sleep at a hotel or a new place, some of us have great trouble sleeping. Some people are fine, but some people cannot sleep in new places straight away. It takes a couple of nights because you're out of your comfort zone. You're out of that regular cave that you usually go into. The thing about caves is as amazing as they are, as cozy as they are. By the way, I visited four caves in three weeks. I'm obsessed with caves, so yeah, it's going to come up. As comfortable as they are, as quiet and as peaceful as they are, they're completely out of the nonsense of all of life, as amazing as that is, you have to get out of the cave eventually.

Speaker 2: 25:17

You have to you know so, every day when you wake up, hopefully, you're preparing to take a step outside your comfort zone. Get out of the cave, you know. Go and try the new things, meet the new people, Explore the new options, create new things, shoot towards goals. You know all of this is outside of your comfort zone and then, at the end of the day, when you've done that, you come back and go back in your comfort zone. You know so it's not that simple, but that's basically what you're doing. There's nothing wrong with your comfort zone. You don't need to live outside your comfort zone. It's a good thing. You just can't stay in there forever and that's what people try and do. We try and stay in the comfort zone because it's hard out there. It is way harder out there.

Speaker 2: 25:59

If you've spent any time in a beautiful crystal cave and it's just stunning and beautiful and you sit there for a while, you dread going back to the top. You don't want to go out there. It's loud and it's noisy and it's bright and people are running everywhere and there's noise and there's animals and there's all this stuff, you know, but you have to. The food's up there, right? You know everything is up there. You know all the opportunities, all of the life, all of everything. It's all up there there. You know all the opportunities, all of the life, all of everything, it's all up there. You have to go and get it. You know it's hard, it is really hard and, yeah, I wish it was easier, but that's the end of it. You know, the good news is, the more that you embrace the things that are outside your comfort zone, the more they start to feel like part of your comfort zone. So at work you might have parts of your work that are in your comfort zone. They're comfortable, they're easy to do, you know how to do them. And then you have other parts, newer parts of your work that are not in the comfort zone yet and it takes a minute to adjust to those and that's why it can be hard, right. So a lot of it was formed in childhood, you know, which is why it can be hard to adjust the comfort zone.

Speaker 2: 27:07

If there's something within your comfort zone that really doesn't serve you, like an old habit or anything like that, it can be hard to adjust things and get things out of the comfort zone. It'd be something you don't engage with anymore. So anything that was really formed in childhood or has been a long time habit, whether it's a person or an action or whatever it is. It can be really hard. That can be a form of your comfort zone and that would be what I would call probably not healthy. Right, you've got to embrace stepping away from that. So stepping, trying to get something out of your comfort zone like this should not be in my cave. This is not healthy for me. This is not good. I'm going to get it out, you know. So when you embrace leaving the comfort zone, every time you step outside the comfort zone and you feel evidence, worry, fear, stress, whatever it is that is showing you that you're about to grow or that you have the opportunity to grow, this is a good thing. You should grow Every day.

Speaker 2: 28:03

Step outside your comfort zone when you go to the gym, if you keep picking up the exact same weight, you know, say you pick up five kilos, you pick up five kilos for 10 years you're not going to get any stronger. Right, picking up five kilos for 10 years doesn't mean you can pick up 50 kilos on the 10-year mark. You know you've got to push your comfort zone a little bit, your body. When you move your body. You're not going to gain any more strength, mobility, flexibility, stability, whatever it is that you want. You're not going to gain any of that unless you push your body outside what it can already do, which is uncomfortable. You're stepping out of your comfort zone. No one wants to do it. Fair enough, it's hard, right, it is. It's hard, it's really hard.

Speaker 2: 28:55

You know, when I was away, it was a big big part of stepping out of the comfort zone. You know, even though it was a holiday and it was an adventure, there were things like not being able to have a daily shower. You know having to brush your teeth outside, you know, next to a tree, which is interesting. You know having to sleep in a van and it's lovely, but there's not a lot of feet room, so you're just not that comfortable. You know cooking and everything. Everything that you do on a daily basis becomes completely different.

Speaker 2: 29:22

And it was really hard at some moments. And there was a couple of moments where I ran to a motel and I was like give me a shower, give me a hot shower, give me a normal bed, give me this, give me that. You know, and because it was easier, it was like running into my cave and it's okay to take rest. You know, I did it for three weeks with my partner and there were times where it was mainly me, but I'm sure he was happy about it too. There were times where it was just like get me into a motel, I'll pay the $200. I've had enough, you know. And that's retreating to a cave, that's retreating to the comfort zone and going oh, that's so nice. And then you get back up the next day and you get outside your comfort zone and you try again.

Speaker 2: 30:03

You know it's important to push yourself, make yourself uncomfortable. This is going to build strength within you. It's going to build motivation. It's going to build the ability to do hard things. And you have to be able to do hard things. You have to. You have to be able to get through hard things, because life is going to throw you hard things, whether you like it or not.

Speaker 2: 30:25

And if you choose to challenge yourself and you choose to voluntarily step outside your comfort zone and challenge yourself, life is very impressed with you. Because not everyone does that. Because why would you? I'm so comfortable over here. Why would I go over there and make myself uncomfortable? Why would I have a cold shower? Why would I change the way I'm cooking? Why would I get up earlier? You know all these things, but eventually life steps into your comfort zone, grabs you by the shoulders and flings you out of your comfort zone all the way over there.

Speaker 2: 30:56

Right, forced, you get forced out of your comfort zone. Get out of the cave and go and experience life. And everyone gets so upset when that happens. Everyone gets so upset when life throws them out of their comfort zone feeling like a fish out of water. Right, you're meant to be outside of your comfort zone. You're meant to grow and learn and get stronger and develop. If you choose to do it yourself, you might find that life flings you out of the comfort zone far less because you're doing it to yourself and you get to choose how you do it. Right, but life will fling you out of your comfort zone. Remember how this all ends. Okay, it's really important to remember this all ends.

Speaker 2: 31:35

Do you think that's going to be within your comfort zone? Probably not. Whatever happens in the end is probably not going to be inside your comfort zone. You have to develop the strength and the inner peace to deal with that in a calm, peaceful way. The inner strength and if you never challenge yourself, if you never go out there and embrace the uncomfortable sensations of being outside of your comfort zone, when you are forced out of your comfort zone, it's going to be way harder, way harder. It is much easier to train that strength. That's why I love meditation, meditation and yoga. It's not comfortable. It's not comfortable to sit down for an hour and not move. It's horrible, right, it's hard. Why would I do it? Because there are going to be times in my life where I'm going to experience pain, experience, discomfort, experience, loss, experience all of the things and the mental suffering that comes along with that. You know the stories and the thoughts. You have to be able to control those, because if you can relax them and just embrace peace, then you can go through all of those challenges without it breaking you apart. You can be whacked from every angle, you can be thrown into the deepest of waters and there will still be peace for you, but you have to train it first. Okay, so every time you get out of your comfort zone, every time you do that, you are pushing your own boundaries, you were pushing your own strength.

Speaker 2: 33:14

You know, something that my partner has done for me over the last few months is got me to embrace cold showers. I've always liked the idea of cold showers, but I have also experienced pretty high and heart palpitations and things like that, and when I get really cold, that's a trigger for them. So I've just told myself I can't do cold showers too dangerous, too uncomfortable. He came along and he heard that excuse and he went you'll be fine. And he's the only person I've told that went you'll be fine, Do it anyway. And I was like not used to that, because usually I tell people that and they're like oh yeah, don used to that, because usually I tell people that and they're like, oh yeah, don't do that. That sounds dangerous, right? Well, guess what? I've been doing it virtually every day, minus the week before my bleed and on my bleed, even when I don't want to, and I've been fine and it feels so good.

Speaker 2: 34:08

But I got in my own head. I made a story. My ego right, a sense of self made a story about how I can't possibly be in cold water because of my heart palpitations. Right Now, it's true, I do have heart palpitations. Cold does trigger them, but you know what it also makes. It feels like it's making me stronger. You know, every time I embrace cold, even though I'm scared, I feel like my body's getting stronger, whereas when I wasn't embracing it, when I would get cold, naturally outside, I'd get the heart palpitations. So I'm curious as to what's going to happen this winter, because I used to get heart palpitations all the time.

Speaker 2: 34:43

Now that I've dropped the story and I'm not scared of cold, maybe maybe it'd be better. See, you don't know how you're holding yourself back. Maybe maybe it'd be better. See, you don't know how you're holding yourself back. It doesn't matter how much self-awareness you have sometimes. Sometimes it takes someone else to look at you and go get out of your comfort zone, and life will happily do that for you. She loves doing that, but you also have friends and family members who will help you with that as well.

Speaker 2: 35:11

Get out of the zone. Okay, the zone is great. Retreat when you can. I plan on retreating to that comfort zone tonight and having a tea, cuddling up in bed the bed that I know and just having the best time you know. Just so good.

Speaker 2: 35:19

Reading my book, oh, I love it. Dreaming about it right now. You know, I'm about to teach a yoga class that I had to memorize. I'm not quite sure if I've got it. I should be okay, but it's a bit scary. It's outside your comfort zone. You have to be able to embrace it, take it and run with it and you can retreat to the comfort zone when you can, but then don't stay there for too long. It's fine to retreat and relax and recover all those things, but then get back up and out. You go back out into the world to experience, to grow and to learn. This is how I look at the comfort zone. I really like this view.

Speaker 2: 35:59

I've had many different views over my time about the comfort zone. There's nothing wrong with it. It's your place of safety. Enjoy it. Make it a little hub for you. Make it something that feels good and is relaxing and is just so nice to be in. Make it that absolutely. But make sure you leave it. Make sure you leave the cave every now and then and go and get the sunlight and all the things, all the challenges outside. Make sure you go and embrace those and then you can come back home and maybe if you master something out there or you get familiar with something, you might be able to bring one of those things back into your comfort zone with you and it's no longer a big challenge.

Speaker 2: 36:37

Thank you so much for being here, magical Human. I hope you enjoyed this episode, really hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, feel free to leave a comment on the video or DM me or send me an email, or you can leave a comment on Spotify. Whatever you want to do, I will see them all. Thank you for being here. I appreciate you. Remember you can do it, go for it. I believe in you and you should, too, love. Thank you you.