Kathleen Flanagan has been on a spiritual journey for most of her life, and has been a certified aromatherapist and licensed esthetician since the mid-1990s. She developed an all-natural method of stress reduction and mood enhancement after a series of health complications due to medications she had been prescribed. This inspired her to create Awakening Spirit Incorporated, a line of products that help people improve their disposition, relieve stress, increase self-confidence and create conditions to enjoy life through effective relaxation.
Kathleen Flanagan is an expert in sound therapy and has written an award-winning book called Dancing Souls Merging Heaven and Earth Book One. She is committed to helping people on their spiritual journey and believes that spiritual growth is needed to become self-realized. When asked what her expertise can do to accelerate health, Kathleen shared that gratitude was a major factor in changing her emotional wellbeing. She dealt with a difficult grieving process after her mother's death and found solace in expressing gratitude for even the smallest things, such as the blue sky.
Kathleen advises listeners to focus on what they love and to write down their dream and read it every day. She recommended being specific with what they want to achieve and to focus on the goal, rather than the current results. Finally, she encouraged having a playful attitude and reminded listeners that spirit loves when one is childlike.
Kathleen Flanagan reveals that she has struggled with her weight and that she does not particularly enjoy exercising. The game changer for her was to find a mode of movement that didn't feel like work, which for her is ballroom dancing!
Welcome back to a Magical Life. I'm your host, magic Barclay, and today I'm joined by Kathleen Flanagan, and we're talking all things awakening your spirit. Welcome, Kathleen.
Kathleen Flanagan:
Thanks, magic. I appreciate it. I'm really glad I'm here with you. My
Magic Barclay:
pleasure. Now, listeners, let me introduce you to Kathleen. She's been on a spiritual journey for most of her life. She hasn't always gone willingly, like a lot of us. When she felt a call from spirit, that sounded crazy, she said, no way. And then she gave in and followed that call. Always to the benefit of others and with gratitude for the guidance. Since the mid 1990s, Kathleen has been a certified aromatherapist and licensed. Esthetician. She was inspired to develop an all natural method of stress reduction and mood enhancement based upon her personal experiences with sinus infections, migraine headaches, and a host of complications to medications prescribed to address these conditions. The debilitating side effects of the medications almost robbed her of a productive life. This inspired her to create Awakening Spirit Incorporated, which produces a line of products that offer an all natural approach to improve disposition. Relieve stress, increase self-confidence, and create the conditions to enjoy life through the simple art of effective relaxation. In 2001, she began training in sound therapy as a way to. Deepen the healing experience and provide the mind and body with frequencies that promote relaxation and health. This also helps her clients release trauma, improve physical and mental health, and become better attuned with their core essence. Or true Self. In 2015, Kathleen published the National and International Multi Award-winning book, dancing Souls Merging Heaven and Earth Book one. The call, book one is the first in a trilogy about the journey of an awakening spirit. Kathleen is committed to serving the people and the earth through the ascension process. She believes the spiritual growth is needed to become. Self realized and passionate about helping others towards the next step in the evolution, walking through the steps of her own magnificent advancement, Kathleen is honored to support and love those on the spiritual journey. Kathleen, welcome. Thank you. Wow. You've been through so much, and I know we're going to get to the bottom of everything, but let me start by asking you, what can your expertise do to accelerate health? Not just physical, but emotional and spiritual
Kathleen Flanagan:
health? Gratitude was the biggest factor in the changing of my energy, my life, and my emotional wellbeing. What that was is I moved to Chicago to write the book Dancing Souls, and when I came back to Colorado, my mother had passed away. There was a lot of stuff that was still happening in my life and the only thing I knew how to do at that point was just say, thank you for being back in Colorado. And then it was next day was, thank you for that. And thank you for the blue skies. It was. I didn't know how else to move through because there was so much pain I was still in, and I was in this grieving process that, you know, thank God our mothers only die once, because that was a very difficult time of dealing with that. And I only knew gratitude at that point that I felt like that was all in my arsenal. And things started changing. I started feeling better every day. I got a little bit better, a little bit happier. I was able to get back into dancing and it just made all the difference in the world and just one simple thing to try to get out of the pits of despair and grief. That was the only way I knew how to do it, and it, it changed my life just doing that one little simple thing.
Magic Barclay:
Fantastic. Now we talk about wealth here, so financial, personal and emotional wealth. Can you give the listeners three tips to creating wealth?
Kathleen Flanagan:
The, I would say the first thing is, is what would you love? Because if you know what you would love to do, it's going to bring that joy and playfulness into your life where spirit's gonna actually bring things to you. And when you bring it into your life through love, then write it down and then read it every day. And just keep your eye focused in on that dream of what you want. And don't pay attention to your current results. Because where we are today is the results of our thinking from yesterday. So if you want something different, you need to. keep an eye on where you wanna go because we use our imagination to create the life that we want. And when we're creating that, I mean, our body doesn't know any difference between our imagination and reality because it's going into our subconscious mind. So when it's going into the subconscious mind and you're saying, I want this, and we, and you wanna be specific, you don't wanna just say, I want more money. That means nothing to spirit. anything and being able to accomplish it. You wanna be focused and detailed in what it is that you want to accomplish, and then when you write it down and read it every day, and even if you look in the mirror and read it out loud to yourself, every day does even more. It accelerates that, and that's what I have found in what I'm doing in my life is. If I'm looking at something and trying to make something, wanting something to happen, I just focus in on what it is, and I don't pay attention to the current results. Now, I don't ignore'em. I just keep an eye on'em, like, okay, we're still here, but this is where I'm going and I keep my attention focused someplace else. And when you do that, I mean, it makes you feel good as long as you're playing and having fun and laughing and just being very childlike because that's what Spirit likes. And when you're really focused in on what you want, There's a divine providence that the doors open and start moving towards you and listen to your intuition because the baby steps are gonna get you where you want and your intuition will guide you. So as you take a step and you may not know what to do next, just wait. And your guides will come in, your spirit will come in your higher self, whatever you wanna call it, we'll come in and your intuition will tell you what step to take next, and that's what I have found to be the most effective in starting to create. The wealth, personal, emotional, financial, doesn't matter. It just creates all of that in the forward movement of, but it has to come down to what is it that you want? What would you love to have?
Magic Barclay:
That's so true, isn't it? So Kathleen, we talk about weight loss here as well, and the next question is kind of a two part. First of all, have you ever battled with your weight? And if so, What was your trigger to changing that scenario? And second of all, what can you offer the listeners to combat stress? Because we know that stress is a major component in weight problems.
Kathleen Flanagan:
I. Well, I did struggle with my weight and I'm still not where I wanna be. And you know, menopause has a lot to do with your body changing and, and dealing with it. And the one thing that I knew is I hate exercising. I don't mind doing it. I just hate doing it. And it's, and I know it's all into my mental thinking about it. And I've hired trainers and I've done all this stuff, and thank God I have that because it pushes me through. But the one thing that I didn't want to fight the battle of my weight, so I decided, I w just went inside of myself and asked myself, What would make me want to exercise that I don't think I'm exercising so I could stop the screaming ego, right? So that's where I went and it took about three days and then it came back to me and it said, dance. And I was like, oh my God, that's exactly what would work for me. Because to me, dancing is not exercising and it's probably one of the most stressful exercises, especially ballroom, but it was the one thing that just brought so much joy and happiness and I just watched the weight start coming off. You know, like I went back into Bo. You know, you go into muscle memory when you do, like if you used to work out or run or whatever it was that you did. And we get older and we get a little bit more on the sedentary. What I found was when the muscle memory kicked in, I swear I lost. I swear to God, I lost 10, 15, 20 pounds just when the muscle memory kicked in. But I felt myself stronger. My clothes looked better, I felt better, and that was the main thing for me is that I had to get out that this is exercise and I had to find something that I would love, like some people love yoga or running. It's just whatever it is. It doesn't seem like it's exercised because you get into this rut of, well, I have to do this and I have to do that. And that's not how you're gonna ever lose weight because when you do that, you're just bringing all that energy towards you that the weight will never leave. So that was the main thing for me was, um, just dancing. that's where I found the most. And at the same time, it also reduced a lot of stress for me because, you know, you got the endorphins that are going off in the brain, which then there's this happiness that's going on and you know, you're having this connection with your dance partner, and I could. You know, yell at him and grump at him because he was making my body stretch or do things that my body was struggling with. But it was always good because that little extra ump and pushing, and they knew that that was, they knew that they were pushing me and I was moving into a better place for my body physically if I was kind of grumping at him. And I said, if you're not doing this, then I'm not happy with you. So it's okay if I'm grumping and I'm not mean or anything. It's just like, And I had to learn how to laugh because sometimes you're telling your body how do something, and it's like, Nope, not today. Nope, not today. Today I'm going to have four left feet. And your body will do that. And the cool thing is when you have somebody where you're working with somebody as a coach or a trainer or whatever, they understand how the body works. So they just like, okay, I get where your body's at, so we'll just take a breather. We'll move over here and do this, and then you can get back into. So that's what I have found For my stress relief was dancing was probably the biggest thing because I was able to laugh and dance and have a good time with my instructors. And then of course, you know, aromatherapy is a really big thing for me too because I, I love playing with the essential oils and so it, it's just the things that make me feel good. And sometimes cooking makes me, you know, where I'm eating good, healthy foods. So I think it's just a lot of it comes down to really tuning into yourself. And what is it that you're looking for? What makes you happy? What makes your heart sing? And that's probably the biggest thing that for me to really understand who I am and learn more about me is just allow myself to just what makes me happy. And I think when you do that, And you accept yourself and don't belittle yourself or shame yourself because you're carrying a little bit more weight than you want to. Just love it. Just love it because it's part of who you are. It's what, for whatever reason, your body's there love it, and you know if you love it. It's gonna go away a lot faster than if you don't because you're putting all this negative energy, which then focuses in because you're putting all that energy into something you don't want. And if you put it into something you want, then do it differently. Like I, you know, instead of I released. 10 pounds to the universe, thank you, kind of thing. Instead of, God, I'm never gonna get rid of it, or I lost 10 pounds, and then you find it again. You know, it's like that. You wanna release it, you wanna let it go. It's like you change the way you think about it, change the words in your head, because those words make a big difference in how you move forward in your health, in your happiness. Pay attention to your thoughts. You know, notice what you're noticing and how you're thinking. And if you see something that's negative, change it. Pause, breathe, change.
Magic Barclay:
Couldn't agree more. Now, let's talk essential oils just for a minute here. What are some of your go-tos for stress relief? I know mine are bergamo and lavender in the evening. I love vva going off in my diffuser. Mm-hmm. So what would you suggest for people to keep stress?
Kathleen Flanagan:
Well, lavender, of course, is one of the big ones. Um, but my, my Happy Oil, the one that I love the most is, um, na. I don't know what it is about that oil. It just makes me so happy and full of love because that orange blossom smell is just so fresh. And I've played with a lot of oils and nelli just, that's still my number one favorite. That. And then if I have a really nice rose essential oil, and I'm not talking the stinky rose, I'm talking a really nice rose. And that's, that's another one that just, you know, you just breathe and go, God all is well with the world. And you know, and that's what I look for. So those are probably the ones that I like the most. Those are the ones that work the most effectively on me when it comes to stress.
Magic Barclay:
I love it. Yes, rose is fantastic. I actually have some on my hands right now as we're speaking now. We love to give freebies. Are there freebies on your website that the listeners can track down?
Kathleen Flanagan:
Yes, and my website is actually kathleen m flanagan.com. I actually have a three minute de-stress meditation and it's sound, and what is all we're doing is I'm just balancing your chakras, and so it's getting you back into alignment. It's raising your vibration. and it's, it's an amazing thing. It just really calms you down. It's a great way to start your day. So if you have to get in bad traffic instead of being grumpy and you know, the road rage and or anything that's going on, you're just in a nice, happy place. And that just really keeps you very grounded. And I, I, I've had a lot of people tell me they just absolutely love that meditation and who doesn't have three minutes? That is
Magic Barclay:
so doable and what a generous gift@kathleenmflanagan.com listeners, this was your episode 1 78. Kathleen will join us again in 1 79 talking about how to create the world you want. Again, thank you for your time today. Listeners, go forth and create your magical life.