S3 E19: Susan Shehata on Unsticking Your Story
In this episode I had a lovely conversation with holistic wellness facilitator and educator, writer, speaker, and performer Susan Shehata. All of these identities intertwine around helping people unstick their story - identifying and unwinding limiting core beliefs that keep them stuck. We hear a lot about limiting beliefs and mindset work on a surface level, but she is so good at making these often esoteric concepts super practical and digestible.
After 20 years of building various skill sets, COVID and the instability of 2020 made Susan realize more deeply how all of her roles intertwine, and showed her how she is uniquely equipped to support people through these experiences.
Listen in to hear us chat about how people’s core beliefs factor into how they’re dealing with the pandemic, civil unrest, and emotions in 2020, mental health, and staying creative in the face of uncertainty. Susan also shares her self care practices that center around the 4 elements of earth, air, water, and fire - simple, accessible, and impactful!
TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:
The many different facets of Susan’s career, which all tie in around the theme of story
How she turned to holistic wellness work as a “backup plan” from musical theater performance
How COVID, civil unrest, and things getting shaken up emotionally in 2020 made everything start to come together for her in a way she couldn’t possibly have planned
Being multipassionate before multipassionate was a more accepted concept and not just something to fix
“Creating your own school” in order to put together the varied learning experiences that you want to have
Being intrigued by the why behind things, and how that leads to understanding on a greater scale
How different trauma responses can show up in current situations
Susan’s framework of the 7 main core story patterns/themes that core beliefs usually fall into, whether supportive or limiting
How that affects our personal stories and needs, not just mentally or emotionally, but physiologically
The various ways that we react to going through a collective trauma together, and to our interconnectedness and meeting our own needs
How high functioning anxiety is a set of behaviors that are rewarded by our capitalistic society and productivity-oriented culture
The effects of vulnerability, uncertainty, and (perceived) lack of safety on creativity and its relationship to the parasympathetic nervous system
Susan’s self care practices working with the elements of nature - earth, air, water, fire
Balancing staying informed with actions that will counterbalance the potential anxiety of checking the news
The human tendency to reject the simple solution in favor of a more complicated one
RESOURCES DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:
Emilie Wapnick + the term “multipotentialite” (which I couldn’t remember during our chat)
S3 E3 + E4 on My Relationship With Creativity in 2020
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