Your mind can argue with a problem for years, but your body often tells the truth in seconds. I’m joined by Melanie Smithson, a somatic psychotherapist who helps people let go of anxiety, anger, and the old belief systems that quietly shape our lives.
Her story starts with dance, expands into conscious movement, and lands on a powerful idea: when you bring awareness to what your body is doing, movement becomes information and release becomes possible.
We get honest about why many of us stay stuck, even when we “know better.” Repeating the same story can keep the ego busy while the nervous system stays locked in protection. Melanie shares how to work with what is happening right now in your jaw, throat, chest, or gut, and how to stop turning a temporary experience into an identity. One key reframe is simple but radical: stop saying “my anxiety.” Treat it as sensations arising, meet it with curiosity, and notice how quickly it can move when you stop resisting.
You’ll also hear practical somatic tools you can use anywhere: bouncing to disrupt looping thoughts, imagining thoughts swirling then reversing the direction, letting out a conscious groan, and even asking what your anxiety would do if it had a dance. We connect this work to parenting and emotional intelligence, and we share stories of kindness that spread fast when you act on the nudge to help someone.
If you want grounded spiritual growth, real-world mental health practices, and body-based tools for letting go, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who overthinks, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s one small step you’ll try today?
To connect, work, or purchase her books, visit Melanie’s website: smithsonclinic.com
To download a free chapter of host Sylvia Worsham’s bestselling book, In Faith, I Thrive: Finding Joy Through God’s Masterplan, purchase any of her products, or book a call with her, visit her website at www.sylviaworsham.com
Transcript:
If you’ve ever struggled with fear, doubt, or worry and wondering what your true purpose was all about, then this podcast is for you. In this show, your host, Sylvia Warsham, will interview elite experts and ordinary people that have created extraordinary lives. So here’s your host, Sylvia Warsham.
Hey light bringers, it’s Sylvia Warsham. Welcome to Release Out Reveal Purpose. And today is Melanie Smithson. She is a psychotherapist, somatic psychotherapist, and her concentration is in letting go. Letting go. Think about that for a moment. We need to let go of our trauma. We need to let go of the modeling. We need to let go of these horrible experiences and horrible belief systems that we have been believing are our truths, when in fact they are lies, developed long ago after trauma. When I read her story, what really intrigued me was that someone was using this space to really focus in on what really holds us back for moving forward into our light and into our divine purpose. Because we are all here to bring light, to bring a particular set of skills and gifts that we have been given from the moment we are created. Because remember, we are all fearfully and wonderfully made with a particular set of unique skills to you to use for the betterment of humanity. And that’s what Melanie’s doing today. So without further ado, Melanie, thank you so much for joining us on Released Out Review Purpose. Happy to be here. Happy to have you. So do share with us that story of transformation that brought you to this space of being a psychotherapist, somatic psychotherapist, really focusing on letting go. Yeah.
Well, you know, my story is actually not full of trauma. My story um evolved from just dancing. And I’ve been dancing since I was four years old. And long before I knew the power of movement to transform, in my bones, I knew the power of movement to transform. It’s like whenever anything upset me, even as a teenager, I knew it’s like time to get to dance class. And whether I was consciously releasing, I I can’t say. I think more it was just getting into my body and letting my body know do what it knew how to do. So even though my first degree was in accounting, I became a CPA in New York. I and I love numbers. It was all good. I mean, this was my work, you know. Um, there came a time where I was sitting at my accounting desk and going, I don’t want to be here, I want to be dancing. I don’t want to be here, I want to be dancing. I don’t want to be here, I want to be dancing. So um I quit my accounting job. I took another job that lasted two weeks. I quit that one too, and then started managing a dance studio in New York City for$50 a week in all the dance classes I could take. Not sustainable. Um but I was happy. I bet. I mean, I’m happy when I dance, so but please continue. That’s the great thing. It’s like so many of us know that, you know, get me on the dance floor. Um a series of things happened. I wound up in Santa Fe. I started doing some um environmental work. I was the Exxon spill really just got to me. Um, so I did some environmental work here, and then I just found myself in some movement classes here in Santa Fe that were conscious movement classes. And by conscious movement, that’s like, you know, I can sit here and I can move my hands, I can move my face, and not be aware of all the movement that’s happening. When I start bringing awareness to what’s moving and how it’s moving, it changes everything. It changes my relationship to the movement, and movement starts to become something that informs. So in these classes, I was like, oh, of course, this is my work. I had also done enough self-growth work, workshops where I had recognized that I got excited about transformation. And it’s like all those pieces just kind of came together for me. It was like transformation through movement. That’s my work.
Wow. I mean, it it makes perfect sense though. If you think about it, I know that when I was a teenager, I would play the piano, so my hands were moving. I was moving to music, yeah, and it was my way of expressing my sorrow. Yes. I was bullied a lot in high school, and I needed a way to release that. Yeah. Release that penta anger, resentment, whatever you want to channel it into something beautiful. So I played the piano and I danced, jazzed, and tap. And like you, I love to dance. I mean, if I could dance all day every day, I would. And when I got divorced years ago, the I remember one of my buddies saying, Sylvia, you need to pick up a hobby so that you can release all this energy from your body. And I’m like, okay. So I actually picked up Zumba. I wanted to get in shape again, you know. Oh, Zumba will do that for you. And Zumba will do it for you. And I was telling my daughter the other day, she’s in dance, she’s in hip hop, she loves hip-hop. And I said, Vivian, it is, I know how to choreograph because with as a Zumba instructor, I became a Zumba instructor. I took it to a whole new level, and I was telling her, I was like, if I can learn the choreography of 16 songs for an hour session, you can learn the choreography of one song for a cancer slide. Yeah, it’s it’s very simple, it’s like four steps, and then there’s like this magical step in the middle because of how the dance and and the music usually goes, you know, and it’s a repetition of these steps, and it’s an eight count, and sometimes it’s a four-count, yeah, and it it you’ll see it. Like you will see it, and she played the piano, she understands that. Yeah, but going back to what you discussed, it is the perfect way to release a lot of this energy that’s pent up in us.
We hear so many stories about you know, music saved me, dance saved me, my art saved me. That which we are, whether you call it God, whether you call it spirit, whatever your terminology is, your connection to that which is beyond this, this all that is, is nothing but creative. Our essence is creativity, which is why when I’m in a funk, when I can, I know, I know the best thing for me to do is to do something creative. Whether it’s to write a little poem, whether it’s to roll around on the floor with the dog, creativity brings us back to essence, brings us back to source faster than anything else. So often, you know, it’s like you know, I am a therapist and I love my work, but only because it’s body-based. I do not like talking about problems. And a lot of therapy winds up talking about problems.
Yeah.
People say, Don’t you get so burnt out listening to people talk about their problems all day? It’s like, I don’t do that. It’s like that’s not therapeutic. I’m not gonna do that. When clients come to me and they want to tell me the stories over and over again, it’s like, stop, we’re not doing that. It’s not helpful, it’s not gonna support transformation. How do we get beyond the story? And yes, sometimes we have to move through it, but sometimes we’re only stuck in it because we keep talking about it.
Yeah, I did notice that about therapy. After a while, it gets old. You’re like, wait, I don’t want to rehash it. You’re sick of yourself. I’m like, I looked at my therapist marital counseling, I was like, why are we rehashing this again? Right now, my my coaching came out because as a life coach, we are very interested in your present moment. That’s what we can help you with.
Right.
The past is usually for therapists because that’s where the trauma is, that’s where all these issues are in therapy, even in therapy.
When I work with what’s here now, we go into the past only when it’s critical.
Yeah.
So sometimes we can let go of just telling the same old story without having to go digging into the past. So this is where you know, ego versus spirit, you know, it’s like the ego self likes to have issues.
Yeah, yeah.
It likes to have problems, the mind likes to solve problems. So it’s gonna keep us circling around the same old issues, telling the same old stories, but that is all in the ego world. So we have an opportunity, you know, and sometimes again, it’s like this is where where therapy itself is a dance. So if we need to go into the trauma, if we need to move the trauma because it’s held in the body, yes. If we can recognize that it’s just the ego holding on to the story, it’s not even affecting me anymore. Then we can work with just letting it go. So for me, you know, it’s like that’s the work. Where do where do we, you know, tap into all that we are, break the identification with what we think we were? And where do we have to really work? Oh my God, like you have some stories, and it’s like, how did that land in the body? What were you thinking as a seven-year-old?
When that you know, what where does it show up in your body? Like does it show up in your heart space, in the crown of your head? Like, where do you feel it’s right? You know the it is it’s it’s an interesting thing. Right now, we are as parents, my husband and I, we are working with a nurtured heart therapist. And why I love this approach is because it talks about helping our daughter identify where it’s showing up in our body so we can guide her. Like, okay, Vivian, where did you feel this in your body? Like when you decided to stop screaming and start empowering yourself, where did you feel that in your in your body? And it’s to make her think of like, oh, and make her aware of her body, of her thoughts, of how her thoughts are connected to the feelings, and how those feelings promote reactions and circumstances. All of it plays a role. The belief promotes the thought, the thought, the feeling, the feeling, the reaction, the reaction, the habit, and the pattern. And then, of course, the pattern is like this cyclical staying stuck with the core bull results you’re you’re experiencing or your circumstances, right? So we always kind of I always tell my clients, it’s like, I’m not gonna tell you how to think. I’m going to show you how your thoughts are promoting all of this and how we can shift it. Because it’s just a shift, it’s all it takes. It’s a new habit, and we just got to stack it with something joyful in your life. Kind of the atomic uh book, the atomic call, atomic habits by James Clare. I left a habit stack. To me, that’s the best way to start a new habit is to stack it with something that brings you joy. But in your case, anything to do with dance would have brought joy, anyways. Dance and dogs. And you and me too. I love dogs. My multi poodle is behind me somewhere. And I just it’s not as hard as people think. However, you do have you’ve got to first of all allow the feelings to surface. Yeah. If you continuously push them down, that’s why it’s it’s stopping you from entering your light.
And what’s so hard for so many people is there is a belief that you know has been instilled for so long that if you feel something, you’re gonna fall apart. So especially with grief, you know, people are, oh no, if I start to let myself feel the grief, it’s gonna take over. And that’s a lie. I mean, the truth is that feelings move very quickly when we allow them. They move like waves on the ocean. But same thing with thoughts, by the way. But, you know, it’s like the wave comes along, the thought comes along, and instead of going, well, it’s just a thought, it’s just a feeling, I can let it move through my awareness and be done with it. We resist it, and then we’re stuck with it. And then it’s held in the body, and then it creates habits, and then it creates reactions, and it does all of this stuff. But, you know, I don’t I don’t blame the person, I blame the system if I’m gonna blame anyone. It’s like we’re in a system that doesn’t support mental health. We were we’re doing better, maybe, or some people are doing better at raising emotionally intelligent children. But I absolutely believe that the way that we change the world, the way that we support world peace, the way that we get back to all that we are, is to learn how to be friends with our feelings. Yeah, because otherwise they run us. Oh, yeah. And who wants that?
I mean, we I was at a career date recently at my daughter’s school. It was so much fun, let me tell you. It was so much fun to be in front of those young, eager minds. Once again, they’re fifth graders, right? So super young, super impressive, you know, impressionable. And I said, I’m not gonna stand up there and tell them what a life coach and author do. That that would be boring. I would be bored as a fifth grader, right? So I had this exercise that I put them through, yeah, and I showed them what a life coach does, yeah, and how, and I did it in the form of a tree. I call it my coaching tree. And I’ve had this, God downloaded this to me in 2020 when I was writing my very first manuscript. I was out on a nature walk, as was the case in 2020 for all of us, and as I’m walking, I get this vision because he talks to me through visions, and like I told you before the interview started, the very first time the Lord used me as a vehicle and used my body to share a message that after the interview, I was like, that was not me. It was such an out-of-body experience, but it’s so neat now because when they come, I better have a notebook ready because man, the downloads start, and I just it’s like a furious writing experience. The tree came out and and he guided me up the tree and he said, You’re gonna use this in your coaching practice. And I’m like, Okay, well, you’re the boss. So um, so that’s what I used with these kiddos, and I had them think of the most beautiful tree they had ever seen in their life. And of course, the tree represents them. And as I’m walking them through this, I said, You know, you don’t have to have all the right answers right now because our minds they don’t always share uh in the moment, they share when we’re in reflection and we’re relaxed. So we need to get into nature, we need to dance, we need to do whatever makes us joyful. If we’re artists, start drawing, and then you’ll see that your mind will open up, and then all of a sudden, that piece, that messing puzzle piece, is gonna come crashing down. But if you don’t do this work, you’re gonna hold on to things that are not yours to hold on to.
Yeah, yeah.
And so right now you guys are young. You know, I’m 51 and my belief systems formed long ago when before the age of seven. So you guys do the math, and they were doing the math in class. I was like, okay, yeah, I’ll do the math, and um, and realize that that’s how long you’ve been carrying this stuff, and that’s why it’s important to let it go right now, so that you don’t grow up with you know, carrying all this luggage on your back and move over it. And it was it was so much fun to do with these kids. Yeah, and uh my daughter was like, Um I was impressed, mom. It’s like legit thanks.
But you could impress your daughter.
You know, it’s a fleeting moment when that occurs.
Yes, yes, yeah. I I get so excited when I have young people come to therapy. You know, most of the people don’t go into therapy until at least their 30s, 40s, 50s, you know. But more and more I’ve got people in their 20s, which is fantastic. Because it’s like if you can do your work in your 20s, your life’s gonna be more fun. Oh that said, I also sometimes people have people in their 70s and 80s, and it’s like, yeah, oh my God, I should have done this so many years ago. And my feeling is, hey, if you do it before you die, you’re ahead of the crowd. Because so many people don’t do their work.
No, they don’t. Because, like you said, they don’t, they think it’s gonna hash up things, but I always tell my friends, it’s like, oh, so you’d rather have those things dictate your reactions and then stay stuck in dark chapters? That’s what you prefer. And they’re like, Well, I hadn’t thought of it from that perspective. I’m like, how can you not think of that? I mean, you’re carrying this load. I know it’s so huge. Load.
Nobody wants it. I don’t like the load. There are a lot of people that would call me a crackpot for the work I do. No question about it. And, you know, because I’m out there, I’m out there with my letting go work, I’m out there with my hypnosis work, I’m out there with my beliefs, I’m out there with the body, you know. But to me, it’s like, why wouldn’t you think like this? Why wouldn’t you recognize that freedom is on the other side of letting go? You know, it’s like, but the the contraction, the holding on to what we were taught by our parents. And I mean, especially now, we really see it in our country now, how we’ve got, you know, a whole lot of people going like, this is who I am, and then we’ve got a whole lot of people going, I wonder who I am. And I, you know, and I I don’t know where any of this is going to take us, but certainly this is the path that I have always been drawn to is curiosity, is wonder, is growth. And obviously your listeners are, that’s why they’re listening.
And that’s why it’s called release doubt reveal purpose. Right. Because it is a journey. It’s not a when they first asked me, well, what’s your podcast about? I’m like, it’s a journey of releasing what is not yours.
Yeah, you know, and it’s funny, we did talk about this before, you know, I love and I love the name of your podcast because the more you release that which that which you are not, which are those beliefs that got instilled, which are the feelings from childhood, which are the condition, all the conditioning, the more you can let go of those beliefs, the more you can let go of those feelings. What’s left is essence. And the more open, the more um unencumbered we are, the more spirit can come through. Yeah. And you know, you’re talking about how you know the tree was downloaded. My whole book was downloaded. This my most recent book, Shake Yourself Free. I was on the dance floor, and all of a sudden I’m getting this information about how to let go. And it’s like, and I know how to let go, but it’s like all these different ways. Oh, you could let go like this, you can let go like this. And it just becomes that’s your next book. 81 somatic ways letting go through the body. But that’s what happens. The more you get out of your way, the more spirit can come in and support your life.
It means God can’t help you if you don’t move out of his way. If you don’t move out of his way. We have these prayers, like, please help me with this. And it’s like, well, please get out of my way, but please get out of my way. Yes. I uh it’s either you or him that’s that’s going to be doing this work. And when we when we allow, that’s a thing we release, but then we also have to allow and receive the gift. Of the download instead of resisting it. Right. Like I resisted his gift of becoming an author for 13 years because I did not feel worthy. Who was I to write a book on turning points? And he was like, and why wouldn’t it be? Why wouldn’t you be? Why wouldn’t you be that person? And this morning, guess guess what I did, Moni? This morning in prayer. I don’t know. I just felt compelled to put it on paper. I was writing down scripture, and then all of a sudden I felt compelled to understand why he had chosen me to advance his kingdom. And it and I started to write all the things I loved about myself. Things that I hadn’t even reflected on. And it just poured out of me. And when I sat with the finished product, I was like, well, no wonder he chose me to do this. It was like no doubt why he had chosen me.
You know, and I wish, you know, I really wish that every single person on the planet would get that. Because the truth is, we’re all chosen to advance. And I don’t use the word scripture, but I use light. We’re all here to advance the light. We all have different ways of doing it. Not everybody’s going to be a writer, not everybody’s going to be a coach, not everybody’s going to be a therapist. But we can touch people in the smallest ways. You know, our kindness and compassion as we’re passing strangers. I think, you know, and I hope, I hope this resonates with some of your listeners. You do you don’t have to do big things to change the world. Do little things. Practice kindness. Practice kindness with yourself. It’s like, oh my God, if people would be kinder to themselves, that alone would change the world.
Oh my goodness, yes. And I, you know, I have a small story to share about kindness. Yesterday, I was sitting at Einstein’s Brothers, like trying to get a bagel for my daughter. She had therapy. And and I’m sit, I’m like behind this young guy. He was probably like 2021, and he was with somebody else, some other young boy, and he asked the guy, the manager, how much is the orange juice? And he couldn’t afford it because he’s a young guy and he’s probably earning like a small living. And I piped in and I said, I told the manager, I said, you can charge that that orange juice on me. And the boy, like the young man turned around and was like, You don’t have to do that. I said, I want to do that. You see, it’s a gift for me to do that to you for you.
Yes.
Because I it just I’m feeling compelled to do it. And I felt like the Holy Spirit was saying, buy the orange juice for him. Show him what kindness looks like. Yeah, you don’t need to talk about kindness. Forget about talking about show people what kindness looks like. Yeah, you know, smile at someone that needs a smile, be uh an ear, a listening ear for somebody that is sobbing on your shoulders. I had a neighbor the other day, it was a Saturday, and I was doing stuff around the house, and all of a sudden the doorbell rings. You know, my husband opens the door and she looked distraught. And and I looked at her and I said, You need to talk to me, don’t you? And she said, Yes. I said, Let’s go to my Pergola outside. It was a gorgeous day outside. Can I offer you some tea? You know, I didn’t know what was happening. And she just like let it go, like completely lusted. And she comes from a culture that you don’t do that. You re you repress your emotions, you do not show people your weakness, quote unquote, because that’s what they how they tell them in their culture. This is the Asian culture, they’re they’re not gonna show this. And she just and I held her. I held her and she sobbed for what seemed like an hour. And when she was done, we just quietly, very calmly talked about it. And then when she left, she was lighter. That’s kindness, and you don’t have to do this every day, but if you feel compelled to do it, do it. You know, do it because what that does, these random acts of kindness, they are like they spread like wildfire too. And people feel compelled to do another act of kind, they want to pay it forward because of the way you left them. It just feels good to give. And it also feels good to be on the receiving end of that gift. And that’s what I told the young man. I said, You are giving me the gift, you are gifting me the opportunity to help you. Yeah, and then when he walked away, the manager was like, and I’m gonna pay it forward to today. He goes, I get a free drink every time I purchase because I’m the manager and I’m gonna give it to somebody that really needs it. I said, You do that.
Yeah, yeah.
So tell me how can people let go? Tell me some of the the therapies that you recommend through your practice.
Yeah, well whether, you know, it’s like my book actually addresses how do you let go of anxiety, how do you let go of anger, how do you let go of a belief, how do you let go of upset in the moment, you know? And in general, that question, how do you let go, it’s like it’s a broad question, so I’m gonna see if I can’t, you know, pull it in. So in any given moment, if there’s something for me to let go of, some sort of upset, I’m gonna check in with myself first. Rather than because too often when we’re upset by something or we’re driven by a thought, that thought, that upset pulls us out of ourselves. So the first step is to come back to me. What am I experiencing? What is this thought doing to me? What is this thing that my husband did or didn’t do creating in me? And how does that feel in my body? So once I locate, because every upset is gonna be located in the body. So I might locate it in my jaw, I might locate it in my throat, might be in my chest. This, you know, center of the body tends to be where we hold a lot of stuff. We also hold stuff in the neck, shoulders, any place is really open, but I’m gonna feel first. So let’s just say, ah, I feel some upset in my jaw, I feel angry, uh, I’m gonna move into this. I’m gonna move into what I find in the body. Because the movement is gonna inform what wants to let go, so it’s a matter of really resisting what the mind has to say about it, because the mind is actually just gonna look to create more of a problem so that it can solve the problem so it could be the hero. The body is more invested in letting go. So one of the ways that is really fun to let go when you’re angry with something about with someone or something is to let yourself be five years old and throw a fit. I wouldn’t do this in public, but throwing a fit is really good medicine. My girlfriend texted the other day how agitated she was, you’ve been in meetings at all. Um so frustrated. I said, Well, as long as you’re having fun with it, and she said that changed everything for her. She went and she threw a fit. The other thing lately, I think this, I think I have a new book coming called Um Conscious Groaning, Letting Yourself Groan. Groan is also movement. It moves stuff, it releases stuff. So when you get more invested in releasing and moving things through than in being right, it changes everything. So I don’t know, something else you want me to speak to, anxiety, thoughts, any anything in particular?
You know, for me, it’s anxiety and thoughts because those are the big ones. Those are very, very big right now with kids and thoughts, because how many thoughts do we have on a daily basis? And then you tack on being an OCD ADHD child, you get like a lot of thoughts.
Okay, so let me let me speak to anxiety first. So, with anxiety, the very first thing I do with clients is I ask them to take the label off. So, what’s happening is we’re having an experience in the body. And as soon as we give it a label, whether it’s anxiety, whether it’s fear, whatever it is, we give it, we give it a label, and then the mind says, Oh, this is what I have. And and one of the things I’m really on a rampage about is stop saying it’s my anxiety, because it’s not yours, it’s just an experience arising. So the more that we can recognize that as experience anxiety is an experience arising, then we can get curious about it. So, not in the mind, in the body. What’s the sensation? For most people, anxiety comes with shortness of breath, some racing. And when that happens, there’s also a tendency to resist it. The resistance keeps it in place. So the more we can open to the sensations that we are labeling anxiety, the more room we give them to move. And it happens all the time. I say to somebody, tell me what you’re feeling, what you’re experiencing, can you be with it without resisting? Oh, it’s gone. So with anxiety, that’s what there is to do. Okay. Thinking, so many different ways to play with thinking. Some of my favorite ways, one really easy way, when you bounce your body, it’s really hard to hold on to a thought. Forget those balls that you jump on. What are you being called a cow? I’m on a couch. It doesn’t matter. The body can bounce wherever you are. Well, you’re bouncing, and it’s gonna be like, wait, what was I thinking? So that’s a good thing. Okay. If you’re in a meeting and you can’t literally start bouncing or you don’t feel comfortable doing that, imagining bouncing the thoughts. This is actually in my first book, Stress Free. Imagining bouncing the thoughts, imagining swirling the thoughts.
Okay. Actually, I’ve done the swirling, but I got that idea from God himself like in a meditation session one time.
But he’s to it for you. Go ahead. When you recognize that you’re having a lot of thoughts, check what direction they’re swirling in. Ah. And then reverse the swirl.
Ah. See, he swirls it off of me. Like he has me, he has me stand in the in the tornado of these thoughts and feelings, whatever is like really messy with me. And I’m holding firmly on the foundation of him while the feelings are swirling up, funneled all the way to the sky, where God is like with open arms receiving and like taking them from me. That’s also perfect. When I’ve done that, you know what ended up the visualization after that was I would be in the presence of the Lord and we would start dancing with each other because He took it from me. How funny! How funny that you do with movement and dance.
And what you’re saying is so it’s it totally aligns with what I teach. Because one of the things I teach is that thoughts, energy, experiences start to swirl in the world. And what happens is we get interested in them. And we’re either interested because it’s like, oh, what an interesting thought, or oh, I hate that thought. Either way, attachment, attraction, or aversion keeps us in the spiral. So what you’re doing with the God practice is, oh, it’s not mine. Yeah, it’s and there’s so many different ways through the body to recognize that, but it’s the same thing is breaking the identification with the thought, with the feeling, with the sensation that was never mine to begin with.
It’s true, and it’s the identifying. When you say I am anxious, you are identifying with that, you’re embodying it now. And that’s what I try to explain to my both my children, like me, stuff have um uh anxiety that was biologically passed on to a degree in our bodies. Um and so I was telling my kids, I was like, listen, you you can you have choices here, you can stay there if you’d like, but or you can make better, better choices about popping that thought on a cloud and giving it to God, or you can just pop it on the move, right?
Or or even just asking if your anxiety was gonna do a dance.
Yeah, what would it do?
You know, with children, I mean that’s totally where it goes. Like, you know, um, I have one client who has a young child who’s been saying he’s not he doesn’t he’s not worthy or he’s worthless or nobody should love him. So where’d you get that from? And we don’t know. But instead of trying to talk about it, well, show me what that looks like. And then a six-year-old makes it into a game. So, with children, when you put something into movement, it’s gonna transform without a whole lot of words. Yeah, yeah.
And you know what, my 20-year-old, I would love to understand how I can best guide him. Would would this type of therapy be the best therapy for a kid with anxiety? I’m totally biased. He loves movement, although he’s not big on dancing. He’s not big on dancing. He didn’t martial arts though. He didn’t martial arts, so that worked for him. Makes martial arts. So and he would kick higher than me. And I was like, and I was a dancer, so I was like, damn, that’s high. You know, you have like a booty child.
Right. So if I were to work with your son, which I probably won’t, he’s in Texas, I’m in New Mexico, but whatever. Um, I would lean into his experience with the martial arts.
Okay.
I would have him tell me how he feels when he has that kind of power, and you know, lean into so movement doesn’t have to look like dance. You know, we move we move in tiny little ways. Movement happens. My husband practiced ripassana meditation forever, and that’s the practice of watching subtle movements in the body. So his movement looks like like this, you know, just and for anybody who’s listening, I’m just like my head is tilting just a tiny little bit. Yeah, me it’s much bigger. So you work with people in the experience that they know. So your son knows martial arts. Great, tell me about that. How does it feel when you’re doing that? What’s the movement in your body? What would your body do to transform the overthinking?
Yeah, yeah, because in his case, and like in my case, overthinking is gonna be um billion. A problem, yeah, a problem. Because you know, they did the the genetic testing on me not too long ago. I really wanted to understand what was happening, and so they pulled my blood and they’re like, Yeah, you’ve got certain genetic uh predispositions to like lack of focus and lack of. So we were, you know, supplement work is good for that holistically. But the other piece, he was like really impressed with how I did it with meditation and with focus work, and he goes, all of it works, so yeah, yeah. But nutrition is a big part of it too, because it affects your body, like it affects your mind, it affects everything. So and it affects your sleep, and your sleep affects everything. If you are not sleeping, your body is gonna be exhausted, you’re not gonna be able to focus on anything. So all things are connected, all of it is connected. So I I’m just so grateful I got you on the show because I had so many questions when I read your biography. Now, if I wanted to work with you or anybody in Santa Fe, Santa Fe wants to work with you, how do they get in touch with you?
Do you have a web page? Yeah. So my website is Smithson, my last name, SmithsonClinic.com. Okay. All my contact information is there. If my books are there, everything you want to know about me is at Smithsonclinic.com.
SmithsonClinic.com. Any last words of encouragement you want to leave the listeners who’ve released out reveal purpose with.
Yeah, so you know, I think sometimes when you’re thinking about doing something different, it gets overwhelming. And the truth is that any small step, that first small step, is it it can change everything. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. If you’ve been wanting to meditate, but oh no, I can’t do 20 minutes a day, do 30 seconds. That’s you know, my first book is at stress-free in 30 seconds. It’s like there are so many things we can do in 30 seconds. And you know, in terms of bringing the body in, if you’re at a desk all day, can I get up once an hour and shake? Or can I even sit at my desk and bounce? Just like what’s a little step? And you don’t want to do too much at once because doing too much at once will sometimes result in a boom in a boomerang. So, what’s one little thing? How could I be a little kinder to myself? How could I bring my body a little bit more into my awareness? How can I just practice kindness, you know, in subtle ways? Can I hug the dog or the cat more frequently? So just looking for something little if if you’re ready to make a change. It doesn’t have to be big.
I love that. Oh my goodness, what a light you are. And I always sign off the same way. Remember, Matthew 5.14, to be the light. Be the light like Melanie was the light. Look at what she did with her gifting to see the creativity that you we’re all creative human beings, all in our own rights. We create very differently from each other because we all belong to the same body of God, you know, and so we’re not really here to compete with each other. We really shouldn’t. And that’s why competition, imposter syndrome, all of this stuff that is out in the fallen world, that doesn’t really apply to us. Not really. But the thing is, we’ve we’ve accepted that as our truth, and that is not who we are. Our essence is so much brighter. We are such amazing human beings, and there’s such amazing capacity within all of us that when we work together, when we co-collaborate with each other, we are seriously unstoppable. I hope you have gained as much knowledge and wisdom from Melanie’s insight as I have today. And to the listeners, just remember to have a blessed and beautiful rest of your day. Love y’all. Bye now.
So that’s it for today’s episode of Release Doubt, Reveal Purpose. Head on over to iTunes or wherever you listen and subscribe to the show. One lucky listener every single week who posts a review on iTunes. We’ll win a chance the grand prize drawing to win a twenty-five thousand dollar private VIP day with Sylvia Worsham herself. Be sure to head on over to sylviaworsham.com and pick up a free copy of Sylvia’s gift and join us on the next episode.