Jey (00:13.303)
Settle down, settle down, settle down. Welcome into another episode of the Young Die podcast. I'm your host, Jay. I'm very excited for today's episode. We're going a very different direction today, to say the least. Something a little out of left field, way out of left field, you could say. I'm joined today by Jenna. Jenna's a Reiki master and a guided meditation facilitator. She's also a manifestation and spiritual life coach, and she enjoys using her platform to teach beginners on all topics spirituality.
So Jenna, thanks for being here. Tell us a little bit about you, what you do, I guess how you became what you are, and then what you do now.
Jehna (00:51.358)
Okay, awesome introduction. I'm gonna sum up. Yes, I'm Jenna. It's really, really nice to be here. I have been on this pathway to spirituality for my entire life, being raised in a very spiritually open house. Well, we have religion. We've also been super open to other modalities, just whatever makes you feel better in the world. So from there, I opened up to just learning a lot about this spiritual world.
and learning especially about Reiki as a healing modality. So, well, I'm sure going to Reiki in a minute, but after many years of practicing Reiki for myself and my friends and my family, I decided to take it next level and just go for that final Reiki master certificate. And yeah, now I'm doing that. I'm a guided meditation facilitator helping people kind of learn how to meditate. Meditation has such a huge like,
It can seem overwhelming to a lot of people. So guided meditation is kind of that beginner's first step to trying to delve into that world, which is really, really fun. I do that individually, small group. I also am going to hopefully do it for a corporation this coming spring. And then in addition to that, I'm also a manifestation spiritual life coach where I help people really get in touch with their inner divinity and learn how to co -create the life of their dreams. And in addition to all of that, my day job is being a sixth grade social science teacher.
which is also really fun.
Jey (02:20.983)
Very cool. Very cool. So how What is Reiki like what is it for all the people that are listening the moms and dads everyone in between? What the heck is Reiki?
Jehna (02:34.43)
Yes.
Yes. Okay. Reiki is this amazing, ancient healing modality. It's where we work with energy. So breaking it down for super beginners. Have you ever been through kind of a traumatic experience? It could be not even like traumatic on a level of, you know, super trauma, but just something that stayed with you that you couldn't let go of. Something that impacted you when you were a child or young adult at any phase of your life. Something that kind of just stuck with you.
Jey (02:59.863)
Yeah, definitely.
Jehna (03:07.038)
Reiki is an ancient Japanese technique that says that we hold on to that trauma, that energy in different places in our body. And usually we work along the idea of it being on our chakra centers. So there are seven base places that Reiki believes that we store that energy. And so what happens is that a Reiki person will come in, a Reiki healer will come in and they are trained.
to move that energy. They see where the energy is stuck and then they use practices, gentle touch, just moving the energy out of that place. So that just like a river, our body has energy flowing through us. If that energy gets stuck in a place, then a Reiki master will come unstuck that energy so that everything is back flowing and we're back to being grounded and centered.
Jey (04:03.863)
Okay, so how did that journey start for you? Like when, so you're raising a very spiritually open home and you kind of just found out about it or where was the first sign like this was kind of what you should be doing or an extra thing you should be doing or did it just start as like a hobby and an interest or has it been something you've always kind of wanted to like work your way to?
Jehna (04:10.75)
Yeah.
Jehna (04:30.974)
So I've known about Reiki growing up. I had my first Reiki session receiving Reiki when I was probably 12, 13 years old in a little small town in Utah called Moab. That's fast growing and I hear people now talking about it all the time. But when I was going there, it was a very small town that very few people knew about besides for the national parks. And so I experienced Reiki and it was life changing. It just helped me let go of...
so many little traumas that had been stored up. And so I knew how powerful it could be. And then I regularly received Reiki growing up from there on out, even when I came back to Michigan from that vacation, I found a Reiki practitioner here and I loved it so much, but once a month wasn't enough for me at that point. And I wanted to learn because anybody can do energy healing. We all have the capacity to just heal ourselves.
And so I went through and I did the training so that I could do Reiki on myself, especially as a teacher, we can get so stressed. We're taking on so much pressure to be these role models, sometimes parental figures, sometimes friends, sometimes just guides to our students. And that's a lot of pressure. So just to be able to heal myself and ground myself in between students and working with different classes.
That was huge for me. And then I used it in my worldly life as well, just going through a day -to -day basis. So for me, it's become a grounding tool. And then I learned how to do it for my family and my friends and even my pets. So then after that, I just decided, okay, why not share this with other people? Why not, you know, help raise the vibration of the planet?
Jey (06:20.599)
No, I love that. I think that's really cool. So was Reiki your first path and then you became like a spiritual manifestation coach or which one kind of came first?
Jehna (06:32.702)
So I've been into the spiritual game my entire life. As a child of nine, I was reading the spiritual holy books of all these different religions, the Torah, the Bhagavad Gita, the Quran, the Bible, just reading anything spiritual, the Iliad and the Odyssey for ancient Greek mythology, just anything spiritually inclined. And then that led to learning about manifestation and co -creating the life of your dreams. My uncle and my mom were super early.
believers and loving the secret that came out. And so they like raised me along with my dad and my sister. They all kind of just brought me into this belief that we can manifest the life of our dreams. I didn't think that I could teach spirituality and manifestation. So while I got my Reiki certificate first, I've been into spiritual spirituality and spiritual life and manifestation my entire life. So this is just...
Now taking that and helping others and having the certificate and the tools to be able to teach others how to co -create.
Jey (07:37.527)
Very cool. No, that's awesome. So what could like the average like parent or like the average dad who's kind of like hearing this and be like, oh, like, how can the average dad or someone like benefit from that? Someone who's kind of on the fence like, I don't know, man, I don't know.
Jehna (07:49.086)
Yeah.
Jehna (07:55.71)
Yeah, that's a fabulous question. I think just have an open mind. I know that it's a lot to believe, but what's the worst that could happen to believing that you have the power to have your dream life or raising your children to have the confidence that they can co -create their reality? Even if you don't believe it yourself, what's the harm of giving your child the self -confidence to say, you know what, I can achieve the life of my dreams.
I just have to work hard and I can also then play hard. I just have to put the intention out there. So just having that open heart to saying, you know what, let's just, let's see, try it out. Go out there and say, you know what, universe, God, whatever, I wanna just see a repeating number today, like a 111 or 222. Or just say, you know what, I wanna hear the word courage out there today and just see how it unfolds for you.
Maybe it'll take a couple days, but then you'll see the signs come through that somebody's listening and you manifested that. You brought that in. And for my real beginners here, manifestation isn't the secret magic trick. This isn't just saying, okay, you know what? Tomorrow I'm going to be a millionaire. Here we go. Otherwise everybody in the world could be a millionaire. It's saying, okay, I want to achieve this goal. I am ready to
embody that goal saying that I want to act like I'm going to be a millionaire or I want to act like I have the confidence or I want to act like I'm a really amazing parent for my child. Just show up and act like that, embody that. And that's taking a small aligned action towards that goal. Manifestation really is about intention and taking actions towards it.
If you're just sitting here and saying, okay, here, I'm gonna be a millionaire tomorrow, and you don't even buy a lottery ticket, or you don't take a small -line action towards it, then there's only so much the universe will want to do, because you can have the intention, but you're not taking that first step. You gotta take the first step. The universe will come in and provide the rest. And having been raised on that belief system has really helped me. I've seen where...
Jehna (10:19.006)
Oftentimes, and it's not to say that I don't have limiting beliefs, but my peer circle would have limiting beliefs. And I would say, no, I'm going to do the hard work. And I'm going to trust that the universe is going to lead me where I need to be led.
And as a child, that's so empowering. That doesn't mean that you're arrogant. It just means that you have faith in something bigger and faith in yourself and faith in your parents believing in you.
Jey (10:46.071)
Definitely. I think that's so important. Like for, for just all parents being able to believe in our children, for them to grow and develop into people who are going to be successful, who are going to be productive members of society, who are going to carve their own path, who are going to be just the examples in the world to other people, to other kids. Like they, it starts really young for kids being a model of being a great human being, whether that's them being just kind or helpful or courteous.
They could be just extra obedient. They could be cheerful. They can be brave. You know, there's so many good qualities that we can instill in our kids at a very, very young age. And it's so important to believe that they are capable of it. Because I work with a lot of parents. I'm a mental health clinician. And I work with a lot of youth and families. And the parents just, there's a, it takes a long, not a long time, but it can take a long time for a parent to actually believe in their kid.
Jehna (11:40.862)
Yes.
Jey (11:41.879)
Believe that they can change and that they can do better and be better and then it takes 15 it takes, you know 8 9 10 11 12 months Sometimes and then once they finally start believing in them. I was like, oh wow. Look at that. Now we're making progress Because your child knows that you have their back you're not just calling them a bad kid or
you finally understand their behaviors, you finally understand where they're coming from, you're finally patient enough with them, you're finally loving and understanding enough with them to get through these big behaviors, to get through these struggles, to get through their mental health things, to work with them instead of just expecting someone else to work with them versus you when they need you to work with them more than they need me to work with them kind of thing. So.
Jehna (12:12.51)
Yeah.
Jehna (12:28.766)
Absolutely, and I see that all the time as a teacher myself that as a parent just you have to show up and you have to believe in your child and if you want to manifest believing in your child just choose to say I want to believe that my child's gonna do better. Speak affirmations over them. I know that sounds you know like magic or anything but it's not because you are what you believe and if your child is consistently hearing I believe in you. I trust in you.
I think you can do amazing things in this world. At first they might not believe you, but the more they hear it, the more it's gonna get ingrained in their subconscious. And then one day they're gonna show up as their highest self saying, you know what, my parents never gave up on me. They always believed that I could do better and be better and get past this hurdle.
Jey (13:16.951)
Definitely. No, I have a family that I'm working with right now that, you know, part of the kids, like one of the kids biggest things that the family's really concerned about is how much negative self -talk he has and how like he gets down on himself. And so what we ended up suggesting that they do is create like a positive affirmation jar. So every time he says something negative about himself, he has to go in, pull out a positive affirmation. And then in the mornings, you know, they each read a stepmom and
uh, grandma and you know, whoever else they read positive affirmations about it. Uh, they're going to write these things out and then they're going to make a little Mason jar and they're going to put them in the jar. And it's kind of like a swear jar, but for positive affirmations. Uh, so it was like, we had to, and they were like, so into the idea. They're like, that's amazing. And, um, I'm like, even put like signs up, you know, put signs up that like, I have like positive affirmation signs that you get like hobby lobby or whatever.
Jehna (13:57.918)
Yes, I love that.
Jehna (14:08.382)
Yeah.
Jey (14:13.815)
that everyone thinks are just so cheesy, but it's like, oh, we have a bunch of those in the garage. We'll hang up right now. I'm like, cool. Put one in his room. Put one in the bathroom. Put one in the hallway. Like put it in places where he's going to see them all the time, where he's going to glance at them, look at them, probably ignore it for a while or read it for the first few times because he's getting used to it being there. And then he's just going to keep walking by it. And then that's going to be like part of who he is because it's going to just kind of subconsciously. It's going to sink into his subconscious.
Jehna (14:38.814)
Mm -hmm.
Jey (14:42.231)
whatever that affirmation says. Same for those positive affirmations. Like if he's having a hard day, he can think back, oh, well, this morning, you know, I'm really having a hard day at school, but grandma said I'm really smart, and I am really smart. I can do it. That's going to carry with him through his day. He's going to have like little voice in his head kind of pushing him through his day.
Jehna (14:42.526)
Yes, absolutely.
Jehna (15:03.614)
Absolutely. And I love that so much. And I absolutely agree. And I tell my clients this as well. And it's not something that I don't practice. On my third monitor here, I don't use it as a monitor. So I have a bunch of sticky notes with affirmations. And I read through them. But once I look past it and it doesn't resonate and I don't actually actively engage with reading it, then I know it's time to switch it out. I've already, you know, moved past that affirmation. It's time to bring something new in that's going to get my attention. And that's so amazing that.
you're helping these kids start at such a young age with that. That's amazing.
Jey (15:37.687)
Yeah, no, I think that's really cool what you're doing with that affirmation. I mean, one thing that you said that really resonated with me personally is that you have to be intentional. You know, it comes back to being intentional. You know, I started journaling about a little bit more than three weeks ago every day, just trying for myself to be more intentional in that way. Like I'm going to be intentional about journaling and using it as like an outlet for like self care to help my creativity boost back up to kind of get like like my writing juices flowing because I felt like I was stuck writing something I really enjoy doing.
Jehna (16:05.758)
Mm -hmm.
Jey (16:07.383)
I felt like I was stuck. I felt like I had the idea to write a couple more children's books. Like I had the titles, but I'm like, I don't have any motivation to actually try to create this thing. Like granted, I'm also, you know, have my master's degree in psychology. I'm finishing up. And so that's also difficult because that takes a lot of my writing energy is with research and my topic for the paper has been to jury segregation. So.
Jehna (16:09.47)
Yeah.
Jehna (16:15.134)
Mm -hmm.
Jehna (16:21.95)
Mm -hmm.
Jey (16:37.623)
I'm sure as a social studies teacher, you know, all about de jure and de facto segregation and the legal segregation post -World War II in our country. So that's a heavy topic. Very heavy topic. The color of law was kind of my inspiration for that. Absolutely loved that book. And then that really resonated with me because like it talked about the city where I grew up in Oakland in the Bay area. And I was like, holy crap, like all the things that we think are great.
Jehna (16:38.942)
Yes. Yes. Yes. Mm -hmm.
Jehna (16:48.542)
Yeah, I was gonna say.
Jey (17:06.071)
FHA loans and everything were based in segregation. Suburbs were based for segregation. Apartments were based for segregation purposes. Stacked housing for segregation. Like that was the point. That's why we have these upper upscale areas because that was where white people would move and then the lower class would be here. And then once a black person moved in or an African -American or a person of color, then they would frenzy sell and then take over. And then that would become like,
Then they would just move on to the next area and build up again. And it's crazy. I think that's like, that's how our country was developed. Like the housing system and everything was based in that, but that's a totally different topic. But going back to like,
Jehna (17:46.046)
No, but as a social studies teacher, yes, I'm saying, of course, love it.
Jey (17:52.311)
Yeah. And so, but like I had to start like with the journal, like really small. I'm like, hey, I'll start five, 10 minutes a day kind of thing. Like I just need to build this muscle. Like I need to be very intentional. And so now like I haven't journaled today yet because I woke up a little bit later than I wanted to for our recording this morning, but I'll get to it. But it's even like yesterday, like I had nothing. I had a blank mind and men were really good at that. We can have a completely empty mind.
at some points. Men can, women can't. It's just biology. But I woke up and I was just like, I have nothing. Like I literally have no thoughts, nothing in my head. And I like to use the Cosmic Dream feature on ChatGPT4 to help inspire an image. And so that's where I get all my images over the last few weeks. It's just like, what does day 20, whatever, of my becoming more intentional look like? And it pops me out an image and it's like, huh, okay.
Jehna (18:26.75)
Yup.
Jehna (18:36.638)
Oh, yes.
Jey (18:48.695)
So it kind of prompts me for that journal a little bit if I really need it. But yesterday I was just like, I'm not feeling that. I'm not, I don't have anything like on my mind like right now. So I just wrote for like three minutes and called it good kind of thing. Uh, I. Yeah, but it's just about being intentional. It's like, I can put things in there that I'm going to be intentional about, like plans I'm going to be intentional about. And like, it definitely helps like starting there, like creatively or like.
Jehna (19:00.414)
Mm -hmm.
That's perfect.
Jehna (19:09.726)
Mm -hmm.
Jey (19:17.847)
mentally to like organize my thoughts for the day puts it puts the rest of the day into such a great perspective because it not nothing seems as big right it's kind of like my own morning like meditation and like my own like grounding exercise i guess uh because i just write in silence i write in silence or sometimes i'll put worship music on i'm christian so i'll put worship music on uh so it's just my little like five ten minutes just to like kind of charge the batteries of the day
Jehna (19:25.278)
Yes.
Jehna (19:29.406)
Mm -hmm.
Jehna (19:34.526)
I was about to say. That sounds like...
Jey (19:48.151)
before the day gets going, before the craziness. Definitely, you know, it's helped, you know, posting it on social media, which is like a whole other aspect of like being vulnerable and everything like that for just everyone to read my like inner thoughts and everything. But that's fine because it's helping me be creative. It's helping me write. It's helping me force myself to think and to create and to develop. And I just find so much benefit from it because I can think.
Jehna (19:48.382)
Yeah.
Jehna (20:03.23)
Mm -hmm.
Jey (20:17.815)
all day long. Like my thoughts are a bit clearer. I can get through everything. I organize everything up here before I even leave my room in the morning. So it makes me a bit more level headed. It makes me a bit more calm. It makes me, I think it makes me a better dad, a better partner and all the things. So, and it's also very healing because like I can get thoughts out and process them. But there was something I was holding on to or thinking through. Like it helps me process that.
Jehna (20:26.558)
Mm -hmm.
Jehna (20:37.79)
Mm -hmm.
Jey (20:47.127)
thought or that feeling a little bit too at the same time. So it's very, it's very, you know, intentional of me to get through that. So.
Jehna (20:56.478)
Absolutely. And it's so important to have a meditative grounding practice. I always start my morning with some sort of meditation. And I always say that meditation doesn't mean that you're sitting in Buddha pose, cross -legged on the floor for an hour, completely devoid of thoughts. It can be writing for a few minutes in the morning, listening to worship music. Half the time, my meditative practice is also listening to religious music of all sorts of kinds. And I'll be listening to my...
religious music and I'll just be taking the time to get my skincare done. But for that few minutes, then I'm completely present or working out for five minutes on my bike before I have my next meeting with a kid. Like those are little moments we take of self care that you have to be intentional and you have to carve out so you can be present. So you can show up for people in a better, more embodied state.
Jey (21:52.119)
Exactly, and I think that's so important. And like, of course, you hear from dad, I hear from dad and from parents all the time. Well, how am I supposed to make time for meditation? How am I supposed to make time to manifest? How am I supposed to make time to ground? Like, show me your screen time report. I'll show you the time that you have right now. I'll show you the hours of the day that you have. Like for me, it's literally waking up a little bit earlier, probably waking up about 20, 30 minutes earlier so I can actually wake up and get up and.
Jehna (22:08.862)
Mm -hmm.
Jey (22:18.935)
everything and then it's just writing for 10 minutes and then it's done post in the shower and on with my day kind of thing.
Jehna (22:25.438)
Absolutely. And it doesn't even need to be 10 minutes. If you want to start with two minutes of just breath work, that's two TikToks. Take 120 seconds and just do triangle breathing of in for four, hold for four, out for four. Do that for two minutes out of your life and just get grounded. And I swear it'll make the biggest difference.
Jey (22:31.639)
Mm -hmm.
Jey (22:46.679)
Definitely. And it's just about it's not about not having the time. It's about choosing how you're going to spend your time. You have to choose your time. Like things aren't just going to happen. You're not just going to lose weight if you're not choosing to have a better diet. If you're not choosing to like for me, like I wouldn't be healthy if I didn't actively choose to supplement my greens, knowing like I don't like vegetables, knowing that vegetables aren't my vibe. Like I just I've never been about them.
but knowing like I'm missing a lot of nutrients. So guess what I have to do? I have to make sure like I get those vitamins in because they're essential for my body while also, so I supplement them with the bucked up greens powder, supplement them every day. Cause I know I'm getting way more from that powder than I will a vegetable anyway, but I'm still getting it in. Like my body's still getting those nutrients to like be healthier, to function that I wasn't getting before.
Jehna (23:34.526)
Mm -hmm.
Jey (23:41.783)
You know, you have to, you know, these things about yourself, you know, everyone knows themselves well enough to know the areas that they're lacking. If you're lacking in exercise and your energy levels are low, then you need to assess like, okay, why are my energy levels low? And you have to ask yourself why. Like, why do I feel my energy so low? Oh, well, I haven't worked out for three months. Okay. Well, working out helps me have a better boost or maybe I'm drinking way too much coffee. Maybe I need a dial back so it can actually help me.
Jehna (23:42.302)
Yes, absolutely.
Mm -hmm.
Jehna (23:56.51)
Absolutely.
Jey (24:09.911)
Maybe I need to switch it up from the caffeine intake I'm having. Maybe I need to switch to a nootropic. Maybe I need to switch to an energy drink that's clean. Maybe I need to switch to a nootropic stimulant pre -workout. Bucked Up makes a great one. And you have to be able to assess these things for yourself. If something's not working, ask yourself, why isn't this working? Why is the coffee not tasting as good?
Oh, because I, and why is it not working and why am I crashing in two hours? Oh, because I put half a cup of creamer in and a bunch of sugar and crap too. Like, the answer's right in front of you. You just have to be willing and you have to be willing and intentional to accept the answer. You have the answer. You just have to be willing enough and intentional enough to find it and accept it and then to, I guess, put the work in for it, you know?
Jehna (24:35.038)
Mm -hmm.
Jehna (25:00.574)
Mm -hmm. And that's such a key part of manifestation is that small -aligned action, but having the intention to do something and then taking that small -aligned action towards it. But also give yourself grace, right? Like, yeah, we all have stuff we need to work on. We all have things to improve on. But give yourself grace and know that by taking that small -aligned action and having that intention, then you're taking some steps towards it. So give yourself grace for not being where you wanted to be.
and know that you're getting there. And the universe has your back in that too.
Jey (25:35.127)
Exactly. 100%. And it's okay. Like if you're, if you set a goal for three months out that you wanted to cut 10 pounds, but you only cut seven, like that's still progress. You know, you're maybe, and that's where I feel like a lot of just parents get over, over matched and where they lose time and time again, is that they focus on the product, the product the kids are producing. And I'm sure you see that all the time and working in education, like the
Parents are focused on the grade, the final grade versus they're not seeing like this student was really struggling with social studies. They couldn't understand the concept of what history was. And so they were in F, but they worked so hard and they started learning and understanding. And then they were able to get themselves to maybe a C plus or a B minus. Like that's ginormous for that kid. That's the process. But the parent was like, oh, well, it's not an A.
Jehna (26:06.91)
Mm -hmm.
Jehna (26:27.262)
amazing
Jey (26:33.399)
You still suck. You still failed. I don't love you as much as I could love you if you would have gotten an A. And that's so defeating for the student or for the kid or for the person because it's like, well, why did I work so hard? Like you just missed all my hard work. Like you don't care about me. You don't love me enough to look at my hard work and everything I did. So it's important for parents to get lost in the process with their kids versus the product. Like I have another family I work with that they like.
Jehna (26:33.63)
Yup.
Jehna (26:41.374)
Yes.
Jehna (26:48.958)
Yes.
Mm -hmm.
Jey (27:02.103)
Homework was a really big struggle. Math's been a really big struggle, but he's been able to make progress in math. And they're just like celebrating him like, okay, it's not perfect yet. He's still struggling a little bit, but he's doing it. He's not getting as frustrated with it. He's finishing it. He's trying more. Like that's the part they were focusing on versus like him just learning the math and doing the math. It's like, no, like that's it's elementary school math. It's not that deep, you know, like it's not that important that they get these concepts, but like what's important is that the.
Jehna (27:14.526)
Yeah.
Jehna (27:26.942)
Yes. Yes.
Jey (27:31.895)
learn to overcome that adversity and work through like this was really hard. I would get frustrated and throw fit. Now look at me like I'm not even getting frustrated. I can get through my homework. It's hard, but I can handle it and I can do it. And it's so important, but so often parents, they get lost at the product. They just want to see a product that they can be proud of. You can be proud of your kid getting a C minus or C plus or B minus because
Jehna (27:34.174)
Mm -hmm.
Jehna (27:43.39)
Yes.
Jey (27:58.231)
Like that's huge for them. Like they struggled all year long maybe. And like they finally started getting it. They finally started having an easier time with it. They finally started understanding history and being able to put dates and timelines and everything together. These big concept. And they worked so hard and they actually started turning in their homework. They actually started turning in their graded assignments instead of just ignoring them because they were too scared or frustrated or didn't understand it. Maybe they started asking for help. Who knows what it was.
Jehna (28:12.254)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.
Jehna (28:17.406)
Mm -hmm.
Jehna (28:25.95)
Yeah.
Jey (28:26.135)
But that's the important part to celebrate as a parent versus like on like a field or something. Like I'm a coach. I coach baseball. Like I hate when parents are just so focused on like the final product, how far they can hit, how hard they can hit, how far they can throw. Granted, I coach like kindergarten, first grade, second grade kind of kids. I coached team all the last two years, but it's like, no, I'm just proud that this kid who was spinning around can actually go into the batter's box, put their feet where I tell them to listen enough to put their feet where I tell them to.
swing the bat and hit the ball and run to first base. Like that was a miracle in itself kind of thing. And it's about taking that like holistic approach a lot like what you do with healing and the Reiki and your meditation and manifestation and everything is that as a holistic approach. Every single person is different. And I'm sure you know that being an educator, every single kid in your classroom that you've ever had is at a different place. There's no two kids that are going to be the same, maybe similar, but they're not the same.
Jehna (29:14.43)
Yes.
Jehna (29:21.982)
I'm sorry.
Jey (29:26.647)
So yeah, that's my rant on that.
Jehna (29:29.406)
No, I love it and it resonates so much as a teacher, just between encouraging our students, having parents encourage their students and really focusing on progress, not perfection. It's so much better. How much more fun is it to acknowledge the progress? If your kid is just perfect and getting all A's, you start to take that for granted. But watching...
a child have a growth mindset and having a growth mindset for your child saying, okay, little student was, you know, failing all his classes last year. Now he comes to my grade and he's working so much harder. He's motivated. And then he's booking times with his teachers, coming to our open office hours, working with us, asking questions. And you know what? He's now getting C pluses.
Like, yeah, you know what, that's not an A, but he's passing every course and he's trying. That's amazing. We should be really celebrating that. And I, as a teacher, will try really hard to say, hey, here's some encouragement. Hey, here's a celebration. Because oftentimes they're not receiving that at home. But how much better would this entire world be if they were receiving encouragement and support?
at home from their teachers, from their friends, and we were all just lifting each other up.
Jey (30:56.535)
Gosh, I can tell you firsthand, knowing that, hearing that question, kind of that question statement, it's like the world would be such a better place. We would have so many fewer problems, we'd have fewer issues, there'd be a whole lot less, there would be virtually little to no bullying. There wouldn't be nearly as big of a mental health crisis as there is. Of course, mental health can come naturally. A lot of it's genetic.
Unfortunately, but it would be easier to work through it. People would recognize it like, oh, you're really struggling with anxiety or you're really struggling with depression or you are showing a lot of signs of a mood disorder. Like, let's cool. Let's go and get your help. But then it all comes back to a lot of it for me, at least my perspective, that all comes back to what systems are already in place. The systems are in place for us to do that. You know, the systems and it's just the.
It would be great. It would be absolutely fantastic. There's so many benefits if we were to be able to do that, to be able to communicate at that high level, to be able to support each other unconditionally, to just love each other, to just, you know, embrace each other, embrace differences and everything. There'd be a lot less drama. Systems, I think, would fix themselves essentially because like, I have no choice. It's cool. Like, let's fix it. Like, let's fix it. This is broken. But the thing is, like, we have such a broken, beaten down system.
Jehna (32:00.254)
Yeah.
Jehna (32:11.934)
Mm -hmm.
Jehna (32:17.374)
Uh huh.
Jey (32:24.311)
you know, state to state, like I live in Washington, so I live in a very broken state, essentially. And the system that play for mental health treatment are broken. And it's just unfortunate and it really, it's a bother because it's like, if we could do these few things, like we just love each other, accept each other, you know, embrace each other.
Jehna (32:31.166)
Yeah.
Jey (32:53.047)
embrace differences, celebrate differences, we'd have no problems. Like everything would be fine. Not everything. There would still be like contention and whatnot, but there'd be a whole lot less degree. You wouldn't see teenagers going to a Super Bowl parade and shooting up the place. Like it was teenagers. It was two teenagers. Like A, how did they get their hands on it? B, are the parents going to be responsible for that as well? And C, did they check in about their mental health?
Like two teenagers should not just want to go and shoot up a prey just for funsies.
Jehna (33:23.902)
Yep. Absolutely. Absolutely. And if parents take that active role, I mean, it all really starts at home. Teachers can only do so much, right? Friends can only do so much. But the parents are the ones that are seeing your kids day in, day out and have these signs. I mean, I live in Michigan, so the Oakland thing that just was going on where the mom was held accountable. We have to...
Jey (33:34.071)
Mm -hmm. True.
Jey (33:49.015)
Mm -hmm. Yes.
Jehna (33:53.342)
show up for each other and also realize and really enforce this mindset shift that is so against what we've been taught systematically that there's going to be enough out there in the world for what we need because not everyone needs the same thing. So we need to believe that our needs are going to be met. And if we do truly believe that, then we don't have to worry so much about this competition. And I think that that's so much of society's issues.
Focusing on okay if this person meets this goal that's taking away from my ability to meet that goal There's enough for all of us And so if we look at it as opposed to looking at everybody as competition, but saying, okay You know what? He was able to meet his goal. That's inspiration now for me to meet my goal and you raise your kids saying look at your classmates if They're doing something amazing Don't be jealous. Don't feel competitive
you know, competitive with them, feel inspired by that. If they can do it, you can do it too. If we raise our children with that belief, that's part of, I mean, why there's so many reasons why children bully other children, right? Issues at home, issues with mental health, but oftentimes it's also issues with feeling inadequate or feeling a sense of competition stemming from that inadequacy.
If you felt truly complete in yourself, you would never feel the need to compete with anyone else because you're good by yourself. So we need to create whole able -bodied people who truly believe that they've got this and this world will be amazing.
Jey (35:37.559)
true.
100 % I can I could not agree more And it does start at home and 100 % starts at home with parents out there to instill these values these beliefs and you know not to just instill them but to model them and to Practice what you preach like it's gonna be very different. Like yes, you could say all day. Oh, yeah, you're great at it You're doing so good But when it comes time to put the action with the words if your action doesn't match the words All those words are empty. All those words now feel as a lie. All those words feel like
Jehna (35:51.102)
Yeah.
Jehna (36:05.662)
Yes.
Jey (36:07.897)
defeat all those words feel like oh well you were just saying that to say that that's cool that's cool you don't really believe in me you don't really care because here you were acting the same way regardless kids pick up on these things kids are very smart from a very young age they pick on that up on these things from kindergarten from first grade second grade that young whether the people around them believe in them whether you believe in them you know they develop their love tree by the age of eight for who six to eight years old is when they develop their love tree and
Jehna (36:12.894)
Mm -hmm.
Jehna (36:29.438)
Yeah.
Jehna (36:33.278)
Mm -hmm.
Jey (36:37.015)
Hopefully you're on that tree early enough so that you can, you know, so that they actually know that you're there for them, that you have their back, that you support them. And that's so important to encourage all these healthy, just great habits. It's cool to be supportive. It's cool to be not an entitled brat. It's cool to be kind. It's cool to be about other people's success. It's cool to celebrate other people when they succeed. Like, it's not a bad thing at all.
Like, it's cool. Like, be happy for other people. Kindness is free. It takes more out of you to be a jerk and to be an ass than it does anything else. It takes more effort to do those things. Being kind is so easy. Being kind is so easy. Mm -hmm.
Jehna (37:15.582)
Mm -hmm.
Jehna (37:20.222)
It's part of our innate nature. We were built as brothers and sisters in humanity. So let's start treating each other like brothers and sisters in humanity. And that means as parents, you know, be there for your children too. And know that they are also your brothers and sisters in humanity. Realize that these are little humans you're raising. And if you don't want to look at them as your children, look at them as humans.
and the base level respect that just being a human on this planet should entitle you to. Yeah, they're younger than you, but that doesn't mean that they're any less deserving of love and respect.
Jey (37:58.871)
Yes, 100%, 100 % true. So one question and then we'll jump into the YDP3. Where does a beginning parent start? Like where the heck do they start with all this? Like what is square one? Where do they start?
Jehna (37:59.71)
So yeah.
Jehna (38:15.262)
All right. Just, I mean, be open to learning. I mean, if you wanted, I'm writing Beginner's Guide to Spirituality. I have a podcast and a blog. You can read there where I really simple break it down. But there's not just me. There's a million other people. If you do a quick Google search, ask those questions out there. But just be open and start really basic with like just.
learning affirmations. What is an affirmation? What does it mean to speak an affirmation over your child? And then you can learn more about how our body stores energy. There's an amazing psych book, The Body Stores Trauma. I think it was Oprah Winfrey that helped co -produce it. Amazing book. Look at where your child holds their energy. Look at where they hold their emotions. You can honestly...
I see for my students, sometimes they feel like the weight of the world is on their shoulders, and these are 11 and 12, 13 year olds, and they're hunchbacked. And that's just emotional. And if you clear that emotion, then they're going to stand up straight. They're going to stand up confident. So honestly, a lot of my holistic healing work, reiki, guided meditation, manifestation,
It all also comes down to basic psychology. And I think honestly, every person should take a basic psychology course or just learn about basic psychology through crash course. John Green has an entire crash course on psychology. Listen to that. He breaks it down for beginners. Just learn how people's emotions work.
Jey (40:03.511)
Definitely, learn how people work, learn how people jive, learn how people develop. Super important there. Let's see, let's jump in here real quick to the YDP3 to end us. The YDP3 are three questions I ask every guest. I'm gonna have to phrase these a little bit differently.
Jehna (40:05.662)
Mm -hmm.
Jey (40:24.887)
Maybe just the last one. The first question here is what, we kind of talked about the whole podcast, but what grounds you? Or no, not what grounds you, sorry, wrong one first. Where are you rooted? Where are you rooted? Like what makes up like the inter -working roots of who you are?
Jehna (40:42.014)
spirituality, loving this universe, loving Source Spirit, and most importantly, loving my family. That's what keeps me grounded and Zen and rooted, using your word.
Jey (40:57.783)
I love that. I love that. All right. What grounds you when you're feeling like you had like a just a crap day at work. Admin were all over you for no reason because admins are admins or maybe there was a dumb directive from the school board or from the district. I'm currently dealing with at work. We work with schools and we're dealing with a really dumb directive from one of our school districts that like the staffs are like really fired up about and just like we're not doing that. They can they can be mad at us later.
Kind of thing because they're trying to limit us from coming into the schools to provide mental health services for the kids So the teachers and the staff are pretty fired up about it and pushing back really hard But let's say you just had a really long day and you're just feeling really out of whack You're feeling stressed. Maybe maybe a little stressy a little depressy a little anxious II
How, what grounds you? How do you bring yourself back to like center, center field, center base?
Jehna (41:59.87)
Well, first off, I have to say shout out to my admin and my principals and my superintendent for being so cool and also believing in social emotional learning and bringing in supports for our students. So they'll probably never see this, but huge shout out to them for actually believing in students, being able to have social emotional learning. But what keeps me grounded on the days that maybe parents make me a little stressy, depressy. Because, um,
Jey (42:25.079)
Yeah that makes sense, yeah that's a good one.
Jehna (42:29.79)
the school I work at, we're very much working with our parents as co -team, co -teachers. Like our parents are our biggest supporters and vice versa. We're working collaboratively. So on those days that, you know, you get down, what keeps me grounded is my meditations, my calming practice, breath work, taking a few moments to just sit by myself on my couch, because I work from home.
Thank God. I just take a few moments to really just sit in the silence, take deep breaths, get grounded. I listen to devotional music of all sorts. I'll listen to affirmations. I'll listen to just nature sounds like flute music, just anything to help maybe not have everything be completely silent and just taking the moments to recharge.
Jey (43:27.479)
I love that. And the last one here, let's say that you and I are both at a coffee shop and you look like you go to coffee shops, kind of. I don't know. Teachers coffee makes sense. Exactly. So let's say we're both at a coffee shop and I see you just typing away like happy, calm in a good place, right? And then I'm there and I'm just kind of like hunch over my coffee, kind of holding my face like this. You could tell I look tired, kind of run down, beaten down a little bit.
Jehna (43:36.766)
Yes.
Jehna (43:54.686)
Yeah.
Jey (43:56.183)
I look up, you look up, we make eye contact. You have an open seat at your table and then I walk over to you. Again, I don't know you. So you're like, what the crap is going on? Maybe you're a little freaked out. I just look over, walk over to your table, sit down. And I'm just like, look, I don't know you. You don't know me, but I just see you. Look, you look happy. You look like you got it together. What is your like one, maybe one and a half pieces of advice in that moment that you try to share with me to like.
bring me out of that place.
Jehna (44:32.51)
I would say that whatever is happening, it's going to get better. Know that you are loved and supported. Know that the universe, honestly, sorry to swear, I would probably say know that the universe gives a shit about you and cares about you. And know that if you need a friend in this world, I can be that friend.
Jey (45:00.119)
I love that. I love that. All right. Give me just one second here. I just got to... I don't know why my email's not working. Go ahead and tell us a little bit about where the people can find more of you, where they can connect with you further if they so choose, and just where they can find more of you and what you do.
Jehna (45:22.238)
Okay, I'm Holistic Healing with Jenna. My name is spelled J -E -H -N -A. So you can find me at Holistic Healing with Jenna on Instagram's, Instagram's, Instagram threads at the same username. I have a Facebook page that's Holistic Healing with Jenna L .L .C. And that one specifically is separate words.
Instagram and threads, it's all one word. In addition to that, I have a website, holistichealingwithjennah .com. On there, you can find the links to my blog and my podcast. You can also find the podcast straight up on Spotify. It's called The Beginner's Guide to Spirituality, where we deep dive into all of these spiritual topics like reiki, chakras, meditation, just what spirituality is.
We break that down for complete beginners on both of those platforms. So whether you like to read or you like to listen, we have them both. And that's, yeah, where you can find me.
Jey (46:29.719)
Gotcha.
I love it. All right. I just have to do a quick ad read here for our today's sponsor of the podcast. Drive positive behavior change with June. Is your child struggling with behavior habits or routines while at school or at home? Well, June might be worth a look. This new revolutionary app combines a video game that kids love with important tasks and habits that you want them to practice daily. Give the app a try for free and use my code Y -N -G -D -A -D to earn 25 % off a subscription.
see why over 500 ,000 families and over a thousand therapists, myself included in both those numbers, are recommending June. And visit j -o -o -n -a -p -p dot i -o backslash young dad, that's y -o -u -n -g -d -a -d to learn more. And of course, you can find everything about Jenna, everything about June, and everything about what we all do below in the show notes in the description. And then if you're curious what the website looks like, so you can make sure you find it.
Here is the website. You can either blog, The Beginner's Guide to Spirituality, and just all the amazing things that are on Jenna's website here. So.
Jehna (47:34.622)
Yup, that's me.
Jehna (47:48.478)
Hey, awesome.
Jey (47:48.759)
Where did I go? Oh, it popped up Spotify on my other screen. It popped up a link to Spotify. So it takes you right to the podcast.
Jehna (47:55.23)
Oh, perfect. Yes, I tried to make that work, so I'm glad that worked.
Jey (48:00.535)
It did. It's lovely. Well, Jenna, thank you so much for your time today. It's so much appreciated. I love what we were able to talk about and cover today. I think it's just very impactful for parents to hear, to know, to understand, and to be a part of. So.
Jehna (48:13.982)
Oh, I'm so grateful that you had me on. I'm so, so grateful for the opportunity to speak on something that I'm so passionate about. And I'm also grateful that I just learned a new tool for June for my students. So thank you for that too.
Jey (48:25.303)
You're very welcome. Make sure you use the code YNGDAD for 25 % off the subscription price. You can try it for free with the link in my bio, link in the link tree. So that'll be down in the show notes. I can send that right over to you. So.
Jehna (48:39.614)
much appreciated. Hey, you take care Jay. Thanks so much for everything.
Jey (48:41.271)
Alright.
Of course.