Tune Into Your Higher Self and Live Your Soul’s Purpose

Hilary DeCesare: 00:00:00

Welcome, everybody. This is going to be an incredibly eye opening, body opening awakening type of show like you can't imagine I have been looking forward to my guest attending being here and having you all benefit so much from not only her journey through her own practice her own her own life, and relaunches, but she's also going to walk through her book that is making such incredible impact in people's lives today, her name is Rebecca Wildbear. She is the author of wild yoga, a practice of initiation, veneration and advocacy. And this is all for the Earth. She is also the creator of a yoga practice called Wild yoga, we're gonna be hearing a lot about that which empowers individuals to tune in to the mysteries that live within the earth community, dreams and their own wild nature. So they may live a life of creative service. She's been leading wild yoga programs since 2007. And she also guides other nature and soul programs through animus Valley Institute. So we're going to be hearing if you have been out there thinking is yoga right for me, what kind of Yoga should I be doing? How will it change and impact my life? You will absolutely get so much out of today's conversation.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:01:51

You're listening to the ReLaunch Podcast and I'm your host, Hilary DeCesare, best selling author, speaker and transformational coach widely recognized in the worlds of neuro psychology and business launches, which cultivated the one and only three HQ method helping midlife women. Yep, that's me to rebuild a life of purpose, possibility and inspiring business ventures. Each week, we'll be diving into the stories that brought upon the most inspirational relaunches while sharing the methods and the secrets that they learned along the way, so that you too, can have not just an ordinary relaunch, but an extraordinary relaunch.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:02:42

Rebecca, welcome to the show. So excited to have you here.

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:02:47

Thank you so much. What a beautiful Welcome. I'm excited to dive in. Well, and

Hilary DeCesare: 00:02:51

I love I was saying Rebecca wild bear. And I mean, here you teach wild yoga. I mean, this is like, we I just feel like we are gonna go to new levels today. And one thing that you you are talking about, which I talk a lot about is that tune in, too many people are tuning out. And I know that when you were younger and the relaunch story that got you off into this totally different trajectory started because potentially you are tuning out and needed that reinforcement to tune in. So share with us about your relaunch adventure.

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:03:32

My relaunch adventure from

Hilary DeCesare: 00:03:35

for when you've started and when you were in college and what happened and how that changed your life.

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:03:41

Yeah, that's what I was imagining you might be referring to that was the I wrote about it in the introduction. And in many ways, I think it really was a kickoff in my life. I was diagnosed with cancer with non Hodgkins lymphoma when I was 21. It was my senior year of college. It was right in the Christmas break between the two semesters. And I was quite a achiever on campus. You know, it's not I'm not I'm sure I'm not the only young person to feel like a superhuman that's invincible, that is so far from death that they can do anything I was I definitely fit that category. And what I was doing was just all sorts of things that I loved, but in also working pretty hard. I was editor of the new college newspaper, I was very much of an activist and the kinds of things that I was writing or having written in the paper. I was involved as a resident assistant, I was in a student in philosophy, religious studies, major psychology, double major and writing minor. And so I was highly involved. And I say in that time, I was kind of making my body the slave to my minds ideas about what I wanted to do. And I wasn't listening to the body at that point in my life. I'd never done a yoga class it was it was 1994 and yoga wasn't that popular at that time. It actually wasn't offered at my college. until that senior year after I'd already been diagnosed, it just started to get be offered. And I went to my first class while I was going through chemotherapy. I had always been into sports and athletic and into the body in that way. But yoga is pretty different. There's things that are very similar about sports and yoga. They're both vary in the body, but it's kind of a different way of being in the body. And so when I had this cancer, it kind of knocked out my plans, I had to drop a couple of classes, I fortunately, they helped me still be able to stay in my community in my college community. But I had to drop a couple classes, I had to drop all extracurricular activities.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:05:37

How did you can we can we back up for a second? How did you even start to realize that you had something wrong with you? Because you're going going, going going? I mean, you're doing everything right, you're pushing yourself to the absolute max, did something actually happen? Where you're like, Okay, I need to get in to see a doctor.

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:05:56

Well, I went to a doctor at Thanksgiving break, you know, right before you have two more weeks, I went to to a doctor because I had a cough. And I thought I just had something and it was kind of better when I rested, it would be not quite as bad. But I was like, well, it's still around. So during Thanksgiving break, I went to the doctor and the doctor said, Well, you just probably had a cold. And now it's on its way out. So you know, you're, you're resting and you have a couple of weeks left of school, just rest and as much as you can. So I did. And then of course, when they went back to school and had two more weeks, which were finals and turning and final papers, it got worse again. But I was like, well just keep going because you know, it's two weeks, and then you can you'll have like a month and a half to rest. So that's what I did. And then after I went home for the holidays, and then it was after the New Year was around January 5 or so. And I still had the cough. It wasn't horrible. It was better, but it wasn't gone. And I knew that I was going back to school and a few more weeks. And I thought, well, I should go back to the doctor because it's not gone. And I don't know why. And when the doctor saw me again, he was quite concerned because he that it was still around and he said well, he he tested me for asthma, and he took an x ray of my lungs. And that's when he presented a few different options, that of what it could be. He said it's not a cold, he said he wasn't saying it was cancer. But there was a lot of options like non cancerous tumors, he said, you could just have an odd shaped heart. But earlier in my life, I'd had a heart scan done. And so I knew that wasn't a possibility, because somebody would have mentioned it then. So when I drove home after that doctor's appointment, I knew like I just had an intuitive feeling in my bones that it was cancer. There had been been even a time before that, that I was laying on my side. And I had sort of a pokey feeling inside, you know, my chest. When I laid on one side, I could feel something sort of poking and I thought, gosh, what if I have cancer, you know, those kinds of thoughts. And then I thought, Oh, well, that's ridiculous. You're healthier. 21. But I had, I think it was a week after that I had a CAT scan that would like really in detail. Look at things at that time. CAT scans were what they use. And I could tell after the CAT scan that I had cancer, even though they didn't officially say it, I saw the scanners face and he couldn't look at the eye. And he sort of probably wasn't even supposed to tell me but he just said, Well, you know, it's cancerous. And you know, because the ends are, are are frayed and not contained. And your best hope is that it's unknown kind rather than an unknown kind of unknown kind that they have a treatment for. Interestingly, my parents didn't hear that in the conversation, and they were still hoping it wasn't cancer. So we went home and we had a conversation and it was kind of a awkward thing, because they were hoping it still wasn't cancer. And I was like well, he said it was that I just need to hope that it's you know, known kind so, so we just had to pause our conversation and then I went for a second biopsy. And that's when they found out it was cancer and they found out that particular type non Hodgkins lymphoma. It was a fast day.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:09:06

Yeah, what what exactly is that for those that don't know?

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:09:11

It's means they divide lymphomas into Hodgkins and non Hodgkin's because so many types of cancer are Hodgkin's, which is a very specific type. So they just kind of like non Hodgkins just means it's not that one type. There's actually lots of different types of non Hodgkins lymphoma. And my doctor, I went for a couple of different I went to two different doctors because it's recommended you get a second opinion. I lived in Maryland and we ultimately chose Johns Hopkins University they had slightly less invasive procedures that doctors were kind and they were willing to show me the research and talk about numbers. Sometimes people don't do that with the patients. The other hospitals that I looked at they didn't want to talk about statistics and numbers and had much more chemicals and invasive procedures than even this one was so good All the research I got showed me that this was a common cancer for women in their mid 20s, immediately in the medial Steinel. area, and they didn't know what caused it. But as you know, the guy soffits, the glass, sulfates, I always pronounce it wrong, the glass plates, the chemicals that are in everything. I mean, I went to college in Maryland, mid Maryland, which had farms everywhere.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:10:23

I found that interesting when you when you talked about that in the book. And something also that I want to mention is that when I was in fourth grade, my stepbrother, who live with us was diagnosed with non Hodgkins and he really, you know, fought it for about a year and a half. And then things really went into the right direction. And he was able to live a normal, completely normal life. And unfortunately, you know, had another issue come up, and it ended up taking his life. But I remember my mom, taking him to Stanford every day for treatment, and we lived at that point in the East Bay. And so it was like an hour and a half, two hour drive each, you know, round trip. And it it's an intense and he was also very young. And you you said, you know, this is something that does occur in, you know, women, when they're in their 20s. It's just so crazy to think about that, and you having this, you know, I'm, I'm doing all these different things at school, and I'm so busy, and I'm loving life and really taking every ounce of what life had and then you're just kind of stopped in your tracks. And as you describe in your book, about the chemicals and about where you thought that this came from, I'd love for you to share more about how you how you kind of came up with that idea that potentially it was from all of the pesticides and the chemicals.

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:12:04

Well, at that time in my head, that moment in my life, I wasn't aware of them. And I didn't actually realize that part till later, when I started becoming more environmentally aware of the, you know, some of the details like that of what's in my environment, and reading that they're on the golf courses, which we had a golf course at our college that I walked on regularly, and they're in the parks. And they're on the railroad tracks, there was a railroad that went right through my college town, and I walked on it all the time, there on the farmlands, you know, and I would go for walks a lot of time in all of you know, I love nature. So I would walk all the time through all these places, and I had no idea that crazy

Hilary DeCesare: 00:12:43

is crazy. Yeah, here you're trying to do something good for yourself. You're outside you love nature. And there's all these chemicals. And you said the railroad what I understand the fields, and the pesticides and the chemicals. But what would be on the railroads.

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:13:00

I'm not actually sure I just know that I looked online, and I asked where are these chemicals located? Because I thought maybe it was just the farmland. That's kind of what makes sense

Hilary DeCesare: 00:13:10

that I was like, Okay, I get that because they use all of those sprays and things to kill all of the different bugs and weeds and the Yeah, it's just interesting. Like everywhere. You're mentioning like everywhere you were going. There were additional chemicals that were bombarding your system.

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:13:31

Yeah, I mean, there were the parks and the golf courses. I mean, it almost seems like there wasn't any place outside. I was walking where they weren't.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:13:38

Well, you know, that golf course thing is a really interesting. You see so many people out on the golf course where they put whatever they're eating down on the grass thinking, Oh, it's so you know, great. It's beautiful grass and all that and you just don't know what chemicals have gone into the water supply that's or even sprayed to make it look like that. And you know how often which cigars are so nasty in itself, but how often you see a guy put his cigar right down and you're like, oh, you know, and we were in we were in Cabo. And this guy put it down. I was thinking, I don't know I'm not sure what kind of water they're watering this with, but I'm not sure I would put down something that I'm putting into my mouth. So yeah, I get I guess it's everywhere. But you also was it that I read either in your book or I did some research that more people in the same area or getting sick or we're coming down with there

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:14:36

was a there was two other students in my college that had lymphoma. In my college was small, like 1200 people. And one of the one of them died. He got lymphoma, an unknown kind and he died. And another friend of mine she had Hodgkin's lymphoma, and she, she lived through it. Hodgkin's can sometimes have recurrences. happened more often? So I don't know, I haven't kept in touch. And I don't know what her long term response was. But in the short term she she got into remission.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:15:08

Yeah, I just, you know, having kids in their 20s. Now, I can't imagine them, you know, waking up and having something like this, this must have, from your perspective just been I honestly, I don't even know how, how does one comprehend this when you're thinking, you know, you've got this long life to live. And next thing you know, you're hit with something like that. It just must have what what did it do to you?

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:15:37

Well, I think that is what you know, as a philosophy, religious studies major my head was in, in the spirit world in the meaning of life, where's God, you know, so that's, it's sort of where it hit me was that death, Luiza is a strong possibility here. And being told my odds, there was a 1/3 chance that the chemo treatment they were giving me would work, which meant there was a two thirds chance that it wouldn't work. There were new scientific pieces that hadn't been researched yet, they were giving me a new drug, which increased your white blood cell count self injections. And that allows you to get your treatments on time more often. And treatments being on time, haven't you would get your white blood cell test every time you went to get a treatment. And if it wasn't at least 2000. You you would, they would just say try again next week. But yet, success and treatment was correlated with being able to get your treatments on time, which was every three weeks. So they had a new drug that allowed you to elevate your white blood cell count sometime to crazy numbers, like 42,000. And it it hurt your my bones would ache it would be hard to move. But when I could show up for chemo, I could have a high enough blood cell count white blood cell count that they could give me the treatment. So that that was a new thing that wasn't correlated into their research. So that may have been a development that helped me be successful, more successful than the odds. And I was doing lots of things outside of what the doctor said to like, I was drinking carrot juice every day. And I was changing my diet. I was a vegetarian before when I got cancer, not to say anything bad about vegetarianism or anything, but I stopped becoming a vegetarian after I got cancer because I was working with nutritionists about my body type and what was best for me. And so I had been a vegetarian because I didn't want to hurt animals. I love them, you know, and I thought that was good to do. But I wasn't, you know, a healthy, that healthy vegetarian, I would say I just wasn't eating animals, you know. But for me, when I worked with the nutritionists, it became clear that the healthiest choice for my body type was to start eating animal protein again. So I, I altered my diet. And yeah, I was just trying to pay attention to my health, which isn't something I've done, I take in my health for granted. And I just was busy with all my projects. And I think

Hilary DeCesare: 00:17:56

a lot of us do, you know, and even as we're Yeah, I'm in my 50s. Now I you know, I have to pause sometimes and say, you know, is this really going to fuel me? Or is this kind of like, this is really not the best choice that I'm making. And it is tough sometimes in your, you know, in your 20s. And so I can only imagine, at that point, you know, even being a vegetarian, I'm thinking, wow, that that seems like a healthier way than you know, some of the things that most of us are putting in our bodies. But you as you said you had to really look at your body type and put in that additional protein to get yourself you know, healthy and then the carrots I always think is interesting. I think it was something on Netflix, where they talked about what specific, you know, you should be eating to really elevate yourself and to try to get away from the toxins. And they said a lot of carrots, and a lot of on the big deep dark green leafy, leafy products too. So at this point, now you are in the fight for your life and not knowing the outcome. You got a 1/3 chance. What did you start doing in order to as you said, you know, your your eating better what else was was going on? Well, I

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:19:21

was I was slowing down because I wasn't allowed to do as much I had to drop classes. I had three classes with no extracurricular activities, that was an unknown schedule for my life. And I was still allowed to live in the same community where I was so I actually you know, I was like looking around at trees and I was just sitting and contemplating more and with death possible. You really I was really thinking about well, what if this is these are my last days here? You know, what, what, what am I focusing on? And I was remembering the ways that I was working or pushing myself and kind of regretting that like, Oh, that's not aren't really, they might have been important goals. But that's not really the way I want to spend my days that, you know, I want to enjoy the beauty of life. And I was seeing seeing the beauty more in nature, just even in the trees, or the sky or the sunset or the places around me. And I was I was starting to have a sacred experience because I as a philosophy, religious studies major, I was originally a philosophy major, and then I changed it to philosophy, religious studies, because I was like, well, philosophy is a bunch of thinking, I don't want to where's that gonna get me? And religious study had this meaning at the heart of it, like what people different cultures worldwide, found the most meaning? Well, and that was like, Oh, well, that's really what I want to study about.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:20:44

You know, Rebecca, we're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, I want to hear more about this. And also this connection with nature and how through yoga and nature, you were able to work yourself back into being a healthy, empowered, full body, woman and embodiment of everything. So when we come back, we'll jump right into that. Thank you. This episode is brought to you by my very own labor of love my most recent book relaunch. This book is a collection of my stories, other stories, and is a motivational guide to living a new three HQ lifestyle, sparking your heart to ignite your life. It's available for purchase via Amazon, get ready to try on the three HQ method that I've been using for years, throughout my entire life, reaching the next level in all areas, both professionally. And personally. Get your copy today at www dot the relaunch book.com. Welcome back, and I am here with Rebecca wild bear. And we're talking about her relaunch that took her from having non lymphoma, basically, Hodgkin's of cancer as type two, being able to tap into unknown, unknown areas of health and wellness based on necessity. And Rebecca, it is so great to have you here sharing your story. And we're going to start talking about your book and your passion behind it. But I would like to understand you were talking before we took a break about the degrees you had and why you felt it was so important to bring in the religious section as well. Is that correct? That that was something that you felt that you needed to make sure was included?

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:22:52

Yeah, I would say exactly. And that's a big part of what wild yoga is, as well. And we'll we'll dive into that in a moment. But in that moment of having cancer and being in that situation, I would say it's the moment that I found a direct relationship with the sacred, what I would call the sacred which you could use under many names. And before I had cancer, I definitely felt the sacred in nature, like nature is always been holy to me. But I couldn't feel the sacred in myself. And I couldn't really feel it anywhere else, you know. And when I had cancer, I did, it woke me up to suddenly because I was slow down and going inward and facing death. Suddenly, I saw something in myself I contacted something sacred and myself something precious, that was kind of kinesthetic and hard to put into words. I think of it as contact with my soul, even if I couldn't quite see the image at that point or the details. Like I knew it existed like wow, there it is, I feel it palpably in my body, there's a presence here. And I could also feel it outside myself to like in the room in the space. And I could I feel held held by something people were praying for me, and I wouldn't have been one that said, Well, I I'm sure prayer works or anything like that. But I could say now that I really do believe prayer works, whatever kinds of prayers are happening maybe all the different times people thinking of you sending energy Absolutely.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:24:25

When you think about thoughts and emotions have energy and when they're putting out that's why I love the idea of never feeling sorry for somebody oh god they've you know, that poor woman or that poor guy. You just never you know gets any good luck because what you're really doing is energetically putting more of that bad luck, that bad energy on them versus being like, you know what, I wish that person I pray for that person. I am sending love. I'm sending enlightened energy towards them instead of the doom and gloom of oh my god like I can't get a break or something like that. So I think that there is a lot of power behind whether you call it prayer or whether you call it something else but sending somebody, the light, the energy, the love that has a higher vibrational level.

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:25:17

Yeah, and I could feel it being the recipient of it. Like I felt like people must have been sending, you know, the sacred in my direction, because it was just so palpable inside me and all around me that strangely even though I hate hospitals, and I hate being physically sick, and I wouldn't wish it on anybody, I felt a strange sense of joy that I had never experienced before. And when I got well, and thankfully I did, I got well, after nine months of treatment, I was in remission, chemotherapy and radiation. And then five years of checkups, I was in considered, after five years of a positive record, you're considered clean, and you don't have to go back again. And so I was

Hilary DeCesare: 00:26:07

at, it's just such great news. And I'm like, I just got chills when you said that. And when you said about, you know, your, this whole concept of sending the sacred and, and being present and that there is a joy that came from the experience. It's really fascinating when people are willing to look at their relaunches as life's greatest lessons, and where you are today would not have happened, it wouldn't have happened, had you not had the nine months of chemo and going back and getting checked. Every you know, I know when I had melanoma, I was in there every three months getting a lung exam and making sure you know, everything was okay. And when you reach the five year mark, there's this like, hallelujah,

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:26:57

oh, my god, really? Like oh,

Hilary DeCesare: 00:27:01

and in there is that? You know, at least that idea around? Okay, I've just survived this. But now look at how much stronger I am now. So I get that a lot of people are like, what? How can you be grateful for something that you know, could have taken your life, but it was the experience of what has brought you to where you are right now, which is something I really want to hear? was, you know, at that point, why did you decide to write the book, wild yoga?

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:27:29

Well, I, I think, you know, I've there's something in me that has always wanted to write write it. You know, I've been on a journey ever since then to find the sacred, like, where is it? And not wanting to settle for anything less than, you know, where is the juice, like working out in the wilderness? Pretty much my whole life one way or another? Because that is where it is for me? And also studying other forms, like how do we listen to higher powers than us? How do we get information and guidance about what's, what's the way of living next most, you know, where our purpose like our soul how we're supposed to do it. And then I would say the the final catalyst that really pushed me into writing the book was that this love affair that I've had with the earth for 20 years, mixed with my grief for the earth, at the harms being happening to the planet to the animals, that we might be losing this most precious thing to us for the future generations of all species, you know, not just humans, but all of us, like the losses that are happening just every single day of land, ecosystems and species and, and my own heartbreak and just like passion, like what, what is mine to do? What can I offer to this conversation that's unique that hasn't been offered. And so you know, to me, it's bringing back into alignment, this love of the sacred, this listening to our body dreams and the earth, and also lining that up with eliciting that's not only for individual health and well being and personal growth. But it's actually saying that, in order for us to be really well, the planet on which we live on has to be well, our our wellness is not separate from the planet. And so

Hilary DeCesare: 00:29:15

really, so you really have woven in yoga, which you started when you were going through your chemotherapy and your treatment. And you became very passionate about yoga and you've actually coined a new type of yoga, wild yoga. Can you explain a little bit as we move forward here before we tie it all together with the earth but what is the difference between wild yoga and other types of yoga?

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:29:44

Well, first I'll just say as you may have noticed, in mainstream culture, sometimes yoga is mistaken for yoga asana people think yoga asana, which is the body postures of yoga is all that yoga is, but originally at the roots yoga has always been about Who we are, and what is our relationship to the whole world like a personal growth journey of knowing ourselves. And there's been lots of aspects like opening our hearts, opening our consciousness, expanding our consciousness, and being of service to the world around us. So it's, you know, historically, in the past yoga asana is one branch on the tree of yoga, and I return yoga to its roots in that way. And that I say, Yes, yoga asana is so important, it brings us into our bodies. It's a great practice. And it's one branch. There's other practices and ways of being in the journey of life. And so while yoga, I would say is about deepening our consciousness, connection to the earth, so we're expanding our consciousness to dreams, nature, the body listening, the mystery that lives in all of those, the soul,

Hilary DeCesare: 00:30:56

we're dealing really what I'm hearing now is that what you're really doing is taking it to a much heightened level of grounding, right? When you're grounding yourself and you envision your feet just becoming part with, you know, the earth, and the heavens and everything that you're one with everything, like universal law of oneness, right, that we're all one together. Is that where you're taking people as they're doing wild yoga?

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:31:26

Yes, I say that we go on the spirit journey of union in connection to everything. And we also go on the soul journey, which is down into the dark into the mystery into the numinous into the personal connection of our soul and our souls purpose. So I'm taking them on a rather vast spiritual journey, because sometimes people focus just on the soul and the downward journey are just on the upward in the spirit and the connection journey. And I would say in the yoga world, it's mostly the spirit and all the connection. And I'm actually inviting both.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:32:01

So interesting. So when you encourage your readers to really listen, people have a tough time we hear, but we don't listen. Right? So how do you get people to really, as you know, always say all the time tune in and you're saying tune in? How do you get them to listen?

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:32:25

That's basically if I could say the book of wild yoga in one word, that's it. Listen, right? I think there's a place in the book, I say, you know, the journey is an attempt to listen. And so there's listening to our bodies. There's listening to the earth, there's listening to our dreams, there's listening to our muse, there's listening for the sacred, there's a lot of listening. And it's probably one of the hardest things we as humans, it's probably one of the hardest things for us to do. We're so yeah,

Hilary DeCesare: 00:32:58

absolutely. So many distractions, so many things that we don't have to it takes it you have to actually work on listening. Listening is such a valuable, valuable habit to create, but too many people, you know, they're already thinking about what they're about to say that they're not, they're not listening at all, but you actually give people a path to learn how to do that. How can people actually learn to listen?

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:33:30

Well, I think the first step is understanding the value of it, that it's an important goal to aim for, and having patience and love for yourself along the way. I, I think of like meditation practice where you sit there and you try not to think right, but you do you know, it's a practice, you're, you're doing your best not to think but thoughts still come through. So we're, we're doing our best to listen, maybe, you know, we're not perfect at it. But we try. And some of that is also about, it's similar to mindfulness practice empty in our minds. It's making space when we're when we're already full of like, we already know the answer. And we're already full with our list of what we're doing or what how we're living or what's important. There's not much space for the mystery or curiosity for listening. So it's making that space and that curiosity sometimes that's why the best listeners are people that are in moments of crisis or transition, like my cancer story. Because sometimes in those moments of crisis or transition, you're forced to stop what you're doing. And listen, which is which can be really helpful. I call that the two by four method, but it is really nice not to wait for that and to just try on our own to do the best we can to quiet our mind and tune in. And in my book, I offer lots of practices to tune into the deep imagination to trust our imagination, the things that arise up unbidden outside of our control and if Do you have fears around that? Absolutely, there's a part of us, that's really afraid. That's why we don't listen, we're in control. And we just already have an agenda. And when we stop, and listen, we're not sure what's going to arise. And that can be really scary. So being with the fear can be a first step.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:35:15

Well, and I also think when we come back from break, I want to talk more about dreams, and how these can help guide and if you don't tune them out, and you tune into them, there is a lot of wisdom behind those. So when we come back, we're gonna get into when you're asleep, what's actually happening. This episode is brought to you by my very own labor of love my most recent book relaunch. This book is a collection of my stories, other stories, and is a motivational guide to living a new three h q lifestyle, sparking your heart to ignite your life. It's available for purchase via Amazon, get ready to turn on the three HQ method that I've been using for years, throughout my entire life, reaching the next level in all areas, both professionally, and personally. Get your copy today at www dot the relaunch book.com. Hey, okay, so I have Rebecca wild bear with me, the author of wild yoga, and before we were breaking, we were talking about dreams, and what happens and how to really lean into those moments when we're sleeping, and also the dreams that we do have one more present when we're awake. And so Rebecca, I'd love to get your ideas and opinions around dream state that you keep mentioning, and the dreams that we envision for ourselves.

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:36:55

Great, it ties into with what I was talking about fear or of being out of control, you know, things coming up that we can't, we don't know what they'll be, and wild dreams. That's what dreams are right? Like our mind is completely turned off. Our ego is not in control. And the dream maker gives us you know, the dream world gives us whatever it wants to. And if we're listening to our dreams, that means attending or writing it down, if it's a nightmare, or if it's a uncomfortable situation, or sometimes dreams take us to places that are like really lovely, whatever it is really being open to receiving the experience the dream wants us to have. I think starting with nighttime dreams is a great practice. And a great way to start is just to write them down in the present tense. By writing them down and remembering them and taking the time to remember you're making a statement to the dream world that I care about what you have to say. I meet people all the time who who say I can't remember my dreams. And well, have you told the dream maker, you want to remember, have you taken time to remember I think of the dream maker or the dream world. Like a being that like a friend or a sacred being that. It's like if you're trying to talk to your friend and your friend is trying to talk to you and you're like Sorry, I'm busy. I got other things to do write, eventually, that friend just goes off elsewhere. Because why is it going to try to keep talking to you if you're not listening? So we call it the dream maker. You know, we ask the dream maker for dreams. And we show up we show we care about what the dream maker has to say if we write it down and listen to it and take it seriously. You can also

Hilary DeCesare: 00:38:37

close them before you be free. Keep going. This is a practice everybody. This is something that you have to work on. This is like an exercise that the more you do, the better you'll get at it, trust me because I was that person who's like, I can't remember a single dream. I don't think I dream. I don't think you know, when I go to bed, I hit the pillow and it's like lights out. But I was also tuning out tuning out to my dreams. And then I was saying okay, I want to dream. I'm ready. But you have to as you said, Open yourself up you call the dream maker, the you know, I think of it like you know, I want I want to tap into that side. I want to have a dream tonight. I want to remember the dream in the morning. And as soon as you wake up, that's what you have to be thinking about. What did I dream? Because if you wait, what I've noticed, if you wait too long, you're like, Look, you don't remember him. But if you really consciously start to create that habit of waking up in the morning and saying, Oh, what did I dream about? And as you said, you know, you have your notes you have you start writing little too and it could be so small. I remember dreaming about you know, having lunch with this friend. Okay, well, that's good. That's a starting point. And then for you and for others that are really like way far ahead. Then you're starting to write these things down. And it's like there's so much wisdom that comes from paying attention, it really is incredible.

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:40:04

Totally, that's totally accurate that morning moment is really important. If we, it can start even before we go to bed, if you have a dream journal and you write the date down, and you put your pen in the page, like I am wanting to remember your dream, if you talk to the dream world and say, here's why I really want to remember a dream. If you wake up, even in the night to write something down, you're saying this is so important, I don't want to miss it. A quick and easy way to lose a dream is sometimes even just letting the morning thoughts of like the day world come in. Like if I have a great dream, but then suddenly, this thought comes in about my day world, like the dream can be lost just by that entering of that one thought. So I try to just stay, keep my eyes closed, stay in the same position in my bed, kind of linger in the dream, maybe relive it, re experience it, go through it again, before I open my eyes move or make, you know, move towards the page to write it down.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:41:05

It was either Thomas Edison or Benjamin Franklin, who actually had this practice and said, I'm going to bed. I want to you know, he was talking to the subconscious. I want to have images and dreams around. What am I missing in what I'm inventing what I'm creating helped me understand. So he would actually go even one step further and ask the question, that in dream time, this is what I want answered. I mean, this is not something that is new. And Whoo, this has been this has been like people are using this to solve some of the biggest mysteries and questions that are being answered these days. It's an incredibly valuable practice, and I am still on that path, I am still trying to get better at it. Because it is. I know there's so much more. And I love what you said about you know, you put that pen to the paper the night before you put the day and even you know, writing down just a little of what you're trying to get answered. And then in the morning, you have it right there. If you have your phone right on top of it, you're like, oh, that's what I need, when you're turning off the alarm. So I think I love that. That's really good, Rebecca. So what do you what do you do then in terms of how your own practice? Is there anything more that you're putting out there that we haven't discussed?

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:42:31

Yeah, there's more you can do with dreams, you know, the one of the major pieces is, is spending time with them. So if I write down my dream in the morning, even if I took the time out, you know, the 20 minutes or whatever it took to stay focused and do that. But then I go on with my day and forget about the dream the entire day, and then go back, go to bed the next night and never even remember what I wrote, that still can be a missing opportunity. So I like to try to remember their dream when I can throughout the day, you know, is there a moment, it might be a moment when I'm like waiting in line, you know, or it might be a moment when during my lunch break where I have and I can go for a walk and sit back. But I find a moment even if it's five or 10 minutes to just reflect on the dream that is

Hilary DeCesare: 00:43:15

so powerful. Because really what you know, you said earlier, how do we listen and get guidance from the higher self. And what you're also doing is showing the higher self showing the dream state showing, you know, that dream maker that hey, I'm listening, I'm not just acknowledging it first thing in the morning, but you're thinking about it throughout the day as well.

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:43:37

Exactly. And, and um, with curiosity, like I'm not like I know the answer, or not, you know, like, it's Oh, it's so ridiculous. I shouldn't even think about it. But somewhere in between where I don't know what it means, but I'm hanging out with the mystery of it. A great question that I love working with with a dream if I could just work with one question. It would be what's the dream maker or the dream world wanting me to experience by having this dream? What's the Why have they created this whole drama? Is it a particular emotion is a particular situation is a see why what are they trying to get me to experience? And then kind of a second sort of question is I wonder why they'd want me to experience that.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:44:20

Ah, that's good. The whole wonder why I like that. And I also think, you know, when you're talking about this, it's it's almost like, you know, what, what is the meaning? Why is this being you know, why is this coming to me? It's so good because we don't ask that enough. We're so busy being busy throughout the day that things happen, things come to us, you know, like up and you kind of push them away. So I love how you circle back. You know, there's another concept that you talk about, which is the love lawyer. And I'd love I'd love for I'd love to understand how do how does one become a love lawyer and why Why would we want to become one?

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:45:03

Well, I love, I love bringing the concept of love and warrior together because they're often not brought together, right? It's love is is synonymous with, you know, not not fighting and you know, just kind of being at peace. And warrior is often associated with fighting, but maybe even in a bad context, and I wanted to bring them together, because it's actually one of the pieces that I feel that's missing in the world, is that bringing our love to our fight to our fight for what we love, that fighting for something is actually a form of love. And sometimes it's even a bigger form of love, it takes a lot of energy to fight, to speak, to take a risk and possibly be put down or, you know, made fun of or killed. In some cases, you know, some activists who fight for the planet, you know, that they are, you know, difficult happen. So, to me, the love warrior is a courageous being that loves and is willing to stand up and speak and fight for what they really believe in and who they love. And I wanted to bring this in as a quality in human nature, a healthy quality sometimes, you know, anger is looked at as unhealthy. And I because I used to work as a psychotherapist, and I've often heard, oh, my gosh, I'm angry, like, like, helped me get over this. And so I can just be more at peace, and I shouldn't be feeling this way. And I like to look at as well, you know, maybe, but maybe not, maybe your anger could be a sign, it could be a cue from your heart in your body that's telling you something's wrong, you know, like, either in your personal boundaries, or with people that you love, or with the earth that you love. And, you know, in general, we want to fight for who we love, like you can see a mama bear who's protective of their babies, you know, in human world, if somebody in our family is sick or hurt, we want to fight for them. People fought for me, the odds were not in my favor, that I would recover from cancer. And nobody just rolled me aside and said, well, odds aren't good. So let's just not waste our time. They fought for me, they cared for me. And so a love warrior is somebody who cares and fights for what they love. And for me that part of that that's a big part of that that's missing is for the earth. And it feels like if we call back this quality, because I know a lot of people love the earth and they care about what's happening. But how do we call back in this, this fight?

Hilary DeCesare: 00:47:25

You know, there's a on the cover of my book, it's relaunched, spark your heart to ignite your life. And it's these sparks of being the love warrior, where you're literally like, you know, we need to have more sparks more things that people are passionate about, so that we can light the whole world on fire just like wow, let's light it up with love. Let's light it up with the energy associated with it. It's so great. I have to say that you You've inspired me. And you've given me so many different things to think about. When as we're wrapping this up right now, where can people get in touch with you hear more about what you're working on?

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:48:06

I have a website, RebeccaWildbear.com. And so you can find out my contact information, you can email me you can see what I'm up to programs are different offerings and media interviews, even activist groups I'm involved with, so feel free to visit that or I'm on Facebook, too. So if you want to message me or engage with me there, too, that's another platform.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:48:30

Well, and always your book is available on Amazon as well. Wild yoga. And as you think about the last message that you'd like to send people off with, what would you say to them?

Rebecca Wildbear: 00:48:45

Well, I just want to bring together a couple pieces of what we've talked about about you asking the dream particular questions. And us talking about dreams and love warriors. One of the things that I touch in on my book is that when we look at the crises and the problems of our world, those can be things we can ask the dreammaker we can ask particular questions of our own crisis and of our own challenges in our own individual lives. But we can also ask bigger questions to like what can we do about dying ecosystems and, you know, dying species? How can I make a contribution? We can see the dream ceremonially with just that question in that wish. And then listen to the response we get as a kind of response to that question.

Hilary DeCesare: 00:49:29

That's so good. Well, I have thoroughly enjoyed having you and as we wrap up, and for so many people, when you start to think about putting yourself out there and hearing and being one with nature and allowing yourself to just be so that you're not only hearing you're listening, you're listening to your body, you're listening to your own inner wisdom, you're listening to your own three HQ, getting out of your head into your heart to tap into your heart. herself. We've recently just opened up the doors to an incredible annual event, the relaunch retreat, you can find all information at www dot the relaunch retreat.com. It's happening in May of this year in Boulder, Colorado. And we would love for those that are really on this journey on the relaunch pathway to identifying how you can tap into your own self generated power source, then you need to be there. So go ahead and sign up again at the relaunch retreat.com I will be there cheering you on sharing the wisdom of three HQ taking you one step beyond as well. So everyone have a wonderful week and live now love now relaunch on keep going, keep mastering your own destiny. And keep listening in every week here on the relaunch live. Again, Rebecca, thank you so much for being here and everyone. We will see you next week. Take care.