Awaken Your Inner Whole Woman

Embracing Spaciousness: Unlocking Personal Growth with Karrion Lalor

Awaken Your Inner Whole Woman

Feeling stuck and unmotivated despite working in a field you love? Join me, Natolie Warren, as I sit down with Karrion Lalor, a passionate mental health and wellness practitioner, who shares her journey of discovering spaciousness as a pathway to fulfillment. Karrion opens up about the moment she realized that her lack of motivation was not a call for a career change but a signal to pause and listen to her heart's true desires. Together, we explore the idea that sometimes stepping back and creating space for introspection can lead to profound personal growth and clarity. Karrion's insights remind us that slowing down is not about losing momentum, but about reconnecting with our authentic selves.

As we navigate the natural cycles of growth and fear, Karrion and I discuss the transformative power of recognizing life's expansions and contractions. Through practical strategies and the support of coaching and therapy, we share how to approach life's challenges without letting them permeate every part of your life. Emphasizing personal development, we tackle the barriers of limiting beliefs and embrace fear as an informative guide. This episode is a heartfelt invitation to break free from constraints and embrace the spaciousness needed for growth. Plus, learn how to connect with Agape Transformation Practice. Don't miss this chance to transform obstacles into mere illusions and seize opportunities that await.

Learn More about Karrion Lalor @ Agape Transformation Practice 

Healing and Wholeness for Every Woman

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Awaken your Inner Whole Woman, the show for spiritually rooted women who are hungry for change and growth. I am your host, natalie Warren, and my mission as a personal development strategist and inner healer is to inspire, educate and motivate women worldwide to stop limiting themselves and settling for less than what they want and were created to be. If you are ready to transform your life by getting out of your own way, hearing your soul's voice above the noise and activating your life's purpose, you are at the best place. Let's tune in to today's episode of. You are at the best place. Let's tune in to today's episode of Awaken your Inner Whole Woman. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Awaken your Inner Whole Woman podcast. I am delighted that you're here. I know you came maybe with some curiosity or if you're a returner. You're coming back because you are here to awaken, to awaken to the truth of who you are, to awaken to consciousness, to healing, to the fullest potential of what and who you are created to be, and I am on that journey with you, which is why we are connected.

Speaker 1:

We're going to have another episode today, and this episode is really going to tap into some really personal things as it relates to my own journey and our guest, who is with us. I'll introduce in a moment her journey and listen, it's going to probably speak to your journey because we're very similar. We have similar stories, different paths that we've been on, but very similar in nature. So today I am going to introduce our guest. I'm so delighted to bring Kerion, who, kerion and I have known each other, I want to say it's been nine years, but it might be a little more than that and our journeys have taken us in many places and she's been a friend and an accountability partner as well as a colleague. So, kerion, join us and introduce yourself more to the listening audience.

Speaker 2:

Hi Natalie and hi everyone. I am really thankful to be here. Thank you so much for having me on the podcast. My name is Karian Mabel and I am a mental health and wellness practitioner. I have a. I'm just going to put my phone on silent. I should have done that before.

Speaker 2:

Forgive me, it happens. Go ahead counseling for the women who are often overwhelmed, have a lot going on on their plate and they're so busy trying to do so much for others, trying to make an impact in the world, trying to be perfect, that they lose sight of themselves, they lose sight of their self-care, they lose sight of what they're really wanting or what they were originally going out for, and they find themselves just not really being satisfied with their lives and wanting more. So we've coined a word called tantalicious, which talks about the moment you get your heart's desires, and, of course, there are many moments when you get your heart's desires. However, we coined that word because that is the intention for our practice to help women get connected to themselves, connected to their purpose and um moving, moving towards what they're really desiring.

Speaker 1:

They can continuously get their heart's desires I love it, and it's called say it again delicious 10, delicious. It sounds delicious, I love it, I love it, I love it. And so, and helping women to find that place where they can get their heart's desires, and in our time of just talking as we bring the listening audience up, we've been talking about that and sometimes I think our heart's desires may come through something we don't expect, which is spaciousness. Come through something we don't expect, which is spaciousness, the topic that we're going to talk about today and how there are times when our heart desires for us to pause or slow down or not do as much, and we both this year, have experienced those seasons of that. So I wanted to bring that into the conversation. When you think about spaciousness, what comes to your mind? Conversation when you think about spaciousness what comes to your mind.

Speaker 2:

Well, fear was certainly a part of my time of spaciousness, because I'm doing, of course, what I love to do, and really I not only say that I love to do it, I really say that this is what I'm built for. So when I wake up in the morning, I am like, yeah, this is what I was made for. Yes, I'm excited. And even in going into private practice, I was working with other agencies before community agencies and I was not fulfilled. So, of course, creating or starting my private practice, that was the fulfillment of my desires, and I hadn't really thought about what I would do. I mean, I have thought about it, but I hadn't really determined what I would do outside of that. So, when I was beginning to feel tired, unmotivated, uninspired and it felt like it was my job or the work that I was doing and in fact it wasn't so that was the part that was scary, because I thought what would I do if I wasn't doing this and what else would I want to do? Because this is like this is it so.

Speaker 2:

I thought. And so for me, the spaciousness was more about or is, because I'm still in this season and I'm still getting out of it, and how I am doing that is getting clear on what is really going on. So for me, it seemed like the result, which was the work that I was doing, was the problem. But the result oftentimes is the indication that there's something going on, because something out there is like, oh, this is no longer fulfilling, so it must be that. But no, that's just what's getting my attention. For me to look inward, which is what the spaciousness was all about, and honestly, I didn't even realize that I needed spaciousness. I actually I'm a part of a coaching program that identified that this is spaciousness that I was needing. So it wasn't really until I got that understanding that wording, that I was like, oh yeah, this is it.

Speaker 2:

Fear was a huge part of it, and then wondering what's next, which is what the spaciousness, this time of spaciousness, is all about Really getting clear on what is it I'm desiring. What is not working for me now? What is not working for me now? What has my body been trying to tell me that I have been avoiding, denying, not wanting to listen to, and it has to be more extreme for me to kind of be like hey, whoa, whoa, what's going on here?

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, I love that you described that, because I had similar experiences, and so what I'm hearing is you're able to give someone who's listening language. There's something powerful about having language to our experiences, and so you expressed I was feeling somewhat unfulfilled, not as satisfied in the work, and it got my attention and sometimes we might misread that sign or that signal, but for you it was as you were opening yourself up to it. It became a space where someone could now impart something into you, to say, hey, this might be a season of spaciousness for you, or a time for spaciousness, and you were willing to receive that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, now, I don't want to make it seem like it was just that easy, right, because sometimes it isn't just that easy I really I didn't have a choice, really, but to accept that, because I didn't know what else to do and the time was so scary for me. So so when and it's funny because when when we're ready, the universe brings to us what it is that we need, and so I knew that I was in a space where I didn't really have too many solutions for myself beyond well, maybe I need to stop working, maybe I could think about going back into corporate America Absolutely not. And so so when some solutions, some viable solutions, came into play, I was like I thought, okay, this is perfect, this is exactly what I'm needing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love it. I love it.

Speaker 1:

I love it. Yeah, so you're saying, hey, it wasn't so easy and I didn't make the decision right then and there it was a process, but there was a part of you that was open to it. Yes, absolutely, that was open to it. Yeah, I love it. I love it In my experience with spaciousness and I felt this internal pause.

Speaker 1:

I felt this internal halt, just like I wanted to move but just couldn't internally, and I chose to do what I'm hoping you'll share how your journey has been. I chose to do what didn't make business sense, that didn't make money sense, and that was to not do things that I knew I could. On one side of my business and even my assistant was like we're not doing anything this quarter and I was like, no, I'm not feeling it. And she's learned to trust what I sense or what I feel. But I needed to do that and I didn't know the why. And it was okay that I didn't know the why. I just trusted what I felt internally. So I know there's some women that are listening too that are like what is this? How do I even know this? There's some women that are listening to that are like what is this Right? How do I even know this no-transcript Right.

Speaker 2:

Wow, okay. Well, we've already identified that it's a process and so it started out. Normally I take a month out of the year just to and it's my birthday month, so it's just to kind of like celebrate, regroup, enjoy, woosah that last July I took that time and decided. Well, after when it was all done, I still felt unmotivated and no desire to really come back to work. But I knew that I had to come back to work because, of course you know we need to do that, which is what you were talking about.

Speaker 2:

And so at that point I had already joined my spaciousness coaching and what I determined was that I was going to work even less.

Speaker 2:

So currently, in the practice, I work two days a week with clients and the rest of the days, the three days of the week, I'm working on the business, projecting, planning, all of the things, and so now and I typically would see probably about 20 clients a week, and now I was cutting it down to 10 clients a week on one week and five clients on another week.

Speaker 2:

So rather than working two days a week, I was sometimes working one day a week.

Speaker 2:

So bottom line is I was seeing significantly less and that was challenging on two sides, because there's the clients that I serve, of course, who I'm passionate about, who I love serving and working with and seeing the breakthroughs and all of the wonderful things working with and seeing the breakthroughs and all of the wonderful things. So it was me not feeling motivated and knowing that I needed something to be my best for my clients. And then it was also interfacing with my clients and saying, well, the schedule was full, or I don't have as much space, and and to be able to hold that boundary, because, of course, we want to serve, I enjoy serving, and so to be able to say to clients who I sometimes understood they needed more, that this is what I have and to trust that the work that we've been doing was good enough to hold them and, in our time together, also be able to hold them and move them forward and, in our time together, also be able to hold them and move them forward.

Speaker 2:

So it's almost like I can liken it to parent guilt, because you, you want the best for your children and when you're not doing as much as you think you need to do or what you have been doing or want to do for myself, there was a bit of guilt that came along with that. So it was the finances, it was a bit of guilt, it was the. This doesn't make sense. Okay, what's going on? Why am I doing this All wrapped in one and still having to be grounded and hold the space, for this is all happening for a reason, and even though things are changing and it doesn't quite make financial sense, this is all for my betterment. So, yeah, that was. It's still a process. However, I'm more clear now and ready to go more.

Speaker 1:

Right. I love that you gave more insight into the experience and the process, because sometimes, when we're in it, we can't see it Right and so we don't understand it or have, like I mentioned earlier, the language for it. But the idea of you saying I trust that this is working for me, it doesn't make sense, I don't understand it, but it's working. And I remember that moment for me, too, where it was like I know there is something in this for me. It doesn't make sense, I don't understand it, but it's working. And I remember that moment for me, too, where it was like I know there is something in this for me. I know there is something working through me and trying to get to me, and I have to be in this process, for at that time I didn't know how long it was going to be.

Speaker 1:

There's no expiration date that you get, but the importance of these ebbs and flows are a part of life and I call them, or I've learned to call them, expansion and contraction, these seasons and cycles of expansion and contraction. We love the expansion cycles, right, when things are growing and going and doing and blossoming. Constriction and contractions are hard for us. How did you? Was there anything that you else, that you said to yourself, that has been helping you. That could help someone else.

Speaker 2:

Well, of course, with the work that I do, I it's. It's. It's always interesting because, as a therapist and a coach, we are always well, I know I am oftentimes talking about why this work is so needed to support women in moving forward and getting more and getting their best and all of these things. And so, for me, the coaching and the counseling is a huge part of me being able to hold the boundary, to be able to recognize that this is a process and it's okay, it's going to pass, being unmotivated and not knowing what's going on. And why am I feeling this way? Because there's no true indicators to say, oh, I'm feeling this way because of this or that, it's just. There's just this feeling that I find myself contending with. And so the coaching piece was super, super, super important for me because it reminds me, my coach reminds me of this process and that, even though I don't know when it's going to end, that I really, when I tap into myself, tune in to what is really going on.

Speaker 2:

What's the feeling? What do I want to feel? I'm feeling this way now. What do I want to feel, what do I desire, what's the vision that I have these sorts of things helping to pull that out of me and to not be afraid of what all is currently going on. Then it made it easier for me to just to one hear myself, because I say to my clients all the time we have all the answers. It's not outside of us, we have it all within us. And you've said that. I even have one of your cards that says everything we want. We have you said it better.

Speaker 1:

No, but yeah, everything you need is already within. I believe that I really do. I believe that I really do.

Speaker 2:

And it's a fact. And so those are the things that have been helpful, one being in the practice of tuning into myself. I have actually began meditating more and doing more breath work. So of course, you know the work that you're doing with your clients. It's invaluable and it's really really helpful. So the meditation and the breath work helps me to really ground and really tap deep into me and be okay with the stillness and be okay with the quietness and really hear and then determine how I want to proceed. And the thing that I've learned is that fear is a great indicator, and I've said to my coach like I want to get to a point where fear is nothing, where it doesn't have a sting, it doesn't have a toll, it's just information, just like happiness or anxiety or stress. It's just indicators of that. There's something more going on, and so I'm making sure to answer the question yeah you did.

Speaker 1:

I mean you did, you walked us through and I thought about it too as you were speaking support, like how do we get through? What's another tool, strategy to get through this cycle or this season is support. We need someone that's on the outside, that can see what we can't see whether that's a therapist, a coach For me, I thought about. I was doing spiritual direction at that time, so I had a spiritual director. Each month we would talk and meet and I would just share what was on my heart and where God was at for me in those moments. And so support, you said. And then you said another key, which is not let fear be anything else, but something that's kind of giving you information. Right, we give it so much weight, but it's just an indicator and if we pay attention to what it's trying to say, it can help us to move forward. I think it's so helpful.

Speaker 1:

I thought about two, three words that we often do, that we wanna be mindful of in these seasons, which is not make things personal right, so saying something is wrong with me. I don't know why I'm going through this. I must be being punished. Make it permanent right. I'll always be in this place. Nothing will ever change or pervasive. We'll be putting across multiple things and then now it's in every area of my life, I'll never or I won't do. What have you? I find that to be helpful in those seasons. So you gave some really good pointers. Yeah, what can people can do in this season of spaciousness? What do you? What are you? Uh, do you have? Let me ask a different question Do you have a thought about what you'd like to see on the other side of it?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. I've gotten more clear, and I think it's hilarious as I get more clear, because I am so aware that one I believe like I believe that our desires, our I'll just leave it at desires are chasing us, and so, for me, I find that my desire has been chasing me. I have been so afraid that I had to feel different things, feel this level of unmotivation and worry about what else is there to do if I end what I'm currently doing. So what has come out of this time of spaciousness is that one I am going to move out of, um, I'm going to become, I'm going to move to a private pay model, which is something that I've been desiring for a long time of course, the guilt and the concerns about how am I going to do this and and will there be will my clients come with me?

Speaker 2:

All of these things have kind of kept me where I was. So I'm moving to a private pay model, and I am essentially so. The private pay model is one big thing, and it opens up a lot for me. So what that all means, though, like for everyone else, is one fear had me constrained where I didn't want to move out, where I didn't want to move out.

Speaker 2:

My 50th birthday was just past. I had used the word unleashed, because that was the word that came to me for my 50th birthday, and when I think about unleashed the idea, the picture of it looks really good. It's like your wings are flapping wide, it's like, yeah. So a part of my fear had to do with me being seen and me being witnessed. That's something that I have struggled with even, especially with this business. Being a business woman, you have to put yourself out there, you have to network, you have to do all these things, and I'm so not interested, and at the same time, I am very interested. It's funny because, even though I didn't want to do all of the things which would have me be seen. There is a part of me that has desire to be witnessed, which is supported. It's all those things.

Speaker 2:

And by me moving to a private pay model, it requires me to do all the things that I've been desiring to do in terms of being unleashed, putting myself out there more, being perfectly fine with who I am, like all of who. I am not playing small anymore, and I've been saying not playing small for a while, and I'm so clear that there's levels of not playing small. So five years ago, when I was saying not playing small, it's very different than today. Five years ago it might've been okay, well, I can do a podcast. That's me not playing small. I'm talking more, I'm being out there more, but now not playing small for me is doing what I desire to do, being unapologetic for my prices and believing that I even though marketing is not my sweet spot, necessarily, that it can be that I can make it a very competent part of my model and that everything will actually work out my model and that everything will actually work out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm excited, and the listening audience. I'm excited because we've been on this journey of evolution and growth for some time. So to hear you say that and to see that coming, even through this season of spaciousness, which had, I'm sure, uncertainty and fear and all these big things that we run from, you're now saying what I see coming out of this, what I feel, what I experienced coming out of this, is this new level of who I am and how I will show up in the world, and it's another level of not playing small Y'all better watch out right, I'm coming and I'm going to be witnessed, not just seen, to distinguish the two words I think was so powerful on this journey that you're on.

Speaker 1:

How exciting is that.

Speaker 2:

It is super exciting and I've said even I've been in practice. Now it's been almost 15 years, it's going to be 15 in in november, next month, and what I've said even from the beginning is which is I've said, we can only take people as far as we've gone. We can't go beyond ourselves. And so, as a therapist, we're required a therapist and a coach, we're required to really do the work because if we're going to support women in getting all that they desire and moving further ahead, my coaching clients, my therapy clients, we are really going to face fear and recognize that it's just an indicator, it's just information, and settle into what is it, what is it about our dreams?

Speaker 2:

That is so scary because it's. We know what it is that's so scary, but what we all for. I'll speak for myself. What I wasn't aware of was the limiting beliefs that I had, and that's what my coach was able to help me work through the limiting beliefs, because I would think I was good, like, but then each time I would talk about my fear, he would address the belief and I'm like oh yeah, you know, that's it.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, yes, I love it. I love it and I appreciate you sharing, because what I'm now hearing is this spaciousness allowed you the space physical, emotional, spiritual space to dive into things, but also to entertain things Right, like it gave you both in one cycle. Expansion this season I'm sorry this season of spaciousness a season of contraction, feeling constrained or uncertain. Know that that's a normal, natural process, first and foremost, but also know there is value in that. There is something in that space, and so what I invite you to do is ask pray God, what is it that you want me to see in this season? What is, as Kerri-Ann even mentioned, what am I ignoring that you've been trying to show me?

Speaker 1:

Ask questions around. What character trait are you developing in me? And the more we ask those powerful questions, we get answers. Now you got to be prepared for the answer because it's coming, and it may not come in ways that we expect, but it's coming because it's for your good, and so this episode has been about that, carrie. And is there anything else you want to leave the listening audience and then tell them how they can stay connected with you?

Speaker 2:

The only other thing that I'd like to say is, as you identified, it's coming and the question is once you get the knowing, the knowledge, the information, are you ready? Are you ready to move? Because that's another thing, right? That's another part of the journey. I am in the moving phase and what that looks like. And then, of course, the fears that come along with that, the money that comes along with that, particularly when, for myself, I have been creating the spaciousness, which, of course, changes the money that's there.

Speaker 2:

So now, when it's time to move, things can look like they're a little impossible or difficult or how is this going to work? And just know, I want to encourage everyone to really just know that the obstacles I want to say they're an illusion. They're not an illusion from the standpoint that they are an obstacle. There's something for you to move over, move through, but they're an illusion in that it's something that can stop you. So that's what I'm learning in this phase that the things that are coming up that seems like obstacles, whether it be finances, whether it be time, whether it be like the obstacles that come up are an illusion and they don't really have to stop you. They can seem like they're going to stop you. But when you really look at what makes it an obstacle for you, it turns out that it's really just an illusion.

Speaker 1:

I love that, because illusions aren't what they appear to be. I love it. I love it. Tell the listening audience how they can stay connected.

Speaker 2:

All right, you can always reach us at our office number, which is 678-753-5248. Agape transformation practice. You can reach us at 678-753-5248. You can always text that number and we'll get back to you as soon as possible yes, yes, thank you, agape.

Speaker 1:

Transformation and you service the state of georgia. Just for those who are looking for counseling and coaching anywhere outside of that, correct, okay, all right, perfect, perfect, well, thank you again, kerri-ann, for being here, for allowing us to have a conversation that we often have privately. We shared it with the listening audience today and I appreciate that you're here, and I know again that there was something that was spoken to you that will help you on your path. If you're not in a season of spaciousness, just know it's coming, just for all of us. We go through seasons and so a season or a cycle can very well come and you have some insight into what's coming if you're not there. And if you're there, just keep going. All seasons have an end, they all cycles have an end and there is value in that season Until the next episode. Bye for now.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening to Awaken your Inner Whole Woman. If you liked our show and want to know more, check us out at wwwawakentothenumber two powercom. You can also leave us a review on iTunes and we would love to hear your feedback. Join us next week for another episode of awaken your inner whole woman. Thank you.