Say It Anyway

James Ferrigno (00:09)
You're still searching for that breakthrough that always feels just out of reach. What is your true life path and how do you finally find it? Welcome to Say It Anyway, the podcast where we help you unlock the breakthrough you've been waiting for so your true life path can finally come to life.

Each week we share powerful practical tools you can use right now to start transforming your life. You'll hear raw, honest conversations with people from all walks of life, people who've found their way forward and are here to share mindsets, strategies, and wisdom that help them get there. I'm James Farigno. I've helped people reconnect with their power for years.

I'll guide you beyond surface level solutions into a deeper way of seeing the world, one rooted in connection, courage, and open-hearted dedication. This is your space to think differently, live boldly, and finally do the thing you were meant to do. Let's get started.

James Ferrigno (01:07)
Hello, I'm James Farino and this is Say It Anyway and our guest today is Amanda Mihalik. Amanda is an intuitive healer, ⁓ a channel, spiritual growth curator. She holds certifications in clairvoyant intuitive healing, multidimensional healing, vocal channeling, and has completed ⁓ practitioner training in chantric studies, somatic movement therapy, and shamanistic studies.

Amanda also holds a Master's of Intuitive Medicine and is currently deepening her work through Thomas Hubble's collective trauma healing training. With over 15 years of experience as a professional intuitive, conscious business coach and published metaphysical author, Amanda brings grounded wisdom and multi-dimensional insight to everything she touches. Welcome, Amanda.

Amanda ✨ (01:59)
Thank you, James. Happy to be here with you.

James Ferrigno (02:03)
So we met at the Academy of Intuitive Medicine, right?

Amanda ✨ (02:10)
We did, yeah,

went through quite the journey together.

James Ferrigno (02:14)
Yeah, it's been a while. Haven't seen you in a while. It's been a few years. Yeah, it's good to see you too. So just we'll dive into it. Just to start out here. So what led you to become a Climbered Orient Intuitive Healer? ⁓ Was there a particular moment or something awoken you that you decided, this is my path? ⁓

Amanda ✨ (02:17)
Yeah, it's nice to see you.

No.

That's the fun. Yeah, it was something that happened so organically and I was so not aware of what was happening. I had been going into a metaphysical store. My mom had been bringing me into this store since I was young, maybe since I was eight years old. And as I got older, it was a place that...

Yeah, it just drew me. I would go in there and like look at astrology books, talk to the owner of the store, play with crystals, and I would also get psychic readings. And one day, the owner of the store told me that he thought there was something there that I was looking for, ⁓ but I hadn't found it yet. And so he connected me to a wonderful healer, and she and I worked together a bit.

She really freaked me out. She scared me. I was petrified of her. She just, she said things that were very, way too real, ⁓ but I couldn't get her out of my head. And she, maybe a year later offered what I thought was like a six week meditation course at the time. So I thought, okay, I'm signing up for something six weeks, no big deal. But it ended up being a three year like deep dive into.

James Ferrigno (03:36)
Mm-hmm.

Hmm.

Amanda ✨ (03:58)
your healing, connecting with your higher self, multidimensional healing. And in that I had clients that I would practice doing readings on, feeling things for them, et cetera. And those pretend clients became real clients. And so I thought, okay, I'll just do this while I'm in college. And then until I figure out what I really want to do. But yeah, a couple of years into doing that, my dad was like, you need to pay taxes. This is a job.

James Ferrigno (04:19)
Yeah.

Amanda ✨ (04:28)
Yeah, so it just, that's how it happened. But yeah, was very, I was not aware of any of what was going on. So, makes it much, yeah, I think it allowed me to really fall into the path more elegantly.

James Ferrigno (04:43)
Hmm. So when did you first realize you had intuitive abilities?

Amanda ✨ (04:45)
Mm-hmm.

I think when I went through the program, so I was 19 when I started the program. ⁓ And that's when I realized that what I thought was normal, like I thought everyone just knew and could feel what was going on with every everyone, like everyone just knew. Yeah, someone's someone's stress points or what someone needed, or and everyone can see or feel like what someone, you know, could work with to help themselves feel better.

Yeah, it was when I was in the program that I realized that's not the same thing for everyone. People don't all feel that. And that's when I realized, okay, this is a sort of clairsentience. ⁓ So then, yeah, I did some work to refine that. And then it opened up a lot of other clairs for me, like clairaudience and clairvoyance. Thanks.

James Ferrigno (05:40)
Mmm, okay. I like that.

So can you describe a typical session with you?

Amanda ✨ (05:50)
Yeah, so the first session with me is, it's kind of like, I like to take an energetic blueprint of whom I'm working with. So typically someone comes to me either because they've been referred to me, ⁓ or they're curious about something in their life. And that can range. Sometimes people come with problems or they just want a general like, you know, tell me what's going on. So the first session, I lead people through a visualization and a grounding meditation.

⁓ I'll have them say their first and last name a few times and then I'll just use their name as the touch point for me to sense their energy. And I like to just do a kind of read on someone to tell them what I feel through their name. Typically, what comes up is related to who that person is, like maybe on a core level, who they know themselves to be. And...

what other things come up have to do with like themes around their life currently. So maybe where their blockages are, where their stress points are, or where they're really excelling. So I like to just feel the person without having any information. And then once we start the dialogue, then it's kind of like therapy in some ways. Therapy with a side of I might have them do some some energy work, or a visualization or you know, bringing their inner child or

James Ferrigno (07:00)
Hmm.

Amanda ✨ (07:14)
could manifest into some type of movement. And this is as the sessions go on, as we build rapport, I kind of get an intuitive blueprint of what would support that person most in feeling more connected to themselves and more connected to their path and their purpose.

James Ferrigno (07:32)
So first, it's about connecting with the person and maybe just holding space and kind of being there with them.

Amanda ✨ (07:38)
Yeah,

exactly. It's like, you know this, mean, everyone has energy that they're carrying with them. And for me, sometimes if we're saying a lot, if there's a lot of talking going on, it can distract me from being able to truly sense what's there. So having that space of where it's just silent and I just get to feel, ⁓ it's like giving name to what I'm sensing in the energy field.

And most often that tends to resonate with what someone else is already feeling, what they're sensing. And I think there's a piece of that that builds trust in who I am and what I'm doing. It's like if I can feel them without them saying anything, then there's a natural kind of openness that starts to occur.

James Ferrigno (08:28)
Yeah, that makes complete sense. Yeah, I know that that happens with me as well, or a similar thing that I've noticed that...

You said about the language kind of being a different track from the connection. And ⁓ I felt that myself and that sometimes the language can pull me out of it.

Amanda ✨ (08:40)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Exactly. Yeah, even I mean, I love words. And I'm talking. ⁓ But yeah, can it's even even my own own words, my own language, my own kind of assessment can can deflect or can can dilute. ⁓ Just, you know, having that like going going really slow and just feeling what's there. So

James Ferrigno (08:57)
Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Amanda ✨ (09:18)
Yeah, and there are other times that I think the language is really important. Like sometimes it is, it's like you get someone talking ⁓ and then we're able to move through something, something comes up and then it gets vocalized. yeah, the quiet space is nice.

James Ferrigno (09:26)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I love

that. So did your healing journey or personal journey affect, like how did that influence your direction?

Amanda ✨ (09:49)
Well, I think when I went through this program when I was 19, like, I became, I would say like borderline addicted, but in a positive sense in some ways, actually incomplete, complete, not just some ways complete. I became addicted to, to discovering myself. You know, going into meditation, I would just do a lot of self guided meditations just

James Ferrigno (10:02)
Yeah.

Amanda ✨ (10:14)
asking and feeling and sensing what was going on inside of me that would eventually ⁓ transfer into more of a visual journey. And so that process felt very anchoring. It helped me get to know myself and feel myself more. And again, that opened up this path of self-healing and self-discovery. And so I feel like it's now just who I am.

I love learning about me. love being shown things that I don't know. I love going into different containers and seeing what comes up. And so naturally as I do that, ⁓ my capacity to hold myself changes and then my capacity to hold other people changes, you know? So I just feel like they go hand in hand at this point. Yeah. But there wasn't like a particular crisis that occurred in my life that all of the sudden I was like, okay, now I have these gifts or all of a sudden I need to

James Ferrigno (10:59)
Yeah.

Hmm.

Amanda ✨ (11:10)
and all these things opened up. ⁓ There have definitely been plenty of crises that have occurred in my life and they all have ⁓ translated into me knowing myself more. But yeah, again, that's kind of the path of ⁓ evolution in some ways too, I feel like.

James Ferrigno (11:33)
yet.

process.

Amanda ✨ (11:38)
It's a total process.

With your spiritual journey, like, was there something that kind of imploded and then that woke you up? Or was it more organic, kind of like what I was sharing about mine?

James Ferrigno (11:52)
I think in my journey I just went through a series of ⁓ kind of deeply painful events that then resulted in more awareness of self generally and the learning of tools and things after the awareness kind of came first. I think that's the first step. So, but it would be crisis collapse.

Amanda ✨ (12:07)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

James Ferrigno (12:21)
learn, crisis collapse learn. And I even started going to workshops for that, know, consciously being aware of that pattern. And I would go to these, you know, intense weekend workshops and knowing that I'm probably going to have this intense collapse thing that I'm going to hate. And then I'm going to come out of it. And so I went through that process a few dozen times. Yeah. So.

Amanda ✨ (12:23)
Yeah.

Hmm.

Yeah. Okay.

James Ferrigno (12:50)
But I figure I'll

get through it quicker this way, you know, just making sure that it happens rather than just waiting for it to drop on me. Yeah.

Amanda ✨ (12:56)
Absolutely, yeah, interesting.

Do you know what your Enneagram drive is?

James Ferrigno (13:03)
It's been a long time when I started with Enneagram. It was many years ago. Well, maybe 25. ⁓ At that time, I think your number can change. So I'm not sure. Mine was a six at the time.

Amanda ✨ (13:09)
Yeah.

Yeah, I can see that.

Okay, yeah, that is kind of the process of the six, what you were describing. Yeah, lots of lots of stress and anxiety around and in going through that kind of

James Ferrigno (13:22)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, Lots of fun. Yeah.

didn't miss out on the intense stuff.

Amanda ✨ (13:39)
Well...

James Ferrigno (13:41)
So maybe you can give us some insight or talk about letting go. It's a big thing, right? Learning to let go. What are your thoughts on that?

Amanda ✨ (13:50)
⁓

Well, I'm like, my thoughts are to grip as tightly as you can until you're full. Yeah, mean, letting go, what do we stay? ⁓ I think it depends for everyone. mean, letting go, what are you letting go of? ⁓ I just feel like, you know, life is this, yeah, like this growth process, this evolution, this continuous, ⁓

James Ferrigno (13:58)
and

Amanda ✨ (14:21)
finding a new truth and then shaping your world around that. I think if you're living life like that, that you have to have some sense or some, I mean, you're gonna confront letting go at some point. And there are certain things, I mean, in my life, there are certain things that it's pretty easy. I mean, right now I live this life where I travel a lot because after I moved to Europe, ⁓ that's just been a huge part.

of, it's like what Europe does to you in some ways, you're just, you're in motion. And there's a beauty of that where I've been able to develop a lot of community in different places. But I feel like I'm constantly confronting this kind of sense of letting go because I'm not somewhere permanently. Yeah, that's, it's still, it's, you know, it's, there's such a tenderness, but I feel that at least in my experience, this whole

James Ferrigno (14:56)
Yeah.

Hmm.

Amanda ✨ (15:21)
this whole thing around being able to recognize that the moment's going to end can in a way make it more precious. So yeah, I don't know. I try not to think about all of the letting go pieces and just live, honor what's coming up in the moment. But yeah, I mean, I'm a cancer, ⁓ sun sign, like clutching onto things and... ⁓

James Ferrigno (15:31)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda ✨ (15:49)
and being very sensitive when I have to say goodbye, I feel like those are just parts of my nature. Yeah.

James Ferrigno (15:56)
So I guess in a way that is letting go.

Amanda ✨ (16:00)
Yeah. ⁓

James Ferrigno (16:03)
allowing

whatever's happening.

Amanda ✨ (16:05)
Exactly. going, knowing that the moment is going to close at some point and okay, and taking a breath and then going on to the next. yeah, I think there's just something very poetic and beautiful about about seeing life as that for me makes me want to be more present. At a time, it made me maybe want to be less present or less open or yeah, because you know, you want to protect yourself and not get attached to things but

James Ferrigno (16:34)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda ✨ (16:35)
Yeah, yeah, there's poetry in the letting go.

James Ferrigno (16:40)
Yeah, yeah, well said. I like that.

Amanda ✨ (16:42)
Thanks.

James Ferrigno (16:43)
So, are there any practices or do you have any recommended things for people, maybe people who are just starting or people who get stuck or a little bit lost on their path, aren't really sure what to do next.

Amanda ✨ (16:55)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yes. Yeah, well, my thought with it is the more that we can be curious around our lives and what's happening, the less I think we'll be stuck because stuck is, you know, it's like stagnation. means there is no, there's no, there's no movement at all. But if we can, if we can find the capacity to be curious, like what is happening in my life? What is this about? What does this mean to me? What do I feel with this? Then we naturally start to

James Ferrigno (17:01)
What?

Amanda ✨ (17:30)
create movement and therefore becoming unstuck. So that's one thing, know, one thing that I think is great to do. Another thing is I'm a fan of like letting everything be kind of a meditation in some sense and a meditation meaning this concentrated time and space where we can become more aware.

You know, so conversation with a friend can be a form of meditation. It's like this can be very cathartic, very healing, very confirming. This can show me new parts of myself. A walk, you know, in the park can do that. A moment of dancing can be a moving meditation. So seeing life as, again, a place that we have access, we have these points of access and meditation doesn't have to just look like.

You know, closing your eyes and being in quiet space, can look a lot of different ways, I think. Again, in those frameworks, in those spaces, that's where more insight and guidance can come. And again, kind of getting us out of the stuck place. So yeah, or like physical movement in general. Anytime I feel stuck, ⁓ I'm like, okay, I probably need to go for a walk right now. And nine times out of 10, I just feel so much better when I'm back. Yeah, that's a huge part of my world right now.

James Ferrigno (18:27)
Hmm.

Yeah, I love that. being sometimes, I know we can get out of our bodies, maybe not be completely embodied. And yeah, I found that can really bring me back to ground to do physical exercise.

Amanda ✨ (19:00)
For sure. Yeah.

⁓

Absolutely. So right now I'm in Marin, I'm in the bay for the summer and like, it is just so nice to have so much access to nature because I feel like the beautiful redwoods, all of these luscious hikes, they add this different component that really feels like, like, my God, I don't even need to move. I can just be in nature. takes away so many things. But even in Paris where I'm based,

James Ferrigno (19:23)
Huh?

Amanda ✨ (19:34)
most of the time, just going for a walk even around tons of people. Again, it's like, it just has a way, as you said, of bringing us back into the body. It's really easy for me to like get in my thoughts, in my head, I'm like, you know, in a room working, talking to people, et cetera. But yeah, it's funny how that can make you feel a little bit out of sorts without even realizing it.

James Ferrigno (19:58)
Yeah,

yeah. I the computers, technology, the things we do, yeah.

Amanda ✨ (20:03)
completely.

Yeah, definitely.

James Ferrigno (20:11)
So how do you help people move through emotional blocks or trauma, if indeed you do?

Amanda ✨ (20:19)
I like to think I do. I hope I do. I hope I do. Yeah. Well, it looks different depending on who that person is and what they need, but I'm happy to give you some examples. ⁓ I am, I'm definitely a believer that connection ⁓ can be something that heals trauma. Meaning if I have a regulated nervous system,

James Ferrigno (20:21)
Let us hope,

Amanda ✨ (20:46)
and you come to me and you are dysregulated, I can hold you and you can go through, mean, that could be talking, doing whatever, sharing, feeling everything that's coming up until there's a regulation that occurs. Because naturally, if I'm holding that space, you will eventually find your way into it and something in here, or whomever is with me, will kind of regulate. So that's one way.

James Ferrigno (21:04)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda ✨ (21:17)
And then when there's maybe more space, when someone is maybe a tiny bit more regulated and they have more of a capacity to look at something, to look at a blockage or to engage their trauma, a lot of times that can look like, it can look like working with our multi-dimensionality, meaning there could be something that happened in your childhood, so then we're gonna bring in your inner child.

In therapy, call it a retrieval. In shamanism, they call it type of soul retrieval. So I like that it's the same language. But yeah, some type of retrieval by working with an inner child, an adolescent, maybe a future part of you. So meditation is one form, conscious conversation. And then movement is another thing that I like to bring in a lot.

If there's something that is maybe stuck in someone's body, they're feeling a lot of tightness in an area, then I will actually stand up with that person and start to move with them. Cause there's something about doing it together that tends to open up and open up more space and create more of a welcoming environment. So that's another thing. And then, you know, I'm, the queen of like giving people integration exercises because I'm, yeah. my gosh. I love creating little things for people. ⁓

James Ferrigno (22:29)
Hmm.

yeah.

Amanda ✨ (22:41)
you know, depending on, because some people are going to respond better to journaling. Some people are going to respond better to having like a ritual to work with their anger. Other people are going to, you know, feel it's going to be vulnerable and provoking for them to ask questions to other people about themselves to help to help move through things. So, yeah, so I'm a fan of here's what's happening in the space. But also, I think that's just nature of like the importance of holding someone when they leave.

James Ferrigno (23:00)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda ✨ (23:10)
kind of a healing container so that they can continue that process on their own. Yeah, so those are my favorite ways. I mean, I also channel a multi-dimensional being called L'Esther. And I feel like L'Esther, I mean, they have their own unique process to working with things that we would call trauma or blockages. And sometimes their resonance, I feel like is so high that it's just being in the space with them. Like all of a sudden someone leaves and they're like, something has changed, I don't know. And then it's fine.

James Ferrigno (23:15)
Yeah

I

Mm-hmm.

Amanda ✨ (23:40)
So that's kind of the magic of their work that I don't completely understand, but I've witnessed it enough times that it feels really special.

James Ferrigno (23:50)
Hmm, so it's just different kind of energy level happening that kind of creates a shift

Amanda ✨ (23:55)
Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. ⁓ I would say L'Estere, I feel like I'm pretty giving and generous and loving, but L'Estere has like 10 times the capacity of what I do. And so there just is something about being in that love space that, and there's unseen work that's happening in someone's energy field when they're dialoguing with L'Estere. ⁓

And so I often have the idea of, I'm like, oh, I think this is what happened during the session. Because, you know, I'm there, I'm just not super conscious of what the conversation is, but maybe I'm feeling the energy of the trance and then someone will be like, oh no, this is what we did and blah, blah, blah. But it's like, it kind of puts you in this, yeah, this more elevated conscious space. yeah, it's really beautiful to witness and it's really beautiful to facilitate.

James Ferrigno (24:34)
Yeah.

interesting. So you have some awareness of your surroundings and what's going on but you're not really...

Amanda ✨ (24:56)
Yeah, I mean, like, I'm not like there's a

fire in the room or something, I'll be aware of it. I'm not someone who's unconscious when they're channeling. But I like to describe it like I'm in a fishbowl, and I'm the fish, L'Estere's the water, and whomever they're working with is like someone, a person looking at the fishbowl. And so that fish can be right in front of you, or that fish can be kind of floating around somewhere else. And

James Ferrigno (25:01)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Amanda ✨ (25:27)
The best work is when I'm floating around somewhere else and just letting Lester do their thing.

James Ferrigno (25:27)
⁓

like that, that's a good analogy.

Amanda ✨ (25:35)
Thank you. ⁓

James Ferrigno (25:40)
Yeah, understand it now. ⁓

Amanda ✨ (25:42)
Yeah.

James Ferrigno (25:43)
So, How do you distinguish between intuitive insight and your own personal biases?

Amanda ✨ (25:44)
Please.

That's a great question. It's a really good question. It's a felt sensation. And that's the best way I can put it. It's, I feel the difference. And again, that's kind of that to me, the importance of having that quiet moment in the beginning of sessions where I just get to feel.

James Ferrigno (26:16)
Hmm.

Amanda ✨ (26:16)
before

there's conversation coming in and it's starting to my head's going this way and thinking about, this process would go well with this person, et cetera. ⁓ I just try to really feel it. Where is this coming from? And what does this feel like in my body?

So it's not necessarily linked to, if it's coming from my heart, then I know it's intuition, but it's like that there's a texture to it that feels grounded, it feels light.

but it also feels like there's a fluidness to it. And oftentimes I'll tap into the intuitive knowing well before my mind's been able to think something. It's just, there is no cognitive thought. It's just really a flow that starts happening. Not always, you know, not always is it like that, but that's how I pay attention to it. ⁓ When I first started doing this work,

James Ferrigno (27:08)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda ✨ (27:16)
I would take a long time, like I would go very slow during sessions. People would ask me something and I would really take a moment to like feel, feel, feel, to make sure that it wasn't coming from, you know, it wasn't just me responding right off the bat. But that's shifted, you know, now that I've been doing this work for as many years as I have, there is something that happens at a quicker pace, but it's still before there's any kind of thought that comes through.

James Ferrigno (27:31)
Yeah.

Amanda ✨ (27:44)
So I know it can be a little bit, how do I say, ⁓ you know, it's intangible, it really is, and then that can be hard to connect to, just, it's a felt sensation, and that's how I know. I'm so curious though, like, what would you say for you? How do you know the difference?

James Ferrigno (27:54)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, I'm really interested in how people answer this question as well. ⁓ For me, it's intuitive knowing almost always. So it's just, which it's hard to describe. It's just, know. And I'm certain and I know the difference between that and everything else. Only because I do. And so there's no other way really to describe it. don't think maybe that...

Amanda ✨ (28:03)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Exactly. Yeah.

Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. Only.

This way.

James Ferrigno (28:30)
It's a type of certainty, you know, you can just kind of, it's like seeing the path ahead, you know, it's there, you know.

Amanda ✨ (28:36)
⁓

Yeah, and I think, you know, what comes up when you're talking is, it also feels like too, it's like the space that you're in too, the space that you've set up or the space that you hold yourself in. ⁓ I think that is such a strong contributor of how you can just get into that space of like, just know. Because it's like there's a particular resonance or energy that you've already been holding yourself in. Yeah.

James Ferrigno (28:56)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, that

can make it a lot easier to...

Amanda ✨ (29:07)
This is...

James Ferrigno (29:09)
relaxed.

Amanda ✨ (29:11)
For sure. ⁓

James Ferrigno (29:12)
Quiet mind.

somatic awareness or body work ⁓ play a role in your healing process

Amanda ✨ (29:34)
My personal healing or my healing people.

James Ferrigno (29:35)
⁓

let's say that you're, ⁓ either really.

Amanda ✨ (29:40)
Yeah, well, definitely in both. And in my, in my personal process, I am a deep lover of movement of dance. ⁓ I have done something called S factor for many years, which is central movement and pole dancing. Maybe you remember me talking about this during the academy. Yeah, it's, it's really it's

James Ferrigno (29:43)
Yeah.

Oh, I do, yeah.

Amanda ✨ (30:09)
You go through this journey with a tribe of women and it's about reclaiming your eroticism in a really kind of sacred and very special way. It feels like every class feels like a healing ritual, but you're learning to listen to your body and to let your body move how it wants to move. Very similar to ecstatic dance, except ecstatic dance welcomes the male gaze and this is something that's just for women or women identifying.

James Ferrigno (30:39)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda ✨ (30:39)
So that

is like what speaks to my soul the most and has been incredible. It's like the deepest parts of me get to be known through that type of movement. So that in itself is super healing. And then having a relationship with my body, ⁓ just like somatic presencing, just feeling, you know, the aliveness in my body, the stagnation, et cetera. And that is the way I tend to work with... ⁓

some type, some movement, yeah, my S background gives me a lot of different pieces I can pull from in sessions, but just that whole process of just getting someone to connect to their breath and like to feel, to literally feel their body, that to me is enough. If someone can get there and can feel connected and dropped in, that's all that needs to happen basically. yeah, somatic movement, movement all around, very important to me. Yeah, being in the body, it's like,

I spent a lot of time before moving to Marin when I was living in Southern California. was so like, I was surrounded by, mean, everything, all esoteric knowledge, books, crystals, every new and cool thing to help with meditation. And it was really when I moved to the Bay that I kind of landed in my body more and recognized how valuable that process is as well.

James Ferrigno (32:01)
Yeah, absolutely. I'm familiar with that. I had the same thing. I lived in Southern California and I grew up there and went to college for many, many years, learned many, many things. And at a certain point, and then I moved up here, moved up to San Francisco and... ⁓

Amanda ✨ (32:08)
Ugh.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

James Ferrigno (32:25)
I realized only then did I really realize my whole life was just based on acquiring knowledge, just huge amounts of knowledge. I went, and I never questioned it until I got here and I went, wait a second, what is this? What is the use in this? What is this for? You know, why, why? yeah. In Orange County,

Amanda ✨ (32:31)
Well.

Yeah.

different environments. So, for sure. Where did you grow up? I forgot this.

Yeah, me too. Yeah.

James Ferrigno (32:55)
Yeah,

the two parts I went to Cal State Fullerton, so I was up there for a while, but before that I grew up in Mission Riojo, Dana Point. You did? Wow.

Amanda ✨ (32:59)
Okay, yeah.

Oh, that's where I grew up in Mission Viejo too. Yeah, I went to capital.

Yeah, capital Valley High School. That's so funny. I'm like, what year did I, I think I graduated in 2005. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I went to capital. was born in Mission Viejo High School or Mission Viejo Hospital. Yeah, my parents are still, they live in Tribuco Canyon.

James Ferrigno (33:12)
⁓ I went too careful.

⁓ mine was a little earlier.

wow.

yeah.

Amanda ✨ (33:33)
I was living, I worked at a store in Laguna Hills, this is I did all my multi-dimensional classes. this little, believe it or not, really great spiritual community in the middle of this very homogenous Republican place. So, yeah, very.

James Ferrigno (33:50)
Yeah,

yeah, I remember I used to go to this crystal store that had all the new age books and Laguna Nigel somewhere. Yeah, I worked in Laguna Hills, claim jumper. Yeah.

Amanda ✨ (34:03)
Oh

my God, that's where, I, the, oh my God, that claim jumper, that's so funny. It's not there anymore. So where I worked, I worked at a place called Awakenings and Awakenings was literally in the parking lot next to claim jumper, except claim jumper was long gone by the time I was in there. But, um, wow, claim jumper, that was a jam. I think they went out of business. I don't see them anymore. That was a cool place when I was in junior high and high school. like, you want to go have dinner at claim jumper?

James Ferrigno (34:08)
That pig is, if it's even theirs Phil. No.

Mm-hmm.

⁓ okay. So in there...

Yeah, I think they're gone. Yeah, these steps.

Yeah,

Amanda ✨ (34:33)
That's so funny. Yeah, small world. Okay.

James Ferrigno (34:33)
yeah, it was all cool. Had a cool bar, yeah. Yeah, it really is, yeah. Wow, playing Jumper. Long time ago. Yeah, I think I was Catbo's...

Amanda ✨ (34:43)
Long time ago.

James Ferrigno (34:50)
So I have the first graduating class that went all the way through. CAPO 83.

Amanda ✨ (34:56)
What year did you graduate?

Damn, I wasn't even on this earth yet. Not to age you. ⁓ Wow, Capo, yeah, still rocking and rolling over there. They got a pool when I went to school there. That was like a really big deal. We got a pool.

James Ferrigno (35:11)
Yeah, that's crazy.

God, when I started there as a freshman, they were telling us that we're building a pool, the pool's coming. It's gonna be here by the time you're a junior. It was not there by the time I was a junior. I don't know when it got built, but...

Amanda ✨ (35:21)
That's more funny. Yeah. 20 something years later. is

funny. ⁓

James Ferrigno (35:35)
Yeah,

that area changes very quickly, so I can't imagine what's

Amanda ✨ (35:39)
Definitely, yeah. It's still like very similar. mean, lots of shops and like food places. feel like that's what South County is. Yeah.

Yeah.

James Ferrigno (35:54)
be unhappy with the lack of culture, let's say.

Amanda ✨ (35:58)
Yeah, that was, that was a huge thing for me when I moved to the Bay that opened something up. And I can't tell you how satisfied I feel now being in Paris, because it is so enlivening to be around so many different types of people. And, and I feel I actually, I love myself so much more because I know so much about other countries and what's happening in the world. And like, you know, I have friends from all different, all different places and get to know I get to know about

James Ferrigno (36:11)
Thank

Amanda ✨ (36:25)
their rituals from these places, what growing up in Lebanon was like or South Africa or Nigeria or whatever. And it's really satisfied something for me. It's just nice to have access to information like that.

James Ferrigno (36:39)
Yeah, yeah, well Paris is gonna be about the other end of the spectrum. Yeah.

Amanda ✨ (36:42)
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, exactly. Yeah,

it is very different. ⁓

James Ferrigno (36:51)
So,

let's see. ⁓

I like to give people like something, that can help them, kind of be able to shift, you know, be able to.

Maybe something from your experience that is the way that you found your path. And I know that that term might not even resonate with everyone, but finding like what it is you should be doing, one way I like to describe it is if your work that you're doing in life, thing that you do most of your time is not.

Amanda ✨ (37:15)
Hmm.

Mm.

James Ferrigno (37:33)
giving you energy, if it's taking energy from you, then that's not the one that's really what you're supposed to be doing, right?

Amanda ✨ (37:38)
We are. We are.

James Ferrigno (37:43)
perhaps, you know, I mean, in general, in general.

Amanda ✨ (37:43)
Yeah, exactly. you know? In general, exactly.

mean, like curiosity is everything. To get curious about why you're drained or what's not working. But like, favorite things to ask people right now. Really, I mean, I think there's just so much about questions. ⁓ Asking yourself questions, being asked questions. I love being asked questions. It's enlivening for me. But being able to ask them the question first, it's a playful one, but...

James Ferrigno (37:54)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda ✨ (38:12)
Truly, if you're gonna give a TED Talk tomorrow, what are you gonna do a TED Talk on? Like, what's there? And it's funny to see across the board how many different responses I get, but it really, that in one way starts to show you at least what you know a lot about. May not be what you're interested in, but it's where there's information. So what are you gonna give a TED Talk on? And if you won the lottery tomorrow, but you had to continue working, what is it that you're gonna do?

James Ferrigno (38:40)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda ✨ (38:40)
And this is like, it's the fantasy, know, just getting to have the moment to dream or to imagine, okay, what could that be? I'm sure most people, well, who knows? I actually don't know. ⁓ But if you win the lottery and you don't have to work, are you gonna be doing the same thing that you're doing? I know I would still do what I do, but I would do it in a different way. ⁓ I would spice some things up. And so those are the pieces, you know, to ask yourself those questions. Like, what do I feel interested in if...

James Ferrigno (38:58)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Amanda ✨ (39:08)
If I have a week off of work and I have lots of energy, you I'm not just spending that time trying to replenish. What do I want to do if there's no limits? do I imagine sounds fun? So just that process of being able to dream and being able to imagine, I think can start to open things up. And then once you have a little bit of information, then there's more like, okay, well, now that I have this, is any of this possible?

I want to be a painter. Well, that's so far out there, but maybe you sign up for a painting class or a sculpting class or something just to start to open to something different. So yeah, I think those are grounded ways to start to move something, start to explore where your passion, your purpose is. If you don't want to ask yourself questions, if you're like, I just don't have the time, then I always recommend people look up their...

James Ferrigno (39:43)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah

Amanda ✨ (40:02)
their astrology, their human design, their numerology, even the gene keys, because all of these are tools that it's based off of when you were born. So, you know, even if that's not something that resonates with someone, I'm like, just give it a try and see if any of it speaks truth. Does any of what you read or what you see here sound like you? Because those can also be pathways to helping someone understand, yeah, why they're here, what

James Ferrigno (40:20)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda ✨ (40:32)
is available to them to explore what might come out to them, et cetera. It doesn't do the work to get you there, but you know, all of sudden someone's saying, ⁓ actually, you're really supposed to be a dancer. You would be beautiful in that field. My inspire, you know, to go take a lesson and then really, you know, ⁓ actualize that gift.

James Ferrigno (40:34)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

That's good, I like that. I guess that's what divination is for, right? It's to help you kind of see what you weren't seeing. ⁓

Amanda ✨ (40:58)
Yeah.

Exactly.

The beauty of, my gosh, just the beauty of other perspectives too. This is why I love people. Especially like if I'm dropped in and I'm present, I think people can be like an oracle card. I'm sure you've experienced this where it's like, I can go in with an intention, there's something on my mind, and I can sit with someone and they don't even have to, it's not like it needs to be a session. I can just be a friend. But if I'm holding this question, sometimes the answers just come through the conversation. So, yeah.

James Ferrigno (41:28)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, they can.

Amanda ✨ (41:32)
Mm-hmm.

James Ferrigno (41:34)
And yeah, I liked there's so many different kinds of divination to this is making me think. And I know that I've met people who've questioned that. Well, how could astrology be accurate? it's like, well, all divination is accurate. All of it works. It doesn't really matter. Tea leaves throwing arrow sticks doesn't really matter what it is. It's just something, something that has a structure around it to help you be able to see what it is your.

Amanda ✨ (41:55)
Yeah.

James Ferrigno (42:04)
the world reflecting you back at you.

Amanda ✨ (42:06)
Exactly, yeah, exactly.

Yeah, we are filled with stories, you know, and these things are kind of, as you said, they're like gateways or ways to articulate the story that we didn't even know was there.

James Ferrigno (42:13)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, so many stories.

their importance of that, it's easy to underestimate how much power those have for good or ill.

Amanda ✨ (42:36)
Hmm.

Definitely. Exactly. ⁓

James Ferrigno (42:48)
So if you could just offer one message or a practice or anything to the listeners of something to do, something you could encapsulate into a small thing, what would that be?

Amanda ✨ (43:01)
Hmm, what would that be?

I think it would come back to some type of self love exercise. Having a practice around naming why you like yourself, why you're happy to be who you are, trying to focus and find points of

of joy, you know, seeing what, even if it's a tiny bit, you know, what brings me joy? What do I like both about who I am and about my world, about the world that you're experiencing. Think right now more than ever, we could all benefit from there being maybe a little bit more hope in the world. And I think those things, feeling the love for oneself, feeling the joy or the inspiration in your life.

pathways to hope. So yeah, that's what I would offer.

James Ferrigno (44:07)
Yeah, I love that. ⁓ Self-love is definitely, definitely a place to start. If you can...

Amanda ✨ (44:14)
Yeah.

James Ferrigno (44:19)
And let me talk about that for just a second. ⁓ What is self-love to you? What are some of the concrete things that make up self-love?

Amanda ✨ (44:28)
Hmm, yeah. Well, ⁓ self-love is definitely all of the things like, you know, positive affirmations and sweet moments of privacy and bubble blasts and all that. what true self-love is to me is...

James Ferrigno (44:40)
Mm-hmm.

Amanda ✨ (44:46)
the feeling of knowing that you can get through things, like you're gonna be there for yourself, you're not going to abandon yourself. And I think we acquire some of that esteem, if you will, that self-esteem that's a part of self-love through living experiences and then reflecting around them and seeing what we've learned. So both, you know, the...

James Ferrigno (44:59)
you

Amanda ✨ (45:11)
The pieces where we can name, okay, I like this about myself and I see this quality in myself and I appreciate that. So that reflection, that appreciation, but also, yeah, the esteem and the power that we acquire through going through beautiful and challenging situations and coming out the other end, that self-trust that's also a part of the self-love kind of container. So yeah, self-esteem, self-trust, self-love.

Those are all in some sense synonymous to me. And then the lived acts are the bubble baths and the I'm not gonna go out tonight, I wanna have private time. Those to me are ways that they can be access points, but they're acts of this energy that's residing within this deep, this love, this care. Yeah, does that make sense?

James Ferrigno (45:41)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yes, absolutely. like when you said something about just really knowing that you'll always be there for yourself. I like that. That's good being dedicated to yourself,

Amanda ✨ (46:08)
Exactly. Yeah.

How good

exactly? It's like at the end of the day, I spent, just had a birthday and I spent my actual birthday alone ⁓ for this particular reason of like, I could go out with friends, I could go do this or this or that, but there's something about just enjoying the privacy of being with me, know, just feeling me and knowing.

I'm here, like I'm with myself. No matter what happens in my life, this person is not going anywhere. And so to really have that level of connection and presence, it felt really good. actually woke up the next day, I'm like, wow, I feel so in love. What is this? I'm like, oh, it's with me. I spent the whole day with this person that I really like and I really knew that. Yeah, we were just like walking around and like resting and not really doing much, but it was really nice.

James Ferrigno (46:57)
Mmm.

That is fantastic. That is great.

Amanda ✨ (47:11)
Thank you.

James Ferrigno (47:14)
⁓

think that's a good note to end on. ⁓ yeah, Amanda, thank you so much.

Amanda ✨ (47:18)
Perfect.

You're welcome, James. This is so

fun. Really good to be with

James Ferrigno (47:26)
Yeah, it's been great.

Amanda ✨ (47:28)
Yeah.

James Ferrigno (47:30)
Yeah, so thank you again.

Amanda ✨ (47:33)
Okay, albiento, until next time.

James Ferrigno (47:35)
Until next time. ⁓