Modern spirituality
In this episode, Amy Parravano Drummond and Melissa Halpin have the pleasure of interviewing Jo Figueras about Modern Spirituality.
Jo is a Psychic Medium, Akashic Records Reader, and podcaster with a passion for guiding others through the development of their intuitive practices and alignment with their soul’s purpose.
Even though everyone’s path looks much different, Jo’s life purpose is to teach you to do “the same.”
Schedule a reading or take a workshop with Jo here: https://www.jofigueras.com/
Learn more about The Kindling Project at our website: https://www.thekindlingproject.com/ and join our Facebook group for women looking for that extra kindling to start their subsequent big fire! The Kindling Project - Ignite. The Kindling Project is sponsored by Memora, an experience design agency that creates memorable brand experiences. Memora is offering our listeners a FREE 30-minute brand consultation. Schedule yours now.
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[00:00:00] Melissa: Hi, welcome to the Kindling Podcast. Our guest today is Jo Figaris. She is an Akashic reader. She has an awesome metaphysical spiritual podcast called The Esoteric Podcast that she's been at with for a couple years with her partner Fioraliz franco and you can check that out on all the major outlets. You can also find her on her Instagram and she has a personal Instagram, Jo the Esoterix Reader.
[00:00:40] If you want a book in Akashic reading, we're probably gonna get into what exactly that is today. So welcome Jo.
[00:00:47] Jo: Thank you so much for having me. This is gonna be fun. I'm excited.
[00:00:50] Amy: We're so glad you're here. Thank you for taking the time. You are on the Pacific Coast, so thank you for meeting us at Eastern time today.
[00:00:58] Jo: Oh, you're very welcome. Very welcome.
[00:00:59] Amy: We're so excited to meet you. You know what, let's just start with introduction. There's so much that Melissa and I, you know, we were talking about you earlier. How about the Akasha reading? What exactly is that? What does that mean, please?
[00:01:12] Jo: Okay, so we'll start with the Akashic records.
[00:01:14] The Akashic records a lot of times people like to describe them or think of them as like this library, right? A book, the record, that sort of thing. But they're not. It's energy. And it's energy that psychics, mediums, channels, intuitive People can tap into using various different ways their intuitive abilities. But it's located, or Akashic record is located in our athere field or our aura for a lack of a better term.
[00:01:38] So, That's why it's easy to tap into if you're a psychic, because you can read that energy. That's what the Akashic records are. They're a storage, a database. Think of them as your personal cloud drive from the time you were born through all of your past lives, I guess for Infinity, or you can think of it as the universe's cloud drive.
[00:01:57] Amy: Interesting, Interesting. How did you get into. Where did this win
[00:02:01] for you?
[00:02:02] Jo: This is a soulful thing because I remember being a young girl and hearing the word Akashic records in my head, having no idea what it was. And for years, you know, I had my spiritual awakening in 2014. I was, I've always been empathic and intuitive, but in 2014, that's when it just sort of popped off.
[00:02:19] Ever since then, I tried for years, well, for five years to I, every time I would try to find a teacher. The class would get canceled, get a book, and the book was completely boring and didn't hold my interest. Or I would try to book a reading and it would get canceled. Something was blocking me and finally I was like, fine, I'm just not gonna that.
[00:02:37] I'm just gonna focus on being a psychic or a medium, whatever. And this is a really cool story. So one day my friend Jane Handy, who is an intuitive in Lansing, Michigan, I had a trade with her. She's an energy worker. And I woke up in the morning and one of my ears. Flogged plugged, and I mean, I'm talking like it was uncomfortable.
[00:02:55] Like I had water in both ears. It was horrible. And I called her and I said, Jane, I don't think I'm gonna be able to make our meeting today because I'm having some crazy issues with my ear. And she goes, Oh, well thats, something's coming in. That's what psychic say when they get some information. She's like, Oh, you're getting a new ability today.
[00:03:11] And I'm like, What? And she's like, Yeah, you're, Oh, hold on. . , You know, like little computating noises going on in the background. Not really, but that's how I imagined it. And then she's like, Oh, you're gonna learn the Akashic records. And I was like, Shut up. I'll be over in like 10 minutes. . I threw on some pants and I was out of there and I was in her living room 10 minutes later and I'm like, Tell me what is going on.
[00:03:32] Yeah, that's how it happened.
[00:03:33] Amy: This was different than your spiritual awake note though, correct?
[00:03:36] Jo: Yeah. This happened in 2019. 2019 or 2018. One of those.
[00:03:41] Melissa: So you. Spiritual awakening, and you always had a curiosity about AKA record. And one day in 2019, another medium picked up this idea that you were getting the ability, She's, you know,
[00:03:53] Jo: pardon my language, and she's badass, she's legit, she's the real deal.
[00:03:56] And she said, Get over here. You were, you're gonna, we're gonna activate your new ability. And so that's how that happened. And I have to say,
[00:04:02] Melissa: I had an experience with having Akashic reading with you, which, Very definitely highly sensitive person and open-minded and creative, but not super woo to the point where I have a healthy dose of skepticism and I, you know, I, you know, I read my horoscope like the next curl, and I was surprised how authentic and real and true the things that you said to me felt.
[00:04:24] When you said them but also for a couple weeks afterwards, like dealing with a difficult situation. It just felt like the answer. It felt like the information that I needed. I can attest that you do have a unique ability. Thank you.
[00:04:36] Jo: You know, I'm not one of those intuitives or psychics who are into the Woo.
[00:04:42] I'm a Capricorn with a Libra Rising and a Leo moon. I am into the. So the science just gets me going, right? It's all energy, it's all science, it's all, you know, energy into matter. That's all. Any of metaphysical abilities are clear abilities, clairvoyance, clear conce. They're just abilities that we have that allow us to tap into the science of reading energy.
[00:05:05] So, That's what it is. Plus what I do is read Soul Blueprint, which again, science, and I do that with, numerology, which is math. So, you know, the beauty and the woo comes from, you know, my psychic abilities, my spirit guides, you know, my mediumship, all that stuff. But, The foundation of all of that. It's science based, and it's math based.
[00:05:26] So that's why it feels real. Because you're like, Yeah, I can jive with that, that, that feels right. That feels good.
[00:05:31] Melissa: I, I feel like the practical, I'm a tourist, so I'm also an earth science. The practical side of me feels like just a little bit of reassurance, hearing even just the word science and math.
[00:05:42] Amy: Confirmation. Right? It's confirmation. Jo, is this something that you knew about yourself or It's just something? I think when you're an intuitive person or an empath, it's something that you are, maybe you're born with it and it's something that you have to cultivate. It's something that you have to nurture and listen to.
[00:06:00] Is this. Is this something that you've known from early on in your childhood that there was something different about you or?
[00:06:08] Jo: Yeah, a hundred percent. We are all empathic humans. All humans are empathic, with the exception of like sociopaths who have lacked the ability of empathy. The majority of us are all empathic and intuitive.
[00:06:20] That's how we communicate in spiritual. Via telepathy, our energy, intuition, all of that thing. So in human form, you know, we don't have, those abilities need to be cultivated. So that's like if you are a pianist, you're born, you know, a pianist, you have to get in front of the piano and practice, and all of a sudden, by the time you're seven, you're this amazing world class pianist, right?
[00:06:42] It's the same with intuitive abilities. You have to have an avenue through which to use them, practice them. You have to build that muscle. And then once you do, that's when you start, They start to expand at different levels. But I've known my whole life when I was little, I would astro travel again.
[00:06:57] That's like, wait a minute, is that skeptical? Right? But it's a legit thing. I would see spirits and I would hear spirits and all those things. I did shut it down when I was, I don't always say about 10 cause I had a really scary experience, where I saw a ghost and I was like, No, no more. I'm done.
[00:07:12] Then in 2014, after a really difficult. Life transition, a really heartbreaking breakup. That's when Spirit was like, Okay, it's time for you.
[00:07:20] Amy: Let's go. We're gonna open up the door. Now the pause button has been open and I'm curious from 10 to adulthood. Then you really shut this out.
[00:07:29] Jo: I shut out the spiritual aspect of it as in connecting with spirits.
[00:07:34] I shout out my medium. Aspect, but I couldn't close down my empathic or my intuitive aspect. And so, you know, that was probably harder because as an empath, as an intuitive, you know what other people are thinking, you're sensing their emotions. So that feedback is then internalized. And if it's negative, you're gonna internalize that as it's me, I'm wrong, I'm bet I'm not good enough.
[00:07:56] All of those things. So, you know, that's a lot of reasons why Impath struggle so much with their mental health. A lot of times
[00:08:02] Melissa: I know Amy and I. Identify as being empaths. And it's one of the things that brings us together is that high level of sensitivity to the environment, to people, to whatever's going around and it also be exhaust.
[00:08:14] It's like you're like, you're a little turtle out in the world without your shell all the time. , you know? And I remember as a kid kind of trying to tune out. I don't know if they were messages exactly, but just information. Like I had more input. Or I was more porous than your average, you know, 7, 8, 9, 10 year old and just working to kind of close some of 'em to just be okay and not be overwhelmed.
[00:08:40] It was work.
[00:08:40] Jo: It should be taught in school. It really should, like empathic abilities, energy management. We are energetic beings and so this really should be taught right along with stupid math and , you know. And you're an lmt, correct?
[00:08:54] Amy: Yeah, but I have my social work degree.
[00:08:56] Jo: You are dealing with energy and all of that in your job?
[00:09:01] Amy: Yes. Yeah, you're absolutely right. So, you know, it's interesting. I've been a social worker for over 30 years now, and I've done very high level intense frontline work. Everything from physical and sexual crimes. To, organ and tissue procurement, lots of death and dying. And so I've learned over the years how to really create that boundary for my own mental health.
[00:09:25] And it, and I would've never been able to sustain in this industry if I hadn't learned to do that. Cuz people say, How do you do it? How do you do it? I'm like, I just learned how to put my oxygen mask on first.
[00:09:35] Jo: Yeah.
[00:09:36] Amy: And. So that, that definitely took time. That definitely took time. And now I work with like high level, high functioning people, so the energy that it takes is, it's so much less than what it used to be.
[00:09:49] There's also other things too that we can talk about during my reading, you know, And one of the things, Joe, that we really wanted you on here, but one of the things that really inspired me knowing your story a little bit is that. During Covid, you essentially said, I have to make this change packed up.
[00:10:06] And you moved out and you went last basically. And you know, part of what we're finding with the women that we're interviewing and the interactions that we're having with our online group with women is there's so much inside of them that they don't really listen to. Yeah. That they're not listening to that intuition.
[00:10:21] They're not listening to that voice. They're not listening to what they want, what they need. We wanna hear your kindling project. Embers had really needed to be ignited. And so if you could share that would really, we're excited to hear that.
[00:10:35] Jo: Yeah, definitely. So, I was in the corporate world, 2016.
[00:10:38] I'd been in there, you know, and had a corporate office job from the time I was, you know, in my young 20, you know, I just was experiencing the same dissatisfaction over and over again. So, changing. It just got to the point where it's like it, it's not gonna work. And I knew that I did not have one more job search in me.
[00:10:56] I physically could not do it. The thought of it was exhausting, and so I just said, I'm done. I'm leaving the corporate world, and I left one of those jobs that you don't leave. I left one of those jobs with unlimited vacation. Good pay, Beautiful. Office, Oh my God. Amazing company that gave you bonuses and trips and you don't leave these companies.
[00:11:15] And I knew it was the quote unquote craziest thing I could ever do. But I also knew I didn't have a choice. I had to go the first couple of years were rough cuz adjusting to trusting the universe when you don't have a paycheck were benefits is hard. There were times when I was on the floor screaming and crying and cursing and rail.
[00:11:31] You know, the ceiling, which was my version of the universe saying, Why? Why did you have me do this right? As if the power was outside of me? Why did you have me do this? And then why am I struggling? It was tough, but it's literally been the most amazing journey to self trust. Didn't sell ever said.
[00:11:47] But anyway, so I was working out of my house. I was seeing clients, energy work, clients, reading clients. I was doing some coaching, that sort of thing. I decided I didn't want these people trancing through my house. I love my clients, but I was tired of people coming in my house and I wanted a brick and mortar, but I didn't have the money for that.
[00:12:02] I mean, I was trying to, you know, make sure I had enough money to pay the light bill. I was given an opportunity to. Interview for a small part-time job with this beautiful little shop in Lansing, Rio Town called Soulful Earth herbals. She needed some help and I'm like, I don't wanna go to work for somebody else.
[00:12:16] I certainly don't wanna do retail. And I walked in there and I knew that I was supposed to be there. And then she showed me, she gave me a tour of the space, but there was this empty space next to it. She parted these curtains and all of a sudden I was in this gorgeous, you know, 1200 square foot open.
[00:12:30] Wood floor, Brick expos, Hidden Ceiling studio. And I was like, This is why I'm here. I had $3 to my name you guys, when I saw my studio $3, and the rent on that was 1600. And I'm like, How am I supposed to do this? So I started working for her and then one about two weeks later, she was gone. I was there by myself.
[00:12:49] I went over to the studio because it was in connected space, and I stood in the middle of the studio and I said, Spirit, Okay, universe, you did not bring me here to be a clerk in a real tail shop. I need you to show me why I'm here. And I'm not kidding you guys. The next day she came in and she said, I'm thinking about renting that space next door.
[00:13:06] If I rent it, will you make it financially viable? And I was like, Are you fricking kidding me? Like, boom. And there it was. So I was there for two and a half years. And then Covid hit and I was paying for this beautiful space that I couldn't use. So I said, I'm gonna follow my gut again. I'm gonna do something that is, sounds crazy and I'm gonna close the business and I'm gonna move.
[00:13:25] I'm gonna move all the way across countryside unseen. I've never been to Portland.
[00:13:28] Melissa: How did you know Portland?
[00:13:29] Jo: So, okay, so this is kind of a cool story. So my friend Curtis Kincaid, who is an intuitive in his own right, but he doesn't advertise as that. He's just very intuitively talented. He had told me a couple years ago that my husband was gonna be in Portland, and I'm like, I said, I'm not moving to Portland, so he is gonna have to come here.
[00:13:45] So I never even thought of it. So then when I was researching where to move, I asked his partner, Eli, to run an ASTROCARTOGRAPHY report for me. And that's the astrology that shows you where you're best suited for in the world. So he, Curtis saw that and he said, Girl, look it, it runs right through Portland.
[00:14:02] And I'm like, So, and he's like, Hello? And I was, Oh, I'm like, well, I don't know. You know, And Hamden haw and did research on other cities was considering Louisiana or New Orleans, but the bugs, the si the size of Buicks, I'm not doing it. , . After trial and error and trial and error, I just, I decided on Portland and the, Once I decided there was nothing that was gonna keep me from, and so I sold everything loaded up a U-Haul and me and my niece.
[00:14:28] Hit out cross country and I landed in Portland and here I am. And listen, I didn't move here because of a guy. It didn't come across that
[00:14:35] way. No. Yeah, we didn't get that impression.
[00:14:37] But it is, it's had to learn how to live by my intuition here and live by my gut live. I've had to develop that and I will tell you what, it has been the most amazing thing.
[00:14:46] It's making decisions using with risk. Trust is literally, I would never live another way, ever again before. I would never live in that fear based way again.
[00:14:55] Amy: How did you get to that point? I mean, you're, you've given us some tidbits that is so admirable to say that not living with that fear, because being a clinical social worker, this is the vibration that people generally live in.
[00:15:09] You know, fear is the energy form. People typically are in. And so to release that and to give that away and to not own that fear and to really replace it completely with faith, yeah, this is quite admirable and on so many levels. How do you get to this space?
[00:15:26] Jo: It's been a step by step journey since 2016, and I truly believe that the reason that I am able to experience this sort of freedom seeking free spirited lifestyle is because I am meant to write a book or.
[00:15:38] Show others or something. Some way I'm gonna be like, Hey, this was me in 2016 miserable in my job in the corporate world, and here I am now wealthy with this amazing relationship and able to travel and do all the things that I love and I'm completely supported by the universe, but in order to get from A to Z I have to live and experience those steps along the way.
[00:15:58] So, for instance, when I landed in Portland, Listen you guys, I had my truck and my, all of my belongings in a trailer pulling 3000 pounds behind me. And that damn truck blew up. The engine blew in Wyoming. And so what do you do? Right? So my niece was with me and we got here to Portland, but then I was in Portland, brand new city.
[00:16:16] I've never been to. Horn. I had no vehicle. I had to learn to use the bus for the first time, like the bus. There were so many little things that created challenges and stress and why did I do this? That would've sent me back in home. And every single time I was like, No, I'm supposed to be here. I'm not giving up.
[00:16:32] First year and a half was, whew. It was challenging. The last six months have been be beautiful, but every step of the way, you just have to learn how to incorporate faith and trust in your intuition into all of your daily decision.
[00:16:43] Amy: Incredible. That's really inspiring because you're exactly right. You have to walk the walk, you have to go through the grind, you have to go through the grit to get there.
[00:16:52] You gotta get there, you know? And no one's gonna get there for you, except yourself.
[00:16:56] Jo: A lot of people think, you know, discomfort is your sign that, you're supposed to stop. And the discomfort is your sign that you need to dig in and say, No, I'm better than this. I'm stronger than my discomfort, and I'm gonna find a way around it because the universe will stop testing you once you prove that you're not gonna be stopped by something as ridiculous as you're having no vehicle.
[00:17:17] Melissa: Yeah, I saw this. I think it said all growth takes place in the dirt. It just struck me. It's the dark, it's the dirt. It's like the yucky, mucky stuff. That's where the growth actually happened.
[00:17:27] Jo: And within that, Is there all the nutrients that we need and the rich soil and you know, all of those things that gives birth to that seed to sprout.
[00:17:35] Melissa: Such a nice visual because sometimes at least I'm a very visual person. I don't get hung up on the words then, like words to me are so limiting, you know, if somebody writes something down that I'm criticizing it or my brain is trying to make it better or trying to disprove it. But if it's an image, it's undeniable for me.
[00:17:51] Amy: Yeah. I like how you said that about words being limiting. Insightful cuz you're right. Like if you see the visual, you can maybe just, no pun intended to get outta the weeds a little bit, you know? So, Jo, tell us where you're at today. Now you've been there a year and a half since,
[00:18:05] Jo: Almost two years. In October, landed on my townhouse doorstep.
[00:18:09] October. October 9th, 2020. Wow. In January of 2021, my reading started to go down and I was getting a little freaked out, so I'm like, Oh my God, I gotta go back to the corporate world. To get a job here in Portland, and I got one with this really cool opportunity working with a chef, and then two weeks later I was like, I hate this.
[00:18:25] I don't want this. Why am I back in the corporate world? Why did I not trust the universe? So it took me three, four months to extricate myself from that. But as soon as I did, as soon as I was brave enough to let go of that paycheck and those benefits again for the second time, you guys, I'm not kidding you, this is two days after I got a call from a local metaphysical.
[00:18:44] Here in Portland, it's called Psychic Sister. It's a metaphysical slash vintage shop. Very cool. I was doing readings there. I had been doing readings there off and on, and she said, Do you have a few minutes to sit down and talk about you coming to work for us as our psychic talent coordinator and event planner?
[00:18:59] Yeah, I do. That's why I'm here at. So that's what I do now, and it's literally the best job I've ever had. It was only a dollar, less an hour than what I was making as an executive assistant working for an executive director. It is also, they are literally the owner. Dreamy is the most wonderful human being because she likes to provide a platform for others who, as a jumping off, Point to nurture their private practices while also supporting, giving them a place to read within her store, so I can't ask for more.
[00:19:28] Melissa: Wow. That's really inspiring. Amy and I have that kind of vision for the Kindling project that women come together and support each other and make stages to set tables for each other. And I do think that's something in addition to really having the intent of working with women. To, you know, actualize or see their kindling project in the world.
[00:19:49] There's this other secondary image of like, we gotta help each other out. Girls. There's not enough support. There's not enough women supporting women listening to each other's dreams and affirming each other's dreams, and just not sure why that is, because when that does happen, like the dis. What you're describing, it's super crazy power.
[00:20:08] That's why we have all this imagery, I think of fire, of like, it's like a crazy unstoppable fire. When that
[00:20:14] Jo: happened, it really is. I was one of those people that struggled with it. When I first started my group, I was like, No, no client cultivation in here. You know, you can't, This is, you know, I'm book my services, blah, blah, blah.
[00:20:25] But I'm seeing through working with psychic sister how the esoteric community. Can now be a platform for other practitioners. So I promote their services. I try to promote, you know, their websites and give them a place. They're really, I mean, you gotta do your own work too. Right. But
[00:20:39] Melissa: Right, and nobody wants to be part of a group or a community
[00:20:42] that's all about being sold.
[00:20:44] There is some kind of culture of support. Yes. Maybe support involves, Purchasing something from time to time, a service or an item. But it's also something not transactional. Right?
[00:20:55] Jo: Exactly. Exactly. So I'm learning too, you know, I've got my business page, the studio for my jewelry and all of that stuff. And I try to keep, you know, the esoteric community related to intuitive development podcast topics, metaphysical, you know, growing your abilities.
[00:21:10] All of that good stuff,
[00:21:11] Melissa: The whole, kind of metaphysical and modern spirituality and maybe some witchy woo stuff like this conversation is growing. Women are waking up to it. I mean, no matter how much the society or the culture has tried to suppress these ideas, I feel like they're constantly pushing back.
[00:21:29] They're constantly coming back around, and least in my lifetime, the last maybe five or six years feels like it's more at the, forfront. And people are more comfortable talking about it and whether it's they're buying a few crystals or they're lighting a candle, or they're getting in a kac reading, or they've taken an interest in their horoscope.
[00:21:46] It just feels very current. Again,
[00:21:49] Jo: it really is. We entered the age of Aquarius. And I'm not sure if it was this year or last year, we entered the age of Aquarius, which gave rise to the divine feminine, the divine power. There's a lot of really cool spiritual concepts involved in the astrology too. You know, but it is the rise of the feminine.
[00:22:04] And you're noticing right now a lot of those politicians are being held to, there are con, there are consequences. They're seeing that there are consequences. All the people that were involved in all of. Male centered, patriarchal, they're being held accountable now. And there is the rise of the feminine.
[00:22:20] It's the rise of the power, you know, of women standing in their power. And that has a lot to do with a lot of the practices out there because back in the day, witches and intuitives and healers, even doulas, and midwives very easily and quickly accused of some sort of witchcraft or witchery. And then of course, they were commit to death.
[00:22:39] Now that's just not something that. You can't kill me for being a witch, and so I'm gonna stand as loud and proud in my intuitive woo ideology. And f if you don't like it.
[00:22:50] Melissa: I feel like that's the undercurrent, even in communities where they're not using those words.
[00:22:55] Amy: It is and it's power numbers too.
[00:22:57] I mean, you look at the Me Too movement and you get, it's not just one woman that. She was sexually assaulted. There's hundreds behind and women are coming together more united cuz there's, there has been so many horrible things that have happened to women individually and as groups and unfortunately it still happens every day.
[00:23:15] So we finally are allowing ourselves, Also to have our voice be heard and not saying that, you know, we're just gonna stand and we're gonna be quiet and just allow this to happen.
[00:23:26] Jo: It's just we're women are done. Women are done. And it's so funny because after the Supreme Court ruling, you know, I was waiting for this.
[00:23:35] And raged, right? Raging against the machine. This uprising, this, you know, And it didn't happen. And I'm like, Why are we not burning crap down? Why are we not doing this? And so one of the intuitives that I follow, she's like, It's happening. But women as a whole, we do things intentionally, methodically, you know, with power.
[00:23:54] And we're seeing that. So this is what's happening. It's being organized. It remember a couple years ago when I think it. Finland when they took abortion away or something like that, and all of the women, it took them a while. It took them about a year, but they all organized and they said, Okay, fine, then we're not gonna go to work.
[00:24:10] All of the women, like almost all of them, stopped working in the workforce. The country shut down and then they were, they'll all lawmakers were like, Okay, well, I guess. We're gonna give them back their rights.
[00:24:20] Amy: Right. Cuz nothing's happening. Right. There is a lot of behind the scenes work that is going on.
[00:24:26] Women are mobilizing, they are organizing cuz I'm in different groups and things are being said and they are, women are talking behind closed doors. We're just thinking about it being methodical. We're not planning an insurrection at the capital because we have brains and we have common sense.
[00:24:41] We're leading one another. We're not, you know, following people who. Absolutely out of their mind.
[00:24:47] Jo: We're tapping into that power of creation. You know, we as women have the gift of life within our own bodies. And so when you use that energy to create, you're gonna create some badassery and that's what's gonna happen.
[00:24:58] Melissa: So I also feel, you know, this might be a little counterintuitive by taking it quietly, like I don't wanna give them my. I don't wanna give them my emotional reaction. I've gotten this way even in like interpersonal conversations, even at like Thanksgiving of the family. I no longer want someone whose ideas or beliefs that I don't respect to get any of my energy back.
[00:25:21] Even if it is outrage, I want that energy for me. And for the people that I value so that we can channel it. So that's you know, I like the imagery of burning things down, but not, but in a careful, methodical way. Like I can't just sound off at every idiot. I don't have a bandwidth for it.
[00:25:38] Amy: The last administration almost took us out. We learned how to really channel and take that energy and where are we gonna, where are we gonna put it and who are we gonna give it to? It is our power. It is our power. That is the power within. And we are not going to stand by and just let it just walk past us.
[00:25:56] We're not doing that anymore. And what I love is I have a handful of young nieces and cousins, you know, 30 and under, and they all just have risen. And they are, they're like, I'm like, Oh, you are me. But way better
[00:26:09] Melissa: i feel that way too maybe, cuz I have an almost 18 year old daughter. If there's one thing we've collectively done, Each generation of women has given something to the next.
[00:26:18] They're getting it. They're really getting it. Girls,
[00:26:20] Jo: they're like, Wait a minute. This is my country, my future, my body and you 60 plus your old white men. You don't get to decide for me. And they're really standing in their power and they're like, No.
[00:26:32] Amy: And they're gonna say it too. They're not gonna be like, Oh, we're not gonna talk about it at Christmas.
[00:26:36] Jo: I wanted to point out something that Melissa said. She said, I don't want to give them my. I love that. That's an amazing statement and amazing quote because it's true. Don't give them your noise. You use that noise. Fuel your fire. Right. You know, the ignition, that's the kindling.
[00:26:50] Melissa: It really is about taking back and it starts with you, right?
[00:26:53] Taking back your noise, your energy, your power, like Amy said, and I feel like we're all doing that. I don't think that whatever the man is or the, you know, the counter energy that, you know, we're rising up against, I don't think they see it coming.
[00:27:07] Jo: Of course. Don't. Some of them are so dumb too.
[00:27:10] Amy: The day the ruling came down, I was going up north with my son and my niece.
[00:27:14] We had no words and every billboard that I saw was like of these like men and their sons and their whatevers and every billboard. I just like wanted to flip off, I don't wanna see this is it. We are in a new era now. You know, one of the things that we like to have, You know when they come on is we like to talk about what suggestions, what advice would you have?
[00:27:35] Cause you took some really big risks. You really did light those fires, those kindling or that kindling. What would you say? How to follow your intuition? What? Where do we start with that?
[00:27:44] Jo: Absolutely, 100%. You start with managing your own energy. First and foremost, understand that you are at point A.
[00:27:53] Well, I teach intuitive development, and so my process is very methodical, right? So you start with empathic abilities, you move on to intuitive abilities, then you move on to those higher, more advanced abilities. But everybody has. The ability to be empathic, to sense others, to put theirselves in the place of others.
[00:28:11] So our etheric field, which is how we sense, how we feel, how we our em, empathy works. It's a, it's our aura for other, for lack of a better term, it goes 15 feet around us, above us, and below us. So when anybody walks into your energy field within 15 feet of you, you're exchanging energy. You're gonna feel that energy.
[00:28:28] So the first thing that I tell my students is claim your energy field. Learn how to reign it in. Learn how to set strong boundaries with intention. This is my energy and nobody can take from it or intrude upon it without my permission. Practice that three to four times a day. After 30 days, you'll notice a huge.
[00:28:45] Huge improvement. Ask, you know, do this before you go to the grocery store, before you go into any public outing. Just claim your energy field as yours and that none can take from it. So that's what I recommend. First and foremost, once you do that, you're not gonna be bombarded with other people's emotions or feelings that you're internalizing, that you think they're yours.
[00:29:04] That's not happening. So that's. What gives your intuitive abilities, the clear pathways for your intuition to work, your clear senti to work your clear, cognizant, to work your clear audience, all of those things, that's when your intuitive abilities start to pop, and that's when you practice those, which then will develop the more and more you use them.
[00:29:23] So that's what I tell people, and once you develop your intuition, you can start working with your higher self and. This is what I want. This is what I wanna do. Give me a sign, show me, help guide me in the right direction. And then you need to learn how to open up to those signs. So that's what I recommend.
[00:29:37] Melissa: That's wonderful. I'm gonna come to that course. Tell us when the next course is to get through those three steps, because I could spend another hour in the conversation of, you know, just moving from your empathic field to your intuitive field. Psychic field, and I do think that I personally have spent a lot of time in that empathic field, exhausted, you know, very porous and overstimulated and trying to come up with some kind of protective coding.
[00:30:04] And it does actually stop you from listening to your intuition if you're in that first stage all the time. You can't move on to the, you know, next stage.
[00:30:13] Jo: No. You know, I tell empath you're not a sponge. You are an intuitive being who has the ability to sense and interpret the energy of others. But first you must be very selective about what you let in you guys.
[00:30:24] It's been my dream to package these, this whole course. The intuitive development coaching into a digital course, like a really nice one. I just don't have the discipline to sit down and do it.
[00:30:35] Melissa: I will raise my hand to help you work on that.
[00:30:37] Jo: Yay.
[00:30:37] Melissa: Cause I have a digital design agency as my primary business.
[00:30:41] Jo: Really? Oh my goodness. See you put stuff out to the universe and there That's,
[00:30:46] There you go.
[00:30:47] Melissa: You know, I don't not, I don't always like the word help partner with you or work with you or provide whatever value I can because I would take that
[00:30:55] Jo: course. I mean, there are a lot out there and everything, but I always look at their curriculum and I'm like, this is not gonna help them learn how to recognize the signs and the symbols and all of the messages from their higher self or their intuition.
[00:31:07] This is woo nonsense is what that is.
[00:31:08] Melissa: So the thing is, with a lot out there, The messages or the product or the communication or the art or the gift or whatever it is that you put out into the world has an audience and it's not gonna take from somebody else's audience. And even, you know, even when Amy and I started doing our podcast and of course, It's we're only like eight or 10 episodes in, and plenty of people were like, Oh God, everyone and their cat is doing a podcast.
[00:31:34] And you know, what could we possibly have to say that's different? Maybe it's not different, but it still has its own audience somewhere there could be 8 million other similar messages, but ours will speak to someone.
[00:31:47] Jo: It will speak to somebody. And the fact also, you can look at it as you're giving someone a platform.
[00:31:52] Maybe it's the starting point, maybe it's the jumping off or something. You have no idea how you can impact another sole blueprint. But if you, all you have to do is follow your heart and your soul and your passions. And it doesn't matter because Spirit in the universe is gonna make sure that the right people are where they're supposed to be in order to
[00:32:10] Amy: like intersect them, bring them together.
[00:32:12] Melissa: It's almost like alchemy, the things that are supposed to come together in some kind of solution. They do come together. They will come together and it, I feel like, like the first two words of our mission statement are about creating space and. That's really what we're sticking to is we're creating the space and it might be an online community or it might be a podcast or it might be a course or a retreat.
[00:32:36] I don't know what that space ultimately where it like strikes it rich, but I know we're supposed to create it. That's the, that is the intuition that, you know, kind of probably right around the time that you were packing that truck to drive from Michigan to Portland. Amy and I were on our very last straw of pandemic living.
[00:32:55] There's something else, right? We're supposed to be doing something else
[00:32:57] Amy: here, just coming together for a podcast. We can turn on computers and we can manage somewhat, but it's, you know, it's just pretty miraculous how things evolve. Trusting that piece that sometimes we don't know what that, what's on that other side, but we have trusted that, you know, I think a woman's intuition, it definitely gets stronger if we.
[00:33:19] To just knowing that there are unc, there is uncertainty, but knowing that it's okay also to be in that space because like you were describing, that's what gets us to the next space as well.
[00:33:29] Jo: Ultimately, it, these are the goals of your soul, and in order to move to the next goal, you have to develop self trust because that's what everything hinges upon.
[00:33:39] You trust yourself. To make the right decisions, to make the right choices, to connect with the right people, to get rid of the people in your life that just aren't serving you. If you trust yourself that you are going to be able to make your way through whatever it is, then at the end of that, you're gonna have that much more self trust.
[00:33:57] So when the next big shift, twist, uncertainty comes along, you. I'm gonna follow my gut because the last time it got me through and your gut is your intuition, and that's really the GPS that the universe instilled in all of us to say you have the way through. You just have to learn how to work it and develop it and trust it.
[00:34:14] Amy: We just wanna say thank you so much. Thank you so much for sharing your incredible energy with us. And we really look forward to some collaboration in the future and
[00:34:24] Melissa: keep telling us how we can support you and we can all like follow that intuition. I feel like we're all showing up in each other's lives, not by accident.
[00:34:32] Jo: Thank you for having me. It was a really amazing opportunity, you know. I have a Leo Moon, so who doesn't love to talk about themselves, not a Leo, but it is a really cool story that I'm happy to share with people and I hope that it does urge or prompt others to just take that big leap of faith because honestly, it was the best thing I've ever done and I there along the way, I never regretted it, ever not once.
[00:34:53] So, yeah,
[00:34:53] Amy: good to know. That's a good reminder. We have people, don. Take these leaps of faith and go, Wow, that should have never happened. They're, they do it and they're like, That was the best thing ever. So yeah, I think it's more
[00:35:04] Melissa: like the regret of not doing it than the regret of doing it almost in every aspect of life.
[00:35:09] We'll talk to you soon. Bye.