Hi, thanks for joining Your Body Advocate podcast. I am Ruth Cummings, your host, and today I interview on Angelica Rodriguez, who after a health scare in 2010, she became a Shamanic practitioner. There’s some twists and turns to the story that she talks about today, and she talks about. Shamanic Healing Works.

What is Shamanism and what it’s like to have a healing session with her? She is really fun to talk to, and I hope that you enjoy this interview. Let’s take a deep breath to relax. Ready?

All right, here we go. You’re listening to your body advocate, telling your body’s side of the story, the podcast dedicated to supporting and improving your body mind connection so you can live a pain free, passion filled life, dissolving one body tension at a time, discover the healing properties of your own body language, and together let’s explore ways to support and improve essential self.

Now here’s your host, Master of Encouragement and Body Mind, Life Coach Ruth Cummings. Hello everybody. How are you out there today? I have one of my friends on Angelica Rodriguez. Let me read her bio so we know who we’re talking to. On Angelica Rodriguez is a visionary and transformational leader who has worked in nonprofit and corporate settings.

A health scare in 2010 led her to natural healing modalities. She is now a Shamanic practitioner and conducts healing sessions to help clients cope with stress, anxiety, grief, and trauma. Her clients have overcome limiting beliefs and patterns that have kept them. For years. Yay on Angelica, welcome. How are you today?

I’m great. Thank you so much for having me, Ruth. Yay. Of course. I’m excited to, to learn about Shamanism and, um, and if we have time, I would love to hear a little bit about your health scare. I think a lot of people deal with health scares, but let’s talk about, um, shamanism first. So what is Shaman?

Absolutely. Thank you and great question. I get that all the time. . Um, so Shamanism is one of the world’s oldest healing practices. Um, it’s also, uh, from many a spiritual practice and it’s a worldview. Um, and so for me, the way I practice Shamanism is I work to bring it into, you know, when I first started studying, it was all about our own cosmology and really picking apart what.

Mine and what are the beliefs I’ve inherited through this system of the world in which we were brought up. Awesome. So when you say it’s a world belief, um, tell me more about that. Oh, okay, sure. So, um, when I first started in shamanism, my, uh, teacher had us, um, Really look at our own world cosmology in terms of what are thoughts, what are emotions, what are beliefs, what are feelings?

And, um, what it ended up helping me do was really, um, identify on a much deeper level what, what actually is mine? Do I truly be like, for example, easy example, very relatable one, you know, um, is the natural course of a relationship you date. You’re serious and after some period of time you get married, like what is that?

Is that like a belief I have inherited? Is that something I desire and want for myself or is that something I just picked up? Because guess what, You know, I grew up in Texas and that’s what we do by the time we’re 20 years old. And so when I say it’s a world belief, it’s also about, um, how we relate to nature.

So in shamanism, it’s all about oneness, right? So there’s um, so. Everything is connected, everything has a soul, everything has a being. So it’s also right relationship with everything around us. So that’s kind of what I mean when I talk about it’s, you know, also a world cosmology. Excellent. That’s interesting.

I, uh, I’m gonna throw you a curve ball. Okay. , and I know we had talked before, but I’m, I’m just curious for my own, uh, questions at the moment and clients that I work with, like, how does Shamanism and, and the healings that you do, how does that help someone be a better advocate for their own body? Ooh, good question.

And I was wondering when that clincher was gonna come. Cause I was like, This is Ruth. We talk about body and advocating for our body here. Like that’s gonna come up at some point. And oh my gosh, it is so related. It is so related. Um, and I’m so glad that I’m here to talk to it because you’ve had client, I mean, excuse me, you’ve had speakers on here talking about homeopathy.

You had a sexological body worker, you had somebody talking about, uh, you know, professional organizer talking about how organization relates to how we feel in our body, Right? You’ve had all of these different, um, folks come in and talk about how their mo modality helps people feel more center. more in their power, really more collected and completely filling up their body.

That is shamanism. That is what we practice there, right? In Shamanism, it’s, you know, my teacher always says, Nature boars avoid, right? And so we have to completely keep ourselves filled with ourselves. Now that might sound weird, right? How can I keep my body filled with me? Like of course it is. I am me, right?

But how many times have you heard somebody say, you know, I. Really shrink down and I just wanna be as small as possible, or I am so irritated I can’t stand being inside my skin. Or, you know, he was just, you know, really going nuts. Sorry if you using that word and, and jumping out of his skin. We are consistently using it in just these silly little phrase.

But there’s something there, right? I mean, just, you know, in the recent past I was talking, um, with a friend of mine, and actually this is pretty common in the groups and circles I’m in, where, you know, it’s a lot of women, they’re professional and trying to come forward in their space and their respective right, And a lot of times it’s finding their voice.

They’ve shrunk down. They’ve stayed so small, right? They’ve shrunk and tried to get as small as possible inside their body. Well, guess what? Your voice can’t fully come through if you’re not fully inhabiting and taking up your full space inside of your body, right? Like for Ruth, that is Ruth Nation. Ruth Kingdom, right?

every single Ruth nation. Exactly. Every single square inch of you and right, and so to bring your voice forward and to advocate for yourself. For your body, for your family, for your loved ones, you have to take up that full space in your body. Have I preached enough here, ? No, I love it. I mean, I think there’s so many different ways, as you and I know in the circles that we run in that there’s so many different ways to help the body and help us in our, on our journey.

And I like to honor everyone because I, I have seen so many work when I. Came into massage. I had my, This is how healing works. This is how religion works, this is how the world works. And, um, I didn’t wanna listen to energy work. I remember I was told the story a couple times and it’s just so embarrassing that I was in one of the most incredible classes on energy by Robert Stevens.

So if anybody’s out there who knows Robert Stevens, they’re gonna be like, You did what? And I was like, I don’t listen to energy work. I don’t need. Because I’m working, I’m a sports massage therapist and I’m gonna work with the muscles , so I’m gonna go ahead and take a nap underneath my table during your class.

That’s what I said. It was so disrespectful, , and so just like, so cocky and um, you know, I was really young, was in my early twenties and it was 500 massages in or maybe less that I was like, Whoa. Why do I have a headache after this person had a headache? Why? And all these questions were showing up that had a lot to do with energy.

And I went back to Robert Stevens and I apologized and I asked him if I could take his class and sit in and, um, but just that was my big. Whoa. You know, um, there’s, there’s way more than, than what I believe in my, in my little mind, in my little reality that is out there. And I, I like to now just really listen and, and not, um, dismiss.

Anything or anybody. And shamanism, um, what you’re describing is just, it’s amazing and I think that it can, we don’t know what helps each person. So when I, when people come to me and I assume what’s gonna help them, you know, and I’m gonna do this and this, and I’ve learned that. Now I’m, I’m much more gentle.

Even with these huge athletes I’m working on, the deep pressure I’m using is, is very different. It’s very, it goes very slow, but it goes so deep and they’re like, Ow. But it takes this much pressure and I just think that’s cool how we learn your path to help others and, um, So what I, now I I get off my soapbox

No, that it is so relatable. Um, so, you know, earlier you mentioned Health Scare led me to alternative healing and um, Yeah. I didn’t come into this space like, rah Yes. You know, let’s, let’s do the, you know, alternate, um, world, right? Because, um, I, that’s not the system in which I grew up, right? My mom was a nurse.

Um, we do try and take care of yourself, of course, naturally at all possible, with whatever you have in the kitchen cabinet, right? But let’s go to the doctor, let’s get you taken care of. And you know, in 2010, I was having so many stomach issues, like nothing was working. It was. You know, doctor, after doctor, finally I go and they’re like, Look, we did, We checked you top to bottom.

There’s nothing wrong with you, like you’re healthy. And I’m like, Okay. The thing is, I have stopped eating because it hurts to eat . That is not sustainable. So I need another way out. I need another option here. Uh, you know, I need food. I am not one to pause on eating. So, um, so that’s where I kind of like started.

I was a little desperate, so I started looking out for a bunch of different options and, um, uh, the, one of my doctors just, you know, said, Well, my friend does Chiang. He’s a medical chigong doctor. You might wanna check that out. I have no idea what Chiang was. I went there, I showed up, I filled out this huge of form and I asked him, point blank, Will this work even if I don’t believe in it?

love that. And he said, he said, Yes. We practice and use Chigong on horses. They don’t believe in this and it works for them. So I was like, I don’t care. As long as I feel better, like that’s all I need. I just need to feel better because this, you know? And so I started there and that really helped me. And it, you know, one thing after another, I really started expanding my mind and then I was working with a chronic killer.

So this was, you know, several modalities later. and what came up in that session and with another, you know, one of my coaches was Shamanism is the way now. It’s not Shaman is capital T, Capital H, capital E Way. Right? Like the only way, what it meant was it was the way for me, it was the path forward for me.

It was what I needed at that time and has turned into a life long, or, you know, since then a practice that I’ve followed. Um, and so I really. Uh, I am totally right there with you that all of these different healing modalities have a space. They have a place and different things work for different people.

So, yeah, I, I totally agree and. The, I like how you went to Chiang. That’s so, it’s, I love Chiang. I don’t do it enough. And it’s, it’s such an amazing practice. And, um, I wonder maybe we could put a, a link to, uh, maybe one of the people that you were working with because Sure. I think a lot of people, I love to have someone on here that does Chiang, because that’s another one.

It’s just a great movement. Just like Tai Chi. These, there’s some great, uh, things that people have never heard of that I think that are really helpful. Yeah, and he was a medical chigong doctor, so it would be like, instead of acupuncture, you know, and using needles, he was utilizing his own energy to move my energy through my body.

And then I would take some of his classes every now and then. Um, but, but you could do it one on one. I didn’t, you know, So yeah, it was really, really fascinating. Wow. Well, what does Shaman sh Shamanic healing consist of and what do you do during a Shamanic healing session? And are they online? Are they in person or what does that look like?

Yeah, yeah. Great question. So, um, my schmatta killing sessions, um, are all online. So I use Zoom. Uh, so I make sure that I have, you know, I can see the person and they can see me. Um, and what I really work on doing is really trying to get clear. on what it is they’re really looking to, uh, what the question is, right?

So we really need to focus on what is the issue that we’re working on today, and how do you wanna feel when you leave? You know, how, how does this want, what do you want this to look like? And by look like, I mean, how do you wanna feel like, right? Um, so. I utilize rattles, I utilize drums, um, and I also do singing in my sessions.

And this is something I have been taught by my teacher who was taught by her teacher, Sandra Erman, in that when we’re singing, we are able to take up so much more space in our body and get out of our left brain and more into our right brain. Which is, you know, where we get a lot more of this creative freethink and um, and it helps me, uh, deeper connect with my helping spirits and source or oneness.

So maybe we can do a brief little demo. Sure. How do you think about that? Yeah. Okay. So let’s, why don’t we come up with an issue that you deal with and it can be very, you know, relatable and, and generic. Um, that maybe you have a question about, like, you know, geez, why do I keep X? You know, it could be why am I so committed to doing versus being

Um, or something along those lines. Do you have something that’s not too private, a little, you know, very relatable that everybody can kind of about a million. So let’s see. , let’s go with one. All right. Yeah. Let’s see. Um, how. Why do I procrastinate? Ooh, very good one. All right, so why does, Okay, so what Ruth, what we’re gonna work on right now is why does Ruth procrastinate?

So why does Ruth procrastinate? Okay, so what then I then ask my clients to do is, and what I’m gonna do is a. Journey just to get a little bit of information on this. So this isn’t a full on healing session, but I just wanna give you a taste and a flavor, and also your audience and everyone who’s listening, um, what this might consist of.

Right? So what you’re gonna hear is you’re gonna hear some rattling. You might hear a little bit of singing. And singing can sound like humming. It can sound like words. It can sound like noise or snaps. It can sound like anything, right? Um, So what I’m just gonna ask you to do is sit back, take a few nice deep breaths, and connect with, and really ask your helping spirits to come in, merge with your soul, your true soul self, and helping spirits can be called anything.

Angels, spirit, animals. Ancestors or any other word that, or whatever other terminology you have. So what I’m really gonna do is ask you just to sit back, breathe deeply. I need to remind myself to breathe deeply,

and just really get into your center, wherever that center might look for you, and close your eyes if that feels safe and comfortable to do that.

I to do is ask my helping spirit, why does Ruth.

And so whenever you are ready, just blinking your eyes and coming back into the room.

And how are you feeling? Good. I had a neck pain that went away, so that was nice. Interesting. Yeah, I pay attention to that a lot because my neck hurts often. Hmm. So, yeah, I can understand that. Um, so the way my helping spirits speak to me is in metaphors. So I’m a very visual what, So what I just did was a small journey.

To get information about why you procrastinate. And so they’ll show me something kind of like a movie. Other people, they might smell some or just have this sense of knowing. Um, and so what I’m getting, the sense of what they were saying about procrastination is almost like there is this defined. Idea or path of this is the way things need to happen.

But what they were showing me was the path that seems to get decided is very hard and difficult and rigorous, which requires a lot of skills, which you do have. There are other options in which it might be. , but those options might not look as challenging and it might look too easy. That’s not possible that I can accomplish this huge feat if it’s this easy and the perception there can be, I have so many skills and I can do it this extremely difficult way, why would I go this easy way?

Is any of that resonating for you? Yeah, for sure. I’m about to, um, open my, my course on teaching people how to be, uh, how to have better communication between their body and their mind using just muscle and feeling all these things, all of us work together and um, I know that the easy one really would be to go.

Be a guest speaker and a guest lecturer and, um, at other people’s retreats and for other people’s, um, for their launches and for their classes that they’re having. And that would be very easy for me. And I’m. I, I probably should do that. And that’s what’s coming up for me is that I’m procrastinating my, my own course because I see some other options, but I, I do wanna have something just for my people and, um, that they can utilize and use all the time.

The people that come to my course, it’s lifetime access and, um, but that’s what, that’s what comes up for. That’s what what you said, um, resonates with what’s going on in my world and my thought process. How does that land that, That makes a lot of sense. And you know, there’s actually something that my coach, um, who I used to work with would say, and she says sometimes, Sometimes procrastination is wisdom because at some level you know that whatever that step you’re trying to take, you don’t have the structures, the foundation, the capacity, what, what have you to handle getting to that next step.

So sometimes prep that procrastination is actually wisdom and so yeah, what’s coming up for me as I hear what you’re talking about, Related to what I just said, right about the Procrast Nation sometimes being that deeper wisdom. Plus what we got from the mini journey is, I’m wondering, is there a way for you to bring something specific to your audience that doesn’t require.

This massive, huge effort. It doesn’t have to look like whatever you’ve designed it to look like. Maybe it can look like a portion of what you’ve made it or want it to be, because I think that’s an amazing idea to go and speak at other people’s events, right? Because you build your audience that way. But I think it also gets down to the bottom line.

What do you know? Like what is the end goal here? Yeah, no, those were good insights of procrastination. And I do agree that, um, my, yeah, that I’m, I’m, I’m really questioning, um, but. . Yeah. So that’s really helpful. I’ll, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll probably journal about that and pray about it later and try to see, um, how to use that because, um, I am about to, is you kind of just took a lot of words outta my mouth.

I am about to do smaller sip, you know, snippets. For people so they understand what I’m, what I do. Cuz a lot of people, they, if they haven’t come to my office or worked with me as a coach, they don’t really know what I do and I haven’t really explained it online or, you know, in, in, like, in, in the public eye.

And, um, So, No, you’re right. Like smaller snippets. I think a lot of us, unless it’s perfect and unless it says this huge , you know, huge mountain, then it’s not good enough. And so I’m right there in that camp too. Like I have to do the, you know, the big, uh, you know, the big kauna and yeah, it doesn’t have to be like that.

And, um, and easy is good. You know, in my life, easy hasn’t been the road I’ve taken . Um, you know, I’ve always worked hard and I’m not sure that I really had to, but that’s definitely what I was, uh, taught and, and, um, it seems like without hard work, that’s not possible. Like, it’s just not, it’s just impossible.

And so, um, yeah. Very good insight. I appreciate that. You’re welcome. I know what you mean. I, I, I have been there before and I’m still working on unwinding that programming and, and that’s a lot of what I feel like I get the message for my helping spirits is this can be simple. Right, but there’s those, what, what do they call, neuro pathways?

The automatic assumption is, Oh, I want this huge thing. Therefore it has to be extremely difficult. So what do we do? We find the paths to. That are difficult, right? Because we’re attuned to them. It’s like, Oh, there’s the difficult path. Let me go there. Oh, there’s a difficult path. And we don’t mean to do that.

It’s just that what we’re used to, and it’s our training. So you know, what I’m working on is, okay, this is where I wanna get, trying to do this a new way. What is the. simplest way for me to get there doesn’t mean that it’s gonna be easy peasy, but it’s gonna be more simple. It doesn’t have to be this huge, long, complicated, you know, impossible feed , which is also another way of, you know, self sabotage.

But, um, how can I go this new way and like looking for new pathways? So what I do sometimes, Can I tell you one thing real quick? Sure. Sometimes when I need to do something and I’m like, And this, it feels so hard. It feels so hard. It feels so hard, right? I use that, um, that phrase, people say, Okay, my back is up against a wall and I’ll visualize myself up against a wall.

I can’t get out. You know, like, cuz all I could see was one way, one option. I’m like, If on my back is a wall and I have no other like, and I cannot do this one way, what are all of the other creative ways I can go forward? Right? It’s kind of like sometimes people like necessity is a great motivator, right?

Sometimes when we absolutely have to move forward, guess what? That’s when some really good ideas start coming forward, and so I try to sometimes. Force, for lack of better word, that out of myself because it’s like really, like we need, I need to start thinking about things differently. Yeah. Yes. It’s interesting that you bring that up because for me it’s all about connections of the muscles.

So like when we, when we procrastinate or we, like you’re saying you have these patterns. I like to show the people, my clients, and in my course and just in general, where is your body holding this pressure, this tension? Why, how does it block you? And that’s why, um, I think all these like shamanism shows in a certain way and what I’m trying to show.

Where physically does your body hold things and let’s find it, let’s interpret it and then let’s let it go. Transform it. And not everybody finds it the same way. And that’s why, I mean, like, so I’ll have people come to me after having a, um, a Shamanic. Session with somebody or different types of sessions, you know, Chigong, and they have used that modality to find the tension or find something that’s stuck where they know every time they talk about a conversation that makes them angry from their past, or their mom or their dad, or a spouse or whomever, coworker or a boss.

And the, they can find it in their body and I can help people find it and then let it go in a physical manner. And then it manifests also, just as we know, um, it, it manifests in all our levels of our being. And, um, it’s just so fascinating. Just, I, I love how it all works together. And, and like I said, like I’ve been really cocky about how.

My modality works through the, you know, like the first decade. And then after that it was like, wait a minute. I, And also I wish we would all work together. There’s a, one of my first podcasts is like creating your own healing team around you. And everybody needs a different team. Like, just because you know, my team, uh, like I use chiropractic, acupuncture, um, And I forget what, you know, obviously homeopathy is a big one for me.

And like there’s different people around in every community, no matter how big or small that are there on purpose. And uh, we just need to seek them out. And that’s what I was, I wish that the American medical model would open up to more options. To help people then, Um, and, and there’s some amazing things that the American medical model has, but like Iveta has never mentioned, and so many people don’t understand it or haven’t heard of it, even homeopathy.

And I, I think that it would be great if, if just keep searching like you did. But like you said, we have to sometimes. It’s because something happened that there’s no other, there’s no other answer. You’re told that you’re completely healthy and then you start looking at, Whoa, let me let try this. Lemme try this.

And it takes some, you know, some, uh, prodding, I think. Right. And I, I think there also has, so, you know, you brought up the AMA and Yes. I wish that they would also look at some of these other things. Right. They do such wonderful work. Um, that it, Yeah. And. and it, the, the change is happening slowly. Right. But also I think one of the things that we can’t not look at is the privilege behind this, right?

So I have an ability to get, um, acupuncture through my health insurance, but you know, that comes at a cost and with health or insurance. And so back when I, um, you know, was in 2010 when I made a lot less money, I like had to focus all of my resources on getting better because that’s what I chose to do.

And fortunately, you know, I was able to, I didn’t have kids. I, you know, made like always found like, Below lower rent and the safest neighborhoods I felt good in. And so there is that reality that it does come with a price tag. And I am so fortunate that I have been, that I have been able to do that. But you know, when we look at other things, That was my choice.

My choice and my decision was to funnel money to getting better. And sometimes people A, don’t have that choice, right? Or B, they choose a different path for themselves, right? Like they, they just continue going with and, and finding different ways. But I think what’s happening now is people are taking now with.

Living in the information age, and there’s so much information out there and it’s, it is hard to decide what is right for us and, and what isn’t. Right. And that’s where we kind of have to tune into our own intuition, right. And make sure we’re working with reputable, um, highly ethical, uh, people. But, um, I, I think that’s one of the things that I wanna applaud people for is they’re, they’re taking their health back and, and putting themselves in that driver’s.

And, um, working alongside, if not one than multiple different, um, practitioners. I agree. Like, and I say, you know, if you find out from a doctor that you’re totally fine, like you did, and I hear this a lot, I mean, that’s one of the reasons I started my podcast is what people were. I had in the thousands, people had come to me saying, I’ve gone to seven doctors and they’ve told me I’m totally fine, yet I still feel really awful.

And that at that point where you start looking at, you know, Why am I feeling awful? And, and there it feels like there’s no support. So people feel really lone and hopeless and yes. People have, whether they have money or not, time or not. And then the inclination, there’s a lot. Um, people that are threatened by things that aren’t near their religion, for example.

Right. That’s a big one that I deal with a lot. So, Oriental medicine in places, if that’s all they’ve had, all they’ve heard of, then you know, I just, I think it’s good to make it available for people, not only. Uh, physically, um, financially, but also that it’s just possible to try some other things that it’s gonna be okay and to encourage people to try, you know, shamanism or to try iveta, to try acupuncture, to try homeopathy and, and many other things.

I think that if you can find your team, Of how to help your body, then that’s just that, I think that’s the best road to try. So what are you noticing? Is there a pattern amongst healing sessions that you’re conducting now in your, is there a pattern in the world and in your healing life, in your, in your shaman practice?

Yes, and actually, yes. And, and actually, and that ties into what you were just talking about, uh, beautifully. . And so, you know, you and I talk, I mean you and I talked about a lot about, um, earlier being really filled in our body, right? Um, completely taking up our space, right? That’s Ruth Nation. This is on He Gut Nation , right?

Our bodies are our that. Um, and so, you know, one of the things that I’m noticing a lot and is.

And it’s also coming way more mainstream and people are learning a lot more about trauma. So when traumatic things happen, um, we respond in ways to keep ourselves safe and that develop, then we create patterns. And over time we might not have any idea and know why we X, Y, Z, whatever it is. Overeat, eat too much sugar, you know, um, lock the door over and over again, whatever, what have you.

Right? And so, so that’s what I actually work with my clients on is, you know, what are some of these patterns? Like, is it thought patterns? Um, what have you. And so really trying to get to the root of that. And a lot of times what happens is a energy needs to be cleared out. So I work with that and I’m all about rightful place and so.

You, you know, we wanna make sure of Ruth, you’re in your rightful place. I wanna make sure, you know, my clients are in the rightful place. And energies that show up with them also have a rightful place. So getting everybody to their rightful place, right? And doing it with respect, doing it with gentleness and doing it with consent.

I’m very, very big into consent. Um, right. Not this. And, and what I mean by that is we are so conditioned to a power over. Um, and when I believe that everything a is its own has its own being soul, um, and rightful place, wanting to make sure we deal with that kindly and compassionately, compassionate is the word.

And so one of the trends that I’m noticing, um, is in addition to that is we got a lot of, um, ancestral healing that needs to happen. There’s a lot. So in shamanism, they believe that everything starts, um, in the spirit. And then manifests in the physical, right. Kind of like that saying, Um, we’re not humans having a spiritual existence.

We’re, you know, spiritual beings having a very human experience. Um, that’s one of the things that I, um, am seeing a lot of is the need for ancestral healing. And there’s, you know, kind of going back to what you were talking about, people are very scared to use. Modalities that might be anti their religion.

Well, let’s back it up. Why do people think it is anti their religion? Right. Because there have, there have been, you know, campaigns over time to eradicate a lot of these natural healing practices that come from, you know, like this is like, this is ancient healing practices to help us in our moderate modern times when we need the help badly.

And so that’s actually what has been very helpful for me. I mean, I was, you know, I’m from South Austin. I was born and raised Catholic and, and what, And so when we were talking about cosmology earlier, here’s where it comes full circle, right? Within Shamanism, Catholicism, and all these other practices can exist, coexist.

I, I, I’m not so sure I can say the other way around. Right. And I have had to, um, confront that and that healing on my own terms because of my background, right? I’m Mexican American, um, third generation American. However, if you look at my ancestry, it’s basically 50% European, Spain. 50% indigenous to the Americas, specifically Mexico.

So my brother said it in a hilarious way. He’s like, Oh. So we’re like 50% conqueror, 50% conquered, and , you know, But if, if we trace things back far right. So what, What is an ancestral healing? Ancestral healing is if you go back in your line, there was a disruption at some point on some issue. And then after that, every single, you know, the next, that generation responded in a certain way.

Then they’d pass that on and then they pass it on and on and on and on. And now we’re here with a lot of stuff happening in our world. It’s not comfortable. And so what we have to do is go back and figure out like, Help that kink, that disruption get healed and resolved. And for some people that, you know, for example, let’s take a person who comes from Ancestry, 50%, indigenous, 50%, you know, Spain there that could be that some, at some point in the past, they came into a religion by force.

And literally their life was threatened if they didn’t practice that religion. So, Go forward a hundred years and that disruption might still exist within a family line. And, and, and the way you can tell if there are ancestral issues in a family line, look at the isms, racism, sexism, classism, alcoholism, like look at all of those things that last generations poverty is one of them as well.

Fascinating. Keep going, keep going. So, yeah, so, so that’s kind of, so be like, and like, let’s look at the world right now. Do we have a problem with racism? Do we have a problem with sexism? Do we have a problem with, um, alcoholism or poverty? Or debt? Like, all these ways that we numb out, we numb out because a, it’s overwhelming sometimes to live right now.

However, it can also be tied to much deeper. . Now you’re gonna have a lot of really smart people listening to this and say, No, it’s genetics. No, it’s this other thing. And you know what, Yeah. It can be all of those things together at the same time. Yeah. It’s funny because I, I, you know, my, um, academic mind and my religious mind gets, you know, defensive sometimes with this conversation.

But here’s the thing. Those ways of doing it in an academic and spiritual way, like a, in the, in the church it’s not working. , we’re getting worse as a culture. And so I think that we have to look at some other ways to ground the entire world. That’s my, you know, like for me, My podcast and all my stuff that I do, all my coaching has to do.

You have to go volunteer. If you wanna work with me, you need to go help others. And I have my Kindness Challenge in my newsletter, which. To, you know, spread kindness, one smile at a time. And the, the, the young adults that I work with, I remind them how powerful their smile is. And just a smile can change someone’s world in that moment.

And just the little things that matter, I think they, they, the little things matter a lot. And so I agree with you, like I don’t. Anymore judge how people get to a better place for them and their family and their, and their existence. How can they be kinder in the world? I don’t judge who I was told I love humans doesn’t, I don’t get to say, Okay, Oh, you’re a different, you’re not a girl.

Sorry. You don’t get my love. So you’re not, you’re not Catholic. Okay. Sorry. You don’t get, you’re not whatever I was taught you love every. It doesn’t matter if they’re human, they are. They deserve your respect and your love before you do anything else. And I’m just trying to open that up in everybody. I see the positive in everybody.

And if we can open up just a smile. Just a smile to your next human being next to you or to yourself. It can really make a huge difference. And so I’ve, I, we should have a total podcast just on, you know, I was raised Episcopalian and Catholic also, and, and I see some great things. I love the church. I love Jesus.

And I love, I love other things too. And I’ve seen, um, I don’t think it’s our place to say you can’t love or they don’t deserve love or that’s not our place. My place is to love everybody and um, I’m trying to make that, um, matter in the world for other people as well. And I think it does. And that’s the thing is like, We’re just, this conversation just isn’t had enough.

Do you know what I’m saying? On helicopter just not had enough. And I’m happy to, you know, like have it with people. I don’t mean to, um, upset or judge anybody else. It’s like, how can we spread love? Because right now, There’s, I live in a city where the suicide rate is the highest in the, in the world. Um, the, there is more human trafficking in my city than there are in many cities in the world.

And it’s gone up. It’s like, there’s like 2000, um, trafficked young people in my city. I have a small city, and that’s just, those are the, those are the two of the main things that I, that I really, um, hone in on and try to support. And. , Um, the, the another one that, that people. We don’t like to talk about is that pornography is going rampant with the younger generation where they believe that that is how you treat each other.

And there’s a lot that we don’t talk about because it’s taboo. And I’d like to start talking about more and, and just being honest and loving. We don’t know how to get out of some of these things. Let’s try something different, because a lot of things were working for the last 60 years in my st. In my state, in my city we’re last than education in the country, and it’s been the same way for 60 years.

So let’s, why don’t we look at some other options? Let’s look at some different ways of, of loving each other and spreading kindness and educating each other. So there’s another soapbox. Sorry, . No, no. And it’s so related, right? So in some of the stuff that I run into, um, you know, what, what’s really needed is, um, what, what, how, how did the neutral gaze of compassion not gonna judge you as good or bad.

Which is very hard to do, and this whole thing on, you know, loving and leading with love and wanting to love everybody. Absolutely. That is so challenging. Right. I mean that is so challenging. For example, like, you know, I was walking to the gym this morning. I passed a guy good morning. That’s what I said to him.

He like looked even further down into his phone and walked even faster to like not have to engage with me. And for a moment I was irritated and I’m like, that’s how rude. I had no idea what was going on with him. I have no, Maybe, maybe he heard me and thought he responded. I know I’ve done that before.

right? He responded in his sense. So he thought he took care of it. Maybe he really just didn’t wanna deal with anybody. I don’t know. Maybe he, you know, like didn’t have his coffee yet as people like to say. Or it could just be that he’s really uncomfortable talking to strangers, people who doesn’t know.

So I think that, you know, loving everybody and bringing in love, which I am a huge proponent of, and I absolutely agree. Um, I think part of that is also learning how to manage our own stuff and recognize that it’s not all personal, it’s not all about you. As hard as that was a learning for me, , right.

That’s one thing, but it also doesn’t, But, but so what you’re saying, and I think sometimes, or what I feel like I hear you’re saying, and I think what sometimes gets overlooked is you’re not saying, I’m just gonna love you. Very fairy with no boundaries. Absolutely not. Right. You can’t love fully and deeply.

And so compassionately without having boundaries, cuz you’ll just getting eaten up. Right? And so I think that’s another thing that I also have worked on, you know, here as utilizing my Shamanic practices. Like I don’t, I can’t make assumptions. , um, a and on what might be happening to the other person and anything showing up with them, Right.

Um, all of their stuff. But what I know I have to be able to do is make sure that I’m really connected with my helping spirits so that when something comes up and they say something that might be a triggering event for me. The deeper and more connected I am with my helping spirits, the more neutral I can look at that thing and be able to respond without projecting my own stuff.

because that’s not helpful to anybody, right? So in this world of shamanism, I’m just gonna bring it back to that for, you know, for a moment. Like, uh, in terms of the training I came through, like we spent the first year looking at our own cosmology and looking at our own stuff so that we could get clean, and we could clean up our stuff and our energy field, right?

So every time before a session, Like the hour before everything, you know, like I am cleaning, I, uh, or I’ve already cleaned by that point, but I start working on my own energy hygiene, right? Cleaning up my own stuff, right? Like really making sure I’m deeply merged and connected so that, you know, before clients ever walk in, I’ve already done a little bit of a diagnostic journey to see what I’m running into, what’s gonna be coming up.

And within the first 10 minutes of the, um, conversation of the Zoom call, sure enough, everything that my diagnostic journey was showing me and came up, gets confirmed. It’s pretty, it’s pretty much basically been 10 times outta 10. Sometimes it takes 30 minutes, but, um, but, you know, um, like by the, you know, during the session I’m like, Oh, this is what it meant.

Um, and so it’s like, yeah, like we have to like clean ourselves out or recognize where our activation and our triggering may be so that we can in turn show up as the humans we want to be. This isn’t me like lecturing people what they should do. This is me passionately talking about what I have done and also saying it’s hard.

There are a lot of people, they say things and it’s just like, makes me shutter, or I shutter because of it and I don’t want to love those people . But then I have to remember that a lot of times what’s happening when folks are speaking up and whether they’re being misogynists, you know, like racist, it’s wounding speaking.

It’s deep wounding speaking that has not been healed in their life, in their, you know, family system or in the, and, and in their family line, right? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It’s irrelevant what we, how we feel in sessions. It’s irrelevant. So like, how, That’s how I see it when I, when someone comes in and they’re, they.

Being nasty or they’re, they’re saying something that I don’t agree with. It’s irrelevant. It doesn’t matter how I feel. I, they’re here for healing and this, Yeah, these things come out and it’s, it’s hard I think, on any practitioner, um, when you have to, Uh, deflect and not respond. You know, like, uh mm-hmm.

they can say whatever they want, right? You deflect. It’s not personal. They can even attack you personally, but you deflect and you don’t respond. The only response you have is loving. And that is, that’s challenging. It takes years to practice that. And, and I think that’s in any, um, you know, modality and, um, Yeah, I’ve learned so much, uh, about Shamanism today.

And is there anything that you have for our, that you would like for our listeners to how they can find you, how they can find more about Shamanism and links, any things that you would suggest that they, they can find out more about you and about Shamanism? Yeah, I would say, um, you can go to my website and helicopter rodriguez.com.

Um, and that’s gonna be like where you can find out more about me. And I do have some snippets on there about shamanism. And I’ll, um, put in a few links, um, on resources because there’s some really good teachers out there, really great, uh, people. Um, and that’s one of the things. So right now where I’m starting is mostly offering, um, Healing sessions.

One of the areas where I do wanna get into is some more teaching. Um, but I wanna make sure that, you know, I’m ready to go there and, and have, you know, learn. Because, because teaching is its own skill. one must learn how to teach. Um, it just, you can’t just have the contents. I’ve learned that Nice little procrastination in that voice of, I’m hearing

Um, yeah, no, well, or. You know, actually, uh, what is it? I think it’s, um, you know, bad imposter syndrome, . Oh yeah. That, that, you know, that . Yep. Well, it’s been great talking to you. This has been really fun. Could we have another discussion sometime? Would you be okay with that scheduling another one? Absolutely.

Yeah. Absolutely. Okay, I appreciate that and I’d like to schedule that again. Well, I, I can’t believe it cuz it’s already pasted an hour for us and, um, It always just goes so fast. So give me, um, you know, two or three, um, ending thoughts for our listeners. I think number one, inherently we have the power to heal.

And I think what a lot of that has to do with is connecting in with our helping spirits, whatever we may call them. And even if you don’t know who they are, um, working with somebody to find out who they might be so that you might have someone to go to. Something really important for everybody to know and hear is that we’re not inherently damaged.

We are not inherently damaged goods That is. A belief that may have popped up based off of experiences, most likely related to trauma. And in order for us to shed some of those ideas and helpful, unhelpful beliefs, we have to really fully get into our power and, you know, our authentic power. And that is, you know, comes from being very grounded and very centered.

And, you know, and so that’s, you know, in shamanism it’s all about power. Like right. You know, it’s like this universal power and completely filling ourselves. And so I think those are just the two closing messages is that we are not, um, broken or damaged and we can really reclaim our healing by stepping more into our power.

And I do that through shamanism. And a lot of people can actually also benefit from. Excellent . I like that. All right, my friend on Angelica. It’s been lovely. And thanks for finally, uh, getting us together on this podcast, . Um, people can find you. I’ll have the links in the, uh, bio below, and so it’s on angelica rodriguez.com.

Correct. And you’re also on Instagram. What’s your favorite social media to. Instagram. Instagram. Got it. And so what’s it on Instagram? Let’s just in case And Angelica. D as in Diana Rodriguez. Okay. And Angelica d do, is it a dot angelica dot d or just D? Just a Angelica d Rodriguez. Beautiful. That’s on Instagram.

Okay. Yep. Thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate it. And um, I’ll see you next. Okay, thank you.

Thanks for joining us today for this interview with Shamanic practitioner on Angelica Rodriguez. All of her links to get ahold of her are in the show notes. And if you have any questions about charism, you can get ahold of her@onangelicarodriguez.com. Have a lovely day and I will see you next time. Bye.

Thank you for listening to Your Body Advocate with Ruth Cummings. We’re so glad you’ve joined us today, and truly believe you can live a pain free, passion filled life. To connect with Ruth, work with Ruth, or to grab your free ebook, go to ruth cummings.com. We’d love to hear from you. Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe so you don’t miss our next episode.

Until next time, friends, be open. Include the un included, think outside the box, and spread love and kindness. One smile at a time.