Simply...Woman!

On this month’s Chat with Crystal, Melody calls in.

She shares that she’s been feeling stuck and unsure of her purpose in life. Recently Melody started a group coaching session with a few clients that takes place every Saturday morning. She shares that she’s not really sure if she likes it or is on the right track.

As Crystal chats about this further with Melody, she learns that part of what Melody doesn’t like is that the session runs every Saturday morning. Crystal reminds her that we always have a choice and that one of the great things about being an entrepreneur is that you can pick your own hours and what works best for you.

The other part that Melody isn’t sure about is that she feels that her clients aren’t always “doing the work,” which can be frustrating at times. Crystal shares some tips to help Melody understand this better and not get discouraged.

As they chat deeper, Crystal learns that Melody has been a physical therapist for 30+ years, and though she’d like to move away from it, her dream is to teach women how to use their minds and bodies to create a life they love. From her work as a physical therapist and her own personal experience, she knows how emotions and thoughts affect the body. Despite living a very healthy lifestyle, being overworked and stressed manifested into Melody facing a series of health issues this past year. Because of that, she expresses that she feels like an imposter to teach about it herself.

Crystal helps Melody see that her first-hand experience is what gives her the right to be able to teach about this and that her time as a physical therapist will marry perfectly with her coaching work. As a result, Melody has some ‘aha’ moments, gains clarity, and ends the call with excitement. Yay!

To learn more about the S.W.A.T. Institute and our certifications and programs, visit: https://swatinstitute.com/,

On this month's episode, Vannessa calls in.

Vannessa has been in our world for several years, and we've watched her incredible empowerment transformation before our very eyes. From a broken home, extreme childhood abuse, and a toxic, narcissistic mother, Vannessa has spent the last five years 'doing the work' to heal and create a more healthy and happy life for her and her family.

At the beginning of the call, Vannessa shares that she feels happy for the first time in a very long time, 34 weeks pregnant with her third baby and feeling great about where she is in her life and her empowerment journey. She shares, though, that something has been bothering her in the back of her mind.

Sometimes she feels as though she picked a husband who might be narcissistic and gaslighting like her mom. Having worked with Vannessa for many years, Crystal chats with her to ask what she means and what types of things he does to make her feel that way. As they dig deeper, Crystal helps Vannessa see that her husband isn't a narcissist. However, the way he responds to things might sometimes be frustrating and triggering for her.

A lot of times in relationships, miscommunication is the root of many issues.

Crystal demonstrates more effective communication styles and ways to talk with him about the things she is frustrated with to create a more win-win situation. For example, rather than saying, "you're not doing your fair share of chores around here," instead, trying something more like this: "If you'd be able to help me with _____, that would be so helpful and amazing."

Vanessa has an 'aha' moment on the call and realizes that her communication with her husband could use a little love and tweaking. So whether you're also dealing with a communication breakdown or just want to feel more heard, respected, and appreciated, you're going to love this conversation!

Note: if you are in an abusive relationship, don't hesitate to contact https://endingviolencecanada.org/getting-help-2/ or a national resource to get the support you need + deserve. No one should ever feel abused, emotionally, mentally, verbally or physically.

On this month's episode, Heather and Marie both called in.

Crystal first chatted with Heather, who shared that her mother passed away this past April after being sick, quadriplegic, and dependent on Heather for a long time. Heather feels as though she's struggling to do everything right now — taking care of her four young sons, trying to be there for her dad and family, and meanwhile, on top of a million responsibilities, missing her mom so much. Crystal has Heather tap deeper into her grief and uncovers that deep down; she feels angry at her mom for being sick and accepting her illness — feeling as though she never actively tried to get better. And then, in turn, Heather feels guilty and angry at herself for being angry with her mom. Heather shares that she feels hurt and robbed that she will never have that true unconditional love from a female again, something she cherished with her mom. Crystal helps Heather let go of the stuff that kept her from fully grieving her mother and see that she needs to prioritize herself and self-care and ask for help more often.

After a great chat with Heather, Marie joins the line. She shares that she is feeling deeply lost and stuck. She feels as though she's spent her life taking care of everyone else. As a single mom who raised three kids on her own, now in their 20's and doing great, this past year found herself homeless due to the pandemic. Having lost her good-paying, full-time job in a surgical room, to then losing her beautiful property and home, Marie describes it like dominos falling. After living in her car for some time this past year, she was offered a job as a live-in caretaker, where she's fed and housed. From dealing with a sick and senior man to another young man with bipolar disorder living in the house, Marie feels very unhappy. She's not sure where things got so bad, but she knows her drinking is part of the problem and keeping her stuck. Crystal helps Marie see her options, put some concrete next steps in place and helps her to understand that we always have a choice. As Crystal always says, "empowerment is choice. When you think you have no choice, you disempower yourself."

During this month’s conversation on Chat with Crystal, Elka and Catherine both called in for empowerment coaching. Elka first shared how frustrated she is with her business, something she does called Emotional Release with Essential Oils. Elka also mentioned that she recently moved from Michigan to Florida and didn't know many people in her community. Crystal talked about a book she's reading called Rebellion Marketing by Mark Schaefer and how business has dramatically changed over the past hundred years, particularly in the last ten! People aren't being conned anymore by slick promotions, technology, and advertising; instead, they want to buy from real people and companies they feel connected to personally. Crystal gave Elka different ideas to help her use this approach to garnering new clients, and by the end of the short chat, Elka was telling Crystal how deeply grateful she felt for her advice. Then Catherine got some powerful coaching around a friendship that is under strain and stress. In a matter of minutes, Crystal shifted Catherine from guilt and tears to some giggles and relief. It was an excellent call that proves the power of empowerment coaching.

During Chat with Crystal, I spoke with Crystal, who shared that she is afraid that now that she’s doing this empowerment work, she will blow her life up. Crystal works too much, she has a job she doesn’t enjoy, her marriage needs an overhaul, and it’s like suddenly the veil has been lifted, and she sees how much she’s been ignoring for so long. I assured Crystal that healing is an inside job and that she doesn’t have to have heavy, intense conversations with anyone right now. By the end of the call, we came up with ways to create more joy in her life, bit by bit, step-by-step, and put a plan in place to get her marriage back on track and work towards creating a career that gives her joy.

On this month’s Chat with Crystal episode, Ellen calls in. As a student in our current Emotional Edge 2.0 course, Ellen shares that she’s feeling stuck on one of the Emotional Age Sub-Archetypes that Crystal covered this past week, called ‘the Chubby Bubby’ (also found in Crystal’s best-selling book, The Emotional Edge). Ellen feels as though her Chubby Bubby is holding her back from living her fullest life. On the other hand, she knows that part of herself is creating some stability and ‘protection’ in her life, so she’s scared to let her go. Like many women, in the back of her mind, Ellen worries that if her Chubby Bubby is no longer in control and she has her mojo back, that she may be unfaithful to her husband or question if he’s enough.

Crystal helps Ellen to dialogue with this part of herself, as well as a different Emotional Age Sub-Archetype she’s “locked away in the basement” who’s desperate for love, her Charmer. Crystal urges Ellen to do some deep journaling to let those two parts of herself dialogue and feel heard so that the real her — Ellen’s Woman Energy can take the lead.

Melanie also joins the latter half of the call. She shares that although she and her ex-boyfriend separated six months ago, she can’t seem to shake him. Melanie admits that she doesn’t even like him or his personality, but for some reason, she can’t seem to let him go or stop replaying old conversations in her mind. Crystal learns more about their shaky relationship to help Melanie understand why she might feel this attachment and let it go.

On this week’s episode, Crystal chatted with Catherine. Catherine shares that she found Crystal’s podcast just two weeks ago while recovering from one of her many surgeries since being diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago at 29. Since discovering Crystal, she’s signed up for all of the courses at The S.W.A.T. Institute, including the Empowerment Coach Certification. Catherine feels ready to use her story to help other women trust their intuition and advocate for themselves, their bodies, and their health, something she struggled with early on in her journey. At first, Catherine shares that she might be resonating in shame, as she’s feeling bad about not being there for the people in her life the way she was before. After chatting further, Crystal quickly learns that Catherine is actually resonating much higher on the Empowerment Scale, at fear — in her own words, fear that she might get sick again and that her story won’t make her confident and strong. Crystal helps Catherine to understand her fear a bit better, and the next step in her journey to empowerment -- anger, a level that can be uncomfortable for many women but is necessary to soar.

On this Chat with Crystal, Octavia from South Africa joins the call. She shares that it is easy to forgive others, the problem she has is forgiving herself. After leaving her corporate job and starting her own business that hasn’t done as well as she’d hoped for, she can’t seem to forgive herself for “failing.” Crystal helps her see that everything is happening in divine timing and that even the ‘supposed’ failure was a tremendous learning lesson about what not to do next time. Octavia expresses many “aha” moments (as she calls them) during this coaching session. Listen to Crystal take Octavia through the empowerment process, and ‘level up’ in her thinking.

On the morning of our last Chat with Crystal call, we all received the tragic news that our beloved S.W.A.T. siSTAR and graduate, Kathryn Chavez, had passed away suddenly by suicide. Crystal worked closely with Kathryn for many years, coaching her 1-on-1 on her business and helping her build her website. Kathryn was so loved within the S.W.A.T. Institute and was truly such a light to all who knew her. Apart from being an amazing coach and intuitive, she was also a phenomenal singer, having spent most of her adult life singing in Las Vegas alongside her beloved bandmate and husband, Rick, who passed away just a week before her. Crystal opens the lines for some of our grieving S.W.A.T. siSTAR’s to talk and share in a safe place during the call.

Fellow S.W.A.T. graduates, Charlene and Taryn both join the conversation.

During this call, Crystal chats with Jasmine about an old shame story that Jasmine has been carrying for over 20 years. It is a story she has not told anyone, not even her own husband. Jasmine worries that she can't be a truly empowered woman and coach doing authentic work in the world unless she comes clean with her husband and tells him about her past. Crystal helps Jasmine realize that we all have done or experienced things that we carry shame over, but that we still have the right to create a life we love – a life worthy of us. "We are not what has happened to us," Crystal explains, "we are what we do with what happened to us." Jasmine then sees that she has taken her past and turned it into gold, and you can feel the palpable shift in her energy.