Seeking Center: The Podcast

Your Guide to Manifesting the Life of Your Dreams - Episode 117

• Robyn Miller Brecker, Karen Loenser, Erin Rachel Doppelt • Season 2 • Episode 117

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What is your deepest desire and dream? And what is the key to limitless happiness? We’re thrilled to welcome back spiritual psychology and meditation teacher Erin Rachel Doppelt who recently released her consciously written, honest, and heartfelt book, Nothing Can Stop You: A Revolutionary Guide to Unleash Your Authentic Self.

Erin’s book is an activator. As you travel the world through her eyes, you will see what she did along the way to reclaim her power and live the life of her dreams, inspiring you to do the same. She helps you face the blocks in your way and rise to your fullest potential—even if you are your own biggest obstacle.

By offering you meditations, rituals, and frameworks on how to listen to your inner guru and respond to the still, small voice within…she is all about leading you to see the synchronicities, manifesting and true transformation.

Whether you are looking for your soulmate, overcoming negative thoughts, gaining the mindset and tools to create abundance, fulfillment, and purpose in both your personal and professional life, Erin’s way of blending Eastern ritual and Western psychology in her book will get you well on your way.

We're talking about it all, including some stories that may shock you!

MORE FROM ERIN DOPPELT

Follow Erin on:
Instagram: @erinrdoppelt
Facebook: @ErinRDoppelt 

Visit theseekingcenter.com for more from Robyn + Karen, plus mega inspo -- and the best wellness + spiritual practitioners, products and experiences on the planet!

You can also follow Seeking Center on Instagram @theseekingcenter.

Robyn: [00:00:00] I'm Robyn Miller Brecker and I'm Karen Loenser. Welcome to Seeking Center, the podcast. Join us each week as we have the conversations and we, through the spiritual and holistic clutter for you, we'll boil it down to what you need to know now, we're all about total wellness, which to us needs building a healthy life.

Karen: On a physical, mental, and spiritual level, we'll talk to the trailblazers who'll introduce you to the practices, products, and experiences that may be just what you need to hear about to transform your life. If you're listening to this, it's no accident. Think of this as your seeking center and your place to seek your center.

Robyn: And for the best wellness and spiritual practitioners, experts, products, experiences, and inspo, visit theseekingcenter. com. 

What is your deepest desire and dream? And what is the key to limitless happiness? We're thrilled to welcome back spiritual psychology and meditation teacher, Erin Rachel Doppelt 

Who recently released her consciously written, honest, and heartfelt book, [00:01:00] Nothing Can Stop You, a revolutionary guide to unleash your authentic self. Erin's book is an activator. As you travel the world through her eyes, you will see what she did along the way to reclaim her power and live the life of her dreams, inspiring you to do the same.

. She helps you face the blocks in your way and rise to your fullest potential. Even if you are your own biggest obstacle. offering you meditations, rituals, and frameworks on how to listen to your inner guru and respond to the still small voice within, she is all about leading you to transformation.

Whether you're looking for your soulmate, overcoming negative thoughts, gaining the mindset and tools to create abundance, fulfillment, and purpose in both your personal and professional life, she Erin's way of blending Eastern ritual and Western psychology in her book will get you on your way. We have so much to discuss, including some stories that may shock you.

Let's get going. Hi, Erin. 

Erin: Hi. 

Robyn: Yay. I'm 

Erin: so happy to be here. Thanks for having me. 

Karen: it's so good to see you again, and now at a [00:02:00] new stage in your life. I feel 

Erin: very new. I feel weathered, but yes, I definitely feel different than the last time we talked. 

Karen: And I feel like you've birthed two things 

Robyn: in this 

Karen: last year.

Yes, exactly. That's a lot for one person. 

Robyn: Yeah. 

Erin: People ask me which one was easier. The book was easier. 

Karen: These little people definitely come in with their own personalities I'm sure we'll hear a little bit more about that too. 

Robyn: Yeah, and I know last time we talked there were certain stories that we were waiting to discuss until now so we're going to get there in a moment.

But first, can you remind people, and for those who didn't listen to the other podcast which we will have a link to in our show notes, but about your journey so far, because it really is unlike most people, you had this knowing and you followed it. And if you could just. Touch on that on a high level and that will lead you to write this book.

Nothing can stop you. 

Erin: There's so much that happens when we get quiet and we listen to that voice within, and it is so easy to [00:03:00] continuously distract ourselves with our modern day lifestyle and not pause to really reflect. However, when I was in my early twenties, that voice was just so loud and it was so desperate for me to pay attention and turn inwards

and I'll just, share that sometimes this voice for a lot of people, what I've heard from my clients and students and people in my community, sometimes this voice sounds like anxiety. Sometimes it sounds like depression or compulsive negative thought patterns. Sometimes it's a category that we would put under mental health that is asking you to pay attention to something within.

And for me, I would just wake up. In my rundown Wrigleyville apartment at my corporate marketing job. And every morning I would wake up and this inner wisdom would say, this is not what you agreed to. this is not your purpose. This is not your legacy energy. This isn't it. And sure, you could keep doing it because the red wine at five o'clock is really nice and yeah, you have a great group of friends and you're quote unquote happy.

However, if you're going to listen to me, you're [00:04:00] going to go on a wild journey. And I call this voice, your inner guru, like your inner compass, your highest, most authentic self. And it got loud and. I trusted it deeply and completely and I allowed it to take me to Israel where I lived all over the country.

danced with shaman in the desert. I lived in many different kibbutzim and one time was helping my friend grow his papaya farm like every day was a little bit different, hanging on the beach, reading a lot of books, writing parts of this book and that ultimately led me to India where I was working in the slums of Mumbai and then I lived in many different ashrams and spiritual centers, shifted back to the states and got.

My master's in clinical psychology at Columbia, but still use that time to live nomadically. So I was in Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, across Europe, and I would teach along the way, sharing some of the active meditation practices that really helped me heal my anxiety. And these practices are so life altering.

And especially in the book, there's some practices that are really just passed down word of mouth. And these stories they're [00:05:00] woven with such goodness that help people. Really essentially walk themselves home, Coming back to source, coming back to self, coming back to this inner guru connection.

So I grew up in a way where it was heavily encouraged to go study, get a job, get married, have kids. And yes, I did the married and get kids part, but I just added in a lot of travel and definitely choosing entrepreneurship, which can. Sometimes be a more unorthodox path, but for the most part, what I speak to and what the book is about is a permission slip to honor that deep desire to honor that deep dream.

But at first requires getting quiet and listening to that inner wisdom. 

Karen: Can I just ask, you're speaking to me, girl. I just have to say, I haven't had a chance to update you, I just left my job and it has. Everything leading up to that separation is exactly what you said. It was that inner voice saying, you've got the great job, the paycheck, everything else, you should be happy and comfortable and all of those things.

I love what you just said about the book drafting out how it's a permission slip. did you know that [00:06:00] voice in your head? Could be trusted because you said you trusted it. And I think a lot of us go through that depression saying, Oh my gosh, I'm miserable, but I'm just, what's wrong with me?

Why can't I just be happy with the way I am versus listening to that voice and doing something about it. I think so many people walk around with that voice in their head all the time. And just don't know about how to make that leap, how to give themselves that permission slip. To do something else.

Erin: I love this question because there are probably multiple voices, right? We have our inner critic, which is talking shit to ourselves all day, nonstop. That is not the voice that we want to listen to. However, there is another voice that we don't access as often. And when I say the word voice, it's not like a different sounding voice that just like drops in as if you're like hearing and seeing things like a sixth sense

it's more yourself that is properly hydrated yourself. How you feel after a really good, stretchy, sweaty yoga class yourself after a good night's sleep or when you wake up in the middle of the [00:07:00] night and you have the darkness to just breathe deeply and contemplate a couple thoughts that you have been ruminating on and rumination from almost a positive standpoint, like the dreams that you've been wanting to really jump into.

So this inner voice, it does require a little bit of detoxification to access. So it may mean that we need to take a little bit of time to clean up our diet. It may mean that we need to get outside in the sunshine and get our steps in. It may mean that we need to heal some sort of relationship with our mother or ourself, or.

our partner, someone that we're feeling tension around, because that is such an important question. How do we know to trust this inner wisdom and which voice is it? Because we don't want to lean on the inner critic, which really is something that requires a lot of reprogramming the subconscious mind, requires a lot of positive I am affirmations to overcome this negative Inner dialogue that all of us have that we learned from pretty significant relationship in our life and get closer to that [00:08:00] inner guru wisdom, which is your highest self, which requires hydration, homeostasis.

a really grounded space as well. So I like to talk about the first chakra here, the muladhar chakra, which sits at the base of the tailbone safety, security, comfort, food, shelter, your basic needs that must be met. So when we are tuning in, when we are giving ourselves a moment of pause, whether we're meditating and breathing or going for a walk in nature or journaling in these moments, we want to move into those practices from a place of feeling really safe in our body, really safe in our physical room that we're in.

And then you can access that more authentic wisdom. 

Robyn: You know what it makes me think of to just this conversation and this question is making is helping people to get comfortable with the quiet and with the stillness. I think overall, We become a society where there's hardly any quiet. And I think the three of us know the importance and are very comfortable in that stillness.

And I think to [00:09:00] you in your early twenties, having that knowing is so unusual. I know I didn't have that. I really didn't. I don't think Karen did either. to really listen. I can remember now. I always talk about this. I can remember the first time I really heard that voice, which is when I saw my husband in college and I heard this voice say that boy is going to play an important part in your life.

And I thought, no, what the hell that is where did that come from? but I still remember, I'm sure there are other moments. Where I heard a voice, maybe listen to it, but I wasn't aware enough.

But I really think that most people aren't comfortable by themselves. just in silence if they're not sleeping, how do you get comfortable with it? 

Erin: And there's research on this. There's this incredible study where people said they'd rather receive an electric shock than sit with themselves for minutes in silence.

M it was 60 percent of men asked f and 30 percent of women. It is a study and it's because we're going to confront [00:10:00] i 

There is so much miracle and stillness. So I teach a lot of meditation and I teach an active meditation lineage called up level meditation. And after the sequence, which really you only need 10, 15, 18 minutes to move into it, to arrive to this place where you can move into more of a silent seated meditation.

And sure, if you're sitting down and you need to write down some thoughts that Came up or a grocery list that you just need to write it down so you can get back to your breath. Go do that. That's completely fine. Give yourself that grace. But what is going to come through in that quiet? Very few people give themselves that moment.

So something I talk about in the book is these different getaway retreats that you can take. I benefited a lot from partial silence. I talk a lot about how. to fit into this metaphorical spiritual box. There were so many things that I felt like I had to do, which was live in silence. So there were a lot of different ashrams where I was either [00:11:00] living in mostly silence, partial silence.

And I learned that partial silence from 9 p. m. to 9 a. m. or 7 p. m. to 9 a. m. was really healing. It was quiet. I could read. I connect to my thoughts. I could journal. I can move into a really powerful devotional meditation practice sadhana in the morning without talking to anyone because once you start talking to people, that conversation is coming into your conscious.

mind and then can weave into your subconscious during meditation. So partial silence is really powerful. And I talk about these different types of retreats that you can take in the book. There's also the full opportunity where you could go rent an Airbnb or go camping for one night. And during that time, just being by yourself in your own energy or somebody else who is open to also being in silence, what is going to come up for you?

It's A really profound practice. I do just want to add that I find God in conversation. So full silence doesn't even resonate with me. I find it masculine and there's nothing about it that resonates. I don't want to live my life [00:12:00] in silence, but partial silence is really beneficial and healing and transformative.

Robyn: Giving yourself that permission to be silent, test it out, just test it out for a night, see what happens. 

Karen: And it doesn't have to be a radical change either. I'm just thinking you can go for a really long walk And just be use that as maybe a test. You don't actually have to go anywhere. Just go in your backyard or go down a street and just literally be in that silence. It's my run for me every morning that I have, I just love that period of time. And that's where all the information comes to me.

I get that. Yeah. 

Robyn: And let's talk about the book and the way that you set it up because it's unique and it is so full, like I can't believe how much you've got in this book. It really is a guidebook. So how did you decide to do it that way? 

Erin: Thank you so much for asking that.

I'm so proud. I'm really proud of how it looks. I think it's really pretty. And was always going to be like this. Like even before I started writing the book, I had a list of all the stories that I [00:13:00] wanted to share and a list of the spiritual practices that guide my life and the clinical frameworks that also deeply transform my life.

These are also core themes that I educate in my programs as well. So it was something that talk about and teach on in my so often that to sit down and write it out didn't require a lot of research and pause. I could just bring it all down. So even before I started writing it, I knew I wanted it to be a personal story because that's how I love to read.

I love hearing people's personal stories. I like to know what people eat for lunch. I'm nosy like that. I think all of us are nosy like that. So I knew I wanted a personal story, and I felt like I had a lot of pretty unique personal stories woven in there. And then Eastern Ritual and Western Psychology, so a spiritual practice and then a clinical framework. And so I started writing it in that way. And my publisher pieced together a couple of different things that kind of helped generate more flow, which is why it's so nice to have a partner in this journey as well, to work with the expert at the end of the day.

But a lot of these [00:14:00] stories I've been dying to share for so long. I've been really wanting to share the teachings of these stories and , just jump to a main point in a lot of these stories is I talk about how I was on this journey. And so often we outsource our inner wisdom. We always think somebody knows better than us.

There is a professor out there or there is a shaman out there, or there's a guru that is going to help us heal the thing or get to the next level of self. And of course there are so many incredible mentors and coaches and guides and therapists that you can lean on. However, you need to work with people that first are in integrity.

And I talk about that a lot. And two, At the end of the day, if you have this deep connection to self, this loving relationship with your inner guru, with thyself, this intimacy with self, you are going to live a radically different life. So you can source from self and make informed decisions from there.

So I tried to really highlight a lot of stories that got me to that point as well. 

Karen: Erin, can you talk about what your definition of inner guru is? When I heard that term for the first time, I'm [00:15:00] thinking, Is there really an inner guru in me? 

Erin: Yeah, I love the term. It's your inner most authentic self.

And to access this inner most authentic self, your internal compass you can also think of it as like soul versus spirit. So spirit is God, a higher power as we understand it. Soul is within self. So it's like inner guru versus God. God is still there. God is still a higher power still exists.

Should you tap into it? However, it's a little bit different than your inner guru, which is your own internal compass. And I talk about the difference between both of them as well. There are times when they can overlap and maybe feel more like one, but everything I share is about connecting to your inner guru to live on what I call your highest possible timeline.

which is your most nourished, joyful, and authentic life. We are here to live our most authentic life. And we rarely pause. And that's that moment of peace and quiet and ask ourselves, am I even being authentic? Because so many of us are inner people pleasing. So many of us are the version of ourselves that we need to be depending on the [00:16:00] person that we're talking to.

So many of us are trying to be good wives, Mothers, sisters, friends, bosses, like things in that trajectory. So we end up becoming the archetype or the schema or the category of what we think we need to be. And when you integrate these practices, both the Eastern and the Western practices, it's going to anchor you back into who you authentically are.

And when you become authentic, you're going to live a different life. 

Karen: What is the, how do you define that Eastern and Western practices ? 

Robyn: We really dive into that in our first conversation, but for those who did not hear that first conversation, on a high level, 

can you define that? Eastern rituals and western psychology. 

Erin: Absolutely. And this is my niche. This is where I like to live because we all have our left and right brain and we want to appease both of them.

So when I say Eastern ritual, the chakra system, which is a Sanskrit word, which means energetic wheel. Meditations and rituals. Yoga and yogic philosophy. a That is a lot of what is infused in the book which encompasses Eastern ritual. I also talk a lot [00:17:00] about feminine embodiment practices, a little bit of tantric yoga, which a lot of people perceive tantra as sexual yoga.

when it's really just more of an awareness practice, a connection practice, all of chapter 12 is feminine embodiment. There's a lot of meditations in there that I would classify under Pranayama, which is a Sanskrit word for controlled breath work. And then Western psychology. So my background is psychology and education, positive psychology, emotional intelligence, and the frameworks within those.

And I have dedicated chapters to both of those categories. What does it actually mean to live a nourished life? What is the science behind nourishment? And I'm not talking about feeding yourself nourishment. There are so many nutritionists and health coaches and dietitians out there that can educate on the food.

I'm talking about soul nourishment, like truly that expansive nourishment with thyself. And what is the science behind that? So I talk a lot about this incredible book, beyond religion by Dr. David Elkins. And I talk about studying with some of the greatest professors in positive psychology and emotional [00:18:00] intelligence.

So that's where I like to live because I'm down to. Go the woo as much as possible. I love the woo. I know you both do as well. And sometimes what I've learned from my community, it's nice to have a little bit of the science, a little bit of the research to just support that devotion to just help you dive that much deeper to appease all of you.

So I live in that Eastern ritual, Western psychology, and everything I share with the world, we're got like my certification, which is the aligned coaching certification. which is a nine month program where you become a certified meditation teacher and spiritual psychology coach to my retreats around the world to even my business coaching programs.

It's always going to infuse that Eastern ritual Western psychology. 

Robyn: And one more term to discuss before we dive into some of the stories and some of the rituals and practices that you recommend is aligned action. Can you explain that? Cause I think for some people they don't know what that means.

Erin: Aligned action. It's such a good term. It's like the new AA. Aligned action. I love that. [00:19:00] Yeah. Take action all day, We are like nonstop taking physical action all day, every day, whatever we're doing. Taking action from alignment means that you are moving towards the deep desire, the deep dream. So aligned action also comes from this place of inner guru connection also comes from this place of authenticity.

And it means that you are in alignment. anchored in yourself. So an aligned action is filling out my water before hopping on this call with you because I know if I'm properly hydrated I'm going to feel good during this call but also after it. A moment of alignment is not looking at my phone first thing in the morning so that I could stay present with the dreams that I had or my early morning thoughts.

A moment of alignment is taking almost care of huge emphasis of taking care of your future version of self. So it's meal prepping or making a big batch of soup or doing the dishes and laundry so that I'm more prepared for the week ahead, little things like that. And then it's also bigger things.

So one of the practices I talk about in the book is to [00:20:00] time and soul time is a n of time where you are bea god or higher powers. You your soul time is a speci where you are taking phys on the thing you must do of all. So if the h is get married, b Your soul time might be 15 minutes of asking for introductions or scrolling on a dating app or asking for a setup or it could be 30 minutes of writing for myself It was 35 minutes of writing to be the highest dream that I had for myself, which is to be an author Aligned action and soul time go hand in hand and it is an absolutely life altering practice to get you closer To that deep desire and dream.

Robyn: Thank you for explaining that because I think that's going to be new for people, 

Karen: And it's a good balance explanation between going in and being quiet and taking time. That's right. That pause that you talked about earlier and then doing something that is in alignment with that and with who you are and what [00:21:00] your soul is.

Once. So I love that explanation. Thank you. 

Robyn: And now I really want to dive into some of the stories. One of them, and you had several of these, but was running into false gurus on your travels. When you began your spiritual journey. And there was one in particular that really stuck with me, which was one where you had to get out like right away.

And I think it was the evening. I was like, where is she going to go? And I'd love for you to share that what is a false guru? 

Erin: Yeah. False gurus. I need to, that's I have a whole nother book where I could add in on that. I just feel like I hear from so many people, specifically women that have very similar stories.

So I was 24 it was November 2015 and it was Diwali and I was working in the slums of Mumbai and Diwali is at the same time as Hanukkah and Christmas and it's the Hindu Festival of Lights and I got two weeks off from teaching in the slums of Mumbai. I was in a specific slum called Calwa and I decided to go to Rishikesh because I knew there was amazing [00:22:00] yoga there.

And there was this Ayurvedic ashram that I found online and I was going to do a week long Ayurveda retreat. And I was so excited to take myself on this journey and I get out there and I end up meeting this guru. And my number one strength is honesty. I'm a very honest person. I feel like my facial expressions are convey like how I'm really feeling and thinking about any given situation in my life.

I, try to be as authentic as possible. I feel like a whole, I built a whole business in authenticity. What is what you get. So I was like that also in my early twenties, I meet this guru. He said, what do you want to work on? And I had cystic acne and I had moments of anxiety and I just, I felt really lonely at times.

And I was on the other side of the world. And I said to him, I grew up in a family where we like hug and kiss a lot. Like my, I've always hugged my mom and sister. like my friends and I, we link arms and we walk around. And I haven't had that connection obviously because I'm traveling and working in India.

And I said it in a way where I was just being authentic. I was just being honest. This is my current [00:23:00] human experience. After a couple days of staying at his ashram and practicing the Ayurvedic practices and getting to know him, and in the book there is so much to share on this story and my publisher like just had a conversation with me that which details were the most important to tell the story?

So things that aren't the book I like went to. the Ganges river with the guru's brother and he was telling me how beer was the best thing for cystic acne and I was like very confused by that and oh my god yeah it was just like all these all these different things that I and I was like, maybe it's the fermentation and I was like, Oh my God, really? Like just little things like that, that I thought were really peculiar. And I didn't mention Margie in the book. There was another woman there. She just turned 60 and it was like her last time where she at the Ayurvedic ashram, they said 60 years or younger to no way that, yeah, because it was still morning and evening yoga, quite like kind of rigorous devotional sadhana.

And anyways, I'm going into like far too [00:24:00] many detail. at one point or another, this guru of the ashram had a marriage that was arranged by his parents, which is very common in India to have a match. Making marriage and apparently he married this woman and like never heard from her ever again. And he was telling me the story and basically crying.

And at that point, like I just got there. I just wanted to get to my room and. Shower, like ground, like settle in a little bit. And when he took me to my room, I was so confused. I couldn't figure out where the shower was. And there was just a big bucket. bucket baths are really common in Asia, specifically India.

Even when I was living in Mumbai, I was there like I'd very sophisticated friends and they took bucket baths. Like it was just, 

 Indian. They took bucket baths. And the way a bucket bath works is you have a big pail, a big bucket that you would maybe use for gardening.

And you have a smaller cup and you fill the big bucket with water. And then you take the cup and you pour it all over yourself. You then [00:25:00] soap up your body and you just use the. Cup to rinse it off and it's so funny because that's what I do with my daughter now like she has like her little pod in the bath and then I use a cup to rinse her off.

So essentially like that and I remember him explaining the bucket bath and just being so weird about it. And I just thought maybe it was a language barrier. I always like giving people a benefit of the doubt. I'm definitely more jaded isn't the right word, at this point.

And a couple of days go by and he essentially asked me to support me on my healing journey. And he like put his hand on my shoulder, like on my thigh, he's to support your healing journey. We should have sex together like we can have sex and it's going to help you heal and there was a moment and this is the thing that's so wild about this experience.

There was a moment where I just felt like I was in a movie. Like, how is this happening? How did I get here? What is even going on in this moment? And. I need to leave. I need to get out. I don't feel safe. I don't feel good. And [00:26:00] I just packed up my things and got out there. And there were so many things about that ashram that was just so peculiar.

There was like another employer there that his daughter asked me for money. It was just such a weird exchange in itself. that is so incredible about this whole entire story is I was in a bad situation. I trusted myself to get out. The sun was setting. I'm like a young girl walking through a Indian village, but there's so many expats there.

There's so many yoga studios. There's so many ashrams and like beautiful cafes. And the thing that's so wild is I'm walking down the street and I met two people that were literally shining. And I'm sitting still connected to them got it in a moment. I was situation. I don't know w cool, let's go eat we go eat something and I that I knew when I was li couple of months prior.

A showed me that I am alway need to lean into that su We are always supported. [00:27:00] You just have to remember and tap in. And even like where I am in my life right now with a seven month old daughter that refuses to sleep. And this. That like the chaos of just like new motherhood. We just have to remember and I just have to remember We are always being supported.

We can always lean into that energy and there's so much Wisdom in that as well, but that's that story is so Wild. Yeah, I mean you're sitting down and writing it. 

Robyn: Yeah, it really struck me the whole all of it like all that led to it and then that actual night of how you listen and I have to say I think there's a lot of very impressionable people that would have been in your situation and maybe thought, I should have sex with him.

Karen: Yeah. I was just thinking, Erin, about how you were just talking earlier about all those people, even you who are sitting in this day job suffering and saying, I should just stay. This is where I need to be. And just. And perpetuate that and don't have the inner wisdom to move forward and get out of that situation and try something new and it feels [00:28:00] like you've just always been attached to listening to that inner part of yourself and Look at what happened.

You met with people that were actually there to help you. It wasn't like you were alone. You found support. 

Robyn: Immediately to me that was and I understand it because I've had that kind of magic happen in my own life, so I know how real that can be, but it's. Like to me, that was, you're in this other country.

You just had a pretty traumatic situation. Where the hell are you going to sleep? But 

Karen: it reinforces listening that if you do follow that instinct, you will be supported and you find, that way out for yourself. So it's just such a good story to share. 

Erin: And I've met the women that had sex with the guru.

Like I've met the people that I've met a lot of people that did the thing and then think about in our Western culture, like Bernie Madoff, like think about how people just invested and gave him the money because they thought he knew better. We have all these modern day examples where we think somebody is going to take care of this.

Somebody knows [00:29:00] better. Somebody is going to make this a better investment for me. Somebody is going to help me heal. Think about people that sleep with their therapist. Like it's actually I know it happens on TV, but there's so many times where we like fall into this trap. So absolutely there needs to be moments of connecting to thyself.

And I do just want to say for anybody who's listening that definitely fell into that and got taken advantage of, it's so important. It's so human. It's so normal. Please be infinitely gentle with self. It happens often and come back home to yourself. 

Robyn: the other thing that I was going to say is for people listening, one of the other stories and one of the other stories and one of your, I would say, Manifestations came in the form of finding your what you call your highest soulmate and you were you really did take aligned action in that practice.

Can you talk about that and how you met John? 

Karen: And yeah, 

Robyn: find 

Karen: that highest soulmate. 

Erin: Yeah. So that's so highest possible soulmate. it's a different definition for every single person. For me, it was the person [00:30:00] I was going to bring children into the world with. So someone else's highest possible soulmate could just be someone they travel with somebody, they co parent with somebody, they have incredible intimacy with someone they have great ideation with.

It's going to be a different definition for every single person. But for me, I wanted my life partner, someone that I was going to be with ideally forever, someone that I was going to bring new life into the world with, and we were going to support each other and being our best selves and inspiring all others to do the same.

So that was my specific definition for highest possible soulmate. And I love that you asked that Robin, because it makes it so me want to define aligned action in another way where it's also honoring that curiosity. So John and I are both from this small town outside of Chicago and our families knew each other, but I was a year and a half older.

We never really connected. We knew one another existed, but our parents always thought that we would get along. And chapter six is our story. It really is. I sob every time I read it. It just, it really moves me. [00:31:00] There were moments where, and this is one of the greatest spiritual practice of all is to pay attention to what is occurring naturally.

So naturally my mom, before I moved to India, suggested that John and I would get along well. Naturally at Rosh Hashanah services at my synagogue, John's mom told me years later that john was single. So I was curious about that. I wanted to be with my highest possible soulmate. And of course I had this inner dialogue from my inner critic because we have like different voices within right of He's younger than you.

He's from your hometown. Like, how are you going to get along? But I also had this inner wisdom of if you're curious about it, just take a simple aligned action. And I Facebook friended him, which in 2017, that was like a very common thing to do was to Facebook friend somebody. And he ended up messaging me.

We went out. And like truly that's it, we went out, we saw each other every day, we moved in together after a couple weeks, we backpacked Asia after five or six months, and now we're married for coming up on six years and we have a seven month old. So it's such a wild [00:32:00] trip. But manifestation is completely real.

I feel like people ask me, I know both of you totally agree with law of attraction and manifestation. I've been on so many podcasts recently while promoting the book where people just really want to challenge the belief system behind manifestation. And it's such an easy thing to quote unquote defend.

It's just think about what you most desire, sit in the feeling of what you most desire. Notice how different you feel when you are connected to the feeling of what you most desire. What is this feeling state? Explain it to me in a metaphor. Notice how your energy shifts as you're explaining it. It's like you are changing your internal world, which is going to have a huge ripple effect with your outer world as well.

So manifestation is completely real. It's a deeply devotional practice. the tricky thing about manifestation is I keep trying to manifest Like you can't manifest for other people. So I keep trying to manifest my daughter, Eden, being a good sleeper. And she's pretty good. I think she's probably significantly better than most.

 And then before we hopped on, we were talking about like babies and schedules and Organization and you just have to [00:33:00] surrender into the chaos because you can't manifest for other people. However, you could treat people as if they have the thing they most desire. So I have a friend who's calling in her beloved and I treat her as if she's ready in this beautiful partnership and we'll say things like, Oh, your husband, we're going to get to go on, we'll go there on a double date with your husband when your schedule opens up, like things like that.

Robyn: I have a 

Erin: friend who is trying to become a famous actress in LA and I treat her as if she's already a famous actress. So these are ways in which you can support people in their manifestation practice as well. 

Karen: I love that little tidbit about simple aligned action. So it's follow what's right in front of you.

You don't have to map it all out. Like really follow those simple, easy, either if you're inspired to do something or like you said, if somebody gives you a simple invitation. Just go that because it's easy and you don't feel that angst of what if it doesn't work out? I think that's such a good tip erin Yay And follow the curiosity.

Robyn: Yeah, I feel like you Were receiving these whispers about John and [00:34:00] you had to catch up in some ways to that energy. Like it took a little bit of time for it to really sink in.

Maybe I should give this a chance which then you took that action of Facebook friending him. 

Erin: Absolutely. 

Robyn: And isn't it funny how what was meant to be and what you desire was like right in front of you, for years and you've had no idea, like the fact that he did live in the same town and all of that, it's just funny.

Erin: And there's two themes that come up for that, which is one, you have to trust the timing of your life. you really have to lean into and trust the timing of your life. Sometimes we get so angry that things are happening too quickly or too slowly, and both can be true. And the other theme is whatever you resist will persist.

And this is obviously a beautiful thing that I was resisting of thinking that I wouldn't connect with somebody that was younger than me or from my same hometown or had a typical corporate job or something silly like that. And it kept coming up, but then the opposite is also true. If you are resisting a really difficult [00:35:00] conversation or resisting listening to that inner wisdom, it's going to get louder.

It's going to persist. It's going to keep expanding. And even like a health crisis, if you resist taking care of your diet, if you resist moving your body, eating well, having kind thoughts, it's going to keep persisting. So it's. Definitely comes back to what we talked about in the beginning, that mindful, pause, quiet, returning back home to self.

Karen: And I think also too, we love that phrase and sometimes the universe has a bigger dream than you can even have for yourself. And I think sometimes we get so caught up in that. This is, the description of the facts of what we're looking for that we forget just to lean in to the feeling of what that's going to give us.

And then you let all of the expectations and pieces of it fall away. And you just lean into how that experience is going to make you feel. And that's when it can really manifest in the most positive way. And that's how it happened for you. 

Erin: Absolutely. For sure. 

Robyn: When you talk about the pause, One other practice that you talk a lot about throughout the book and [00:36:00] in life.

Is your mornings with meaning. Can you expand on that a little bit? 

Erin: Mornings with meaning, yes. It's just so funny because, and I sigh because it's so different than I know. I was thinking about that when I asked it. 

Robyn: I was 

Erin: like She has that anymore. Yeah, I just do it while breastfeeding or I meditate and stretch while standing in playing with her, or we do yoga together and maybe it's midday as opposed to morning, but it really is when you're on the spiritual path, you need to give yourself time to connect to yourself and God, as you understand it, the divine, as you understand it, or the self development path, like you have to give yourself this time.

So morning with meaning is 18 minutes long. It's a sacred amount of time to learn a new skill. Most viral TED talks or videos are about 18 minutes long. It's also chai in Judaism, which is life force energy. So 18 minutes is a wonderful time to just show up for yourself. And this is going to look different for every single person, but I highly recommend it being a non negotiable practice, especially as you're reading the book because [00:37:00] mornings with meaning a side effect of it is you are relaxing your nervous system.

And when you have a relaxed nervous system, you are going to absorb content in a different way. Mornings with meaning can be chopping up vegetables for a stew. It can be going for a long walk and listening to a podcast or practicing lower belly breathing while folding the laundry. It's also yoga and meditation and sitting down and doing any of the meditations in the book.

Breath of joy, box breathing chanting meditation. There's so many meditations in the book. And this practice of having a pause, where You maybe make yourself a beautiful beverage. You sit down on your yoga mat. You have your journal out. You give yourself a moment to breathe deeply and completely and like just honor how your body is feeling.

It's going to change your day because how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. We always think we're going to make some big radical action that's going to change the trajectory of our lives. Yes, that's totally possible. If you move cities, quit your job, leave a [00:38:00] relationship like anything like that.

But the radical change is also those small moments of taking aligned action day in and day out, because how you spend your days. Is what ends up becoming your life. So Mornings with Meaning is going to get you there. 

Robyn: It's so true. It really is. 

Karen: And starting your day is setting that intention, right?

You're setting the intention for the whole day that you can be grounded. That's what we all need to do. 

Robyn: It literally changes your life. And on the occasion that I can't do my normal little routine, I feel it. So to your point, it really is non negotiable for me, which means sometimes having to get up earlier or whatever it is so I can get it in because it just changes you.

And it also honors yourself. 

Karen: It does. Working moms or whatever it is that we're doing. It's easy just to jump out of bed and run to do the thing, all the things on the list. But to set that intention every morning, to give yourself that priority, it does shift you. 

Robyn: I want to talk about one other practice that I [00:39:00] love in your book, which is the rule of threes.

Can you explain that? Because it was such an aha, because actually I didn't call it that, but I've somewhat practiced that. and I didn't realize it and I was like, Oh, I love the way she puts this. So good. 

Erin: A lot of us have these moments. The rule of threes was taught to me by one of my professors at Columbia.

And it's when you get the same hit over and over again, that same idea or thought over and over again. So it's, and it sometimes is so odd. It's like the thought of a red blouse, which I guess I got that because Karen you're wearing a red blouse. So it's you have this thought of a red blouse and you're like, wow, that's such a weird random thought.

And then it goes away and then it comes back a little bit later and you have this thought of a red blouse and you're like, Oh, that is so random. And then you're like talking on the phone with somebody. And again, that thought comes up and you say to them, listen, I know this might not resonate, but I keep thinking about this red blouse.

And then the person you're talking to is Oh my God, yes, the red blouse. That's a message from my grandmother, like all of these things, or I need to go to the cleaners and pick up my red [00:40:00] blouse. Like you never know what it's going to mean, but it's when you receive a moment of intuition three times by the third time you have to listen to it because it means that some thing is trying to communicate with you, your inner wisdom.

 Or something higher. So allowing yourself to tune into that. Oh, that's good. 

Robyn: It's so good because I think that helps people become more aware, because I think everybody has had those experiences, but has never thought of it that way and or didn't pay attention to it. And sometimes that will just slip away and maybe it's not super important.

However, there are times where it's really important because it could be a doctor's name. It could be a show you should watch because when you watch that show, it resonates deeply with you for whatever reason, right? It's there are so many ways that can go. But just having the thought now, people will be paying more attention.

Karen: It could be that little beaker of light on this is your aligned action, right? If somebody keeps calling their mom or call somebody that you haven't thought about in a long time or send that email or, [00:41:00] investigate that job possibility, whatever it is.

Absolutely. Yeah. Directional lights to follow. 

Robyn: Yeah. So good. We've alluded a bit about, and you've talked about becoming a new mother to Eden. How has that changed things for you? What have you been learning from this new ish experience. 

Erin: Wow. We need six hours. Hardest thing I've ever done my whole entire life.

For sure. Cannot believe I kept saying this I'm so shocked. I'm not shocked anymore because I get, I really get it. It's like you can't prepare other women for what it's like to be in this club. You don't want to scare other women. And there's a way to speak about it where

This is a huge rite of passage, and I think we need to be talking about it in a little bit of a different way, which is something I feel Very I think it's of my agreement here. Also my agreement with god I had 40 hours of natural labor eden came out facing me as opposed to facing my tailbone.

She had a big cone head I pushed for too long like four hours. You're like not supposed to do that I was just a second away [00:42:00] from like a hospital transfer. I had four midwives in there. One of the midwives was this amazing French midwife who like literally reached in. To me and pulled Eden out.

And I was so grateful. I would have done after 40 hours, I would have done anything to get her out. But after she came into this world and this is fairly common, but I was wrecked. I was exhausted. I was out of my mind. I just ran like 20 million marathons and I really leaned on my mom. I really needed my mom in this moment.

And just like all of this, I've always been somebody that I've been flowed with sleep and. All of this is to say this rite of passage takes time to relax into and there were so many beautiful moments with john in the beginning of having Eden where we would watch like an amazing Adam Sandler drew Barrymore movie in the middle of the night because Eden didn't know if it was daytime or night so she needed to have a full 45 minute or hour long wake window at 2 a.

m. and it was just so fun and I would eat a whole meal because you're so starving when you're beginning to breastfeed. I'm always starving now. I feel like with [00:43:00] breastfeeding and there's so many of these sweet moments that I look back on now that I really cherish and now that she's seven months and by the time this episode comes out older, she's the best.

Like she's so silly and I don't understand where she learned some of these things. She like plays with her lips and she like scrunches her nose and breathes really heavily and laughs really hard and it really just shows you it's definitely past life stuff. John and I don't do that.

She doesn't watch TV. I don't know where she would have picked this up and she's this so cute personality and she has so much hair and she's just the best thing ever. It's so hard, right? So John and I decided that we weren't going to get help in the beginning. So we spend all of our time with her.

Like she's very attached to us. We're very attached to her. We emotionally regulate by all being together. And We decided that we're going to start traveling again because if we're going to just hang out with her and like both of us work when we can, we may as well do it in Costa Rica. We may as well do it on the beach.

We may as well do it in Italy while eating amazing pasta, right? So if we're going to be taking care [00:44:00] of her, we may as well just be taking care of her in exotic places around the world. So it's the best thing ever. It's the hardest thing I've ever done. I think more women need to be able to say that. And I feel like I've done hard things and you are not well postpartum and I think we should just tell women I 

Robyn: agree.

 and it's to me. I personally it was Exhaustion and physically like I hurt. I always say no one tells you how much you're gonna bleed after and how much it hurts. I was really sore and nobody prepared me for it. So I always tell people that now listen most likely will be all good and you're going to be real tired, 

Karen: and you're immediately needing to put yourself by the wayside, lean in and understand how to care for this new. Life that you have that you are responsible for and it's talk about responsible.

It's the biggest responsibility ever have. And there's always so many questions and each child is different from another. And so there's just so much uncertainty that falls readily into your arms when you're given that baby for the first time. And Erin, [00:45:00] I love the fact that you're being really honest about it.

I think that there's this tendency for people to be like, Oh, I'm so blessed and it's so wonderful. And yes, that is all true, but there also is that reality of like my life has completely changed and I am now a thousand percent focused on how to keep this human being alive and nurture it in the best possible way.

And It's a huge shift in our lives, 

Erin: Karen. Thanks so much for saying that because in the spiritual world, we use gratitude as a practice. And I think it's a practice for all of us. And it's also a way to bypass how we're actually really feeling. So of course, I'm so like, I'm so grateful for this.

amazing being in my life and we can still speak about it authentically. We could still be honest about this transition. And I think like I heard some women say, just get to 12 weeks. It's going to get so much better. And it does, you get to 12 weeks and it's so much better, but it's still really hard, but then get to six months.

It's so much better. And yeah, you get to six months, but it's still really hard. So I think we should just tell women like a year. 

Robyn: Yeah. [00:46:00] Yeah. And I would say in, and with that, let's say that year, You have. your hormones are going all over the place. And for a lot of women, they're working full time jobs that they are expected in America to go back to after three months, some people don't even get that.

But let's say the typical person gets three months and you go back and then you have to figure out how do you do that and mother, and, That I know personally was really challenging. And, everyone has a different Life in the sense of what they can and can't do.

And for a lot of people, they have to work in the reality of this of where they are. And so you end up having to really figure that out. and so you have all the other things, the not sleeping, the, am I doing this? Okay. And then you were trying to factor in like also being a good employee or an owner of a business or whatever It's challenging. 

Erin: It's a lot. Yeah, absolutely. 

Robyn: And it's also the best thing ever. But it takes time to really settle in. Yeah, you're doing an awesome job. And that's 

Karen: what we were saying. [00:47:00] Yeah, you are doing a great job. And this is giving you a totally new layer of perspective.

Oh yeah. That's of spiritual growth, of emotional growth, of physical, all of it that will only add to everything that you're doing. 

Erin: Absolutely. And 

Robyn: integrating so many of the practices that you've already established in your life. So it's figuring out how do you. How do you use them in this scenario?

Erin: I go on a lot of walks. I always come back to my breath. I try to practice belly breathing whenever I'm nursing or rocking her, like trying to get her to a place of calm. If I'm calm, she'll connect to my calm. but it's back to basics. This is not my season of having a devotional career practice or aggressively scaling my business.

Although business is still. a huge high priority. So it's the basic things of calling my mom, going on a walk, listening to enriching podcasts, reading fantasy novels. That's a big one for me. I shower every night before bed just to shift and honor the separation of day versus night. John and I have a really good routine as well, [00:48:00] because John is also an entrepreneur.

So we have extreme flexibility. So if I'm up with her at night, he takes her in the morning. He And sleep is just, it's just, it's the most important thing. And then having different movement practices. I roll out my mat and I lay her down on my mat and I do chaturangas over her. And she thinks it's the funniest thing ever.

And we do yoga together and we breathe together. And I just invite her into all my spiritual practices. And it's really beautiful. 

Robyn: And it's giving yourself grace. 

Erin: Yeah, absolutely. 

Robyn: So what else would you like people who are watching or listening to know, about becoming more of who they are?

Erin: If you are interested in becoming more of who you are, I highly recommend checking out Nothing Can Stop You, a revolutionary guide to unleash your authentic self. It is just going to be a powerful guidebook to support you on that journey in a way that is deeply accessible. You can get it. Kindle audio.

I read the audible version or any audio version. I read it. You could buy the book. It's everywhere books are sold online and there are [00:49:00] so many incredible practices out there and we just talked a lot about many of them. Pause, connect to self. Instead of picking up your phone and scrolling, instead of having that 5 p.

m glass of wine, instead of eating something that you actually don't really want to eat. Instead of gossiping or spending on something online, take a moment, connect to your breath, breathe a little bit deeper. Ask yourself what lies beneath the surface. Ask yourself, who am I at the core? Ask yourself what your morals and values and what you stand for, code of ethics are and start there.

Then meditation is a really wonderful place to go as well. If you desire to dive deeply in this practice, I invite you to apply for my certification, the aligned coaching certification, which doors are open. This is a nine month program where you become a certified meditation teacher and spiritual psychology coach.

It is absolutely life altering. This is our eighth cohort that we're about to begin. And it's an internationally recognized certification. My clients have built multiple six figure businesses they've, or they've healed themselves. They have. learned meditation in such a way where they can have [00:50:00] this life altering practice for thyself.

 And if you already are an entrepreneur, I am accepting a couple business coaching clients so you can reach out. And if you bulk order the book, you can get a one on one session with me. So that's something that we just started doing. So you can DM me on Instagram at Erin R. Doppelt, E R I N R D O P E L T.

And I can tell you more about that. Thanks so much for having me. It's so fun being with both of 

Karen: you. we always learn so much talking with you, Erin. I really do. And where this all takes you. I know that little daughter of yours is going to really open up whole new worlds for you. 

Robyn: And just thank you for sharing.

Thank you for being this fountain of wisdom and guidance. You have so much and in you and you have so much more to go, , think about how much you've experienced so far in your life and how much more you have to experience and then to share and teach. And we're so grateful to be on that journey with you.

So thank you. And this book, I actually listened to it and [00:51:00] also downloaded it on Kindle. I loved it because you were really part of many of my mornings and many of my drawings. It was as if I was talking to you, which I loved. And I was learning so much and then I had the Kindle version so that I could go back and really read some of those journal prompts and the meditation.

It's one of those things that you'll always go back to. You can always go back to this. Yes, absolutely. It's one of those you can always pick up. So thank you. And I did want to just say, for all of what Erin was talking about, you can find that at erinracheldoppelt. com. So that's E R I N R A C H E L D O P P E L T.

com. And we'll have all of these links in our show notes. So thank you. 

Erin: Thank you, Robyn. Thank you, Karen. So fun to be with you.