W/ FERNY BARCELÓ

BIO 

Ferny Barceló has been a practicing therapist in Austin, TX since 2012. She was born in Mecico city and grew up in the small border town of Laredo, TX. She was introduced to the esoteric as a young girl which birthed the deep love she has for it today. Ferny became a therapist with the intention of providing those in need with a space to connect, be fully heard, and a chance to dig into their inner landscape. She found her voice and strength in yoga in 2008, and was immediately drawn to the fluid practice of connecting breath with intention and the physical body. She created her private practice and yoga offerings to help other women struggling with anxiety, insecurity, and feelings of being lost reclaim their power and authentic selves.

"My biggest life calling, whether it be through yoga, or through meditation, or through therapy is to take what has helped me heal or grow or be happier and just like, share it with them."

"[Therapy] always kind of called on me when I was younger. It just always felt really good when people trusted me with their personal stuff."

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Allison 0:17
Hello, and welcome back to the How do you health podcast. super happy to have you here. I'm Allison and I just got a couple things to run by y'all real fast before we get started. Our guest today is ferny with six elephants wellness, and fernea super awesome. We had a great time talking with her. ferny is a psychotherapist as well as a yoga instructor here in Austin, Texas. And she's super sweet, very knowledgeable. And I don't want to really go too much into everything that we talked about, because it's great. And I think you need to just listen to the podcast. But today, I wanted to read one of our five star reviews from I I'm so sorry if I butcher this, but polana Shah pehla Nasha. I don't know it's all written as one word, but they captioned it. I love listening to this podcast and the quote beneath it says, the information and the stories are just fantastic. So thank you, Paulina Shaw, Paula and Asha. I'm so sorry for butchering your name. I have a hard last name. I understand it been there. So sorry. But anyway, thank you so much for those reviews. And guys, if you could just take a second and give us a five star review and a rating on iTunes right now that really helps us get listed on iTunes and reach more people with this information. We just want to have a good time and talk about health. And we think that podcasting is a great way to do it because you can find it so many different ways. And if you're not on iTunes, if you're listening on Soundcloud or Google Play, go ahead and give us a follow and a rating on those things. We'd really, really appreciate it and share this show or any specific episode that you think is relevant for someone in your life. Send it their way, I always tell people to just steal their phone and subscribe them to it and then they'll start seeing it. So whatever works for you, a couple advertisings real quick. This show is brought to you today by slender Ella bliss. slender Ella bliss is a basically as a natural antidepressant. They describe it as a natural vitamin and mineral blend that causes the body to create the happy hormones that a lot of us are lacking today. And I know we give it to several clients at MSW lounge and we've had some people say they didn't even need to take their antidepressant when they take Cinderella bliss so really helps. And for those of you who aren't depressed, it just makes you feel really happy. Like it's not. There's no there's no downside to taking it. If you aren't depressed, you just feel real happy and it's awesome. So, Cinderella bliss, we're also brought to you by flabs. To fitness clubs to fitness is a personal training and nutrition coaching company that specializes in 20 minute workouts you can do anywhere. We are also brought to you today by roots nutrition that is roots with a Z and they create paleo protein powders and pre workouts. And I'll tell you guys right now I'm a nutritionist. I love this stuff. Their protein powders are made with egg whites rather than dairy. So that's super awesome. And super clean ingredients. The only sweetener they use is stevia which doesn't cause any sort of blood sugar spike. So I love this stuff. Their pre workout gets me every single time it's all natural caffeine from green tea as well as a bunch of superfoods in there. They call it pre workout, but I know a lot of people that just use it for just kind of like everyday energy. Some people use it instead of coffee, things like that. So roots nutrition, you can go to their website ROTC nutrition, calm, and use the code labs to fitness at checkout, and you'll get 10% off anything you buy there. So thanks to roots for that. And the coupon code again is flabs to fitness all one word. at checkout, apply that once you filled up your cart with awesome good workout supplements and you'll get 10% off your order with the code flabs to fitness on roots nutrition, calm. Awesome. Time for the show, guys. Again, we have ferney on six elephants wellness, you can find her at six elephants wellness.com. The word six is spelled out. And yeah, she's super awesome. Go take a yoga class with her and enjoy the show on Facebook and Instagram with Bernie and Jonathan, how are you guys today? We're happy to be here at our new location. much brighter

Jon Mendoza 4:47
now. First, yes, Ferny. We're thrilled to have her

Ferny Barceló 4:52
excited guys.

Jon Mendoza 4:53
Yeah. So Bernie, tell us a little bit about yourself. I know you're a yoga teacher, but you had a lot of other stuff. So tell us tell us the other specialties Yeah, so

Ferny Barceló 5:01
I'm a yoga teacher here in Austin yoga and meditation teacher. So I do a little bit of both. And I'm also a psychotherapist in town at a practice called Austin mindfulness center. And so I've been in private practice for about five years now. And I kind of split my time to both of those things.

Jon Mendoza 5:18
Okay. So you love both of them equally. Right? I

Ferny Barceló 5:20
do. It's Yeah, I don't know, my heart lies in one or the other. But I started in therapy, and then I, and then I got into yoga, and then eventually got certified. And I'm now a teacher. So awesome.

Jon Mendoza 5:32
Well, tell us your tell us your path. Because I know everyone, like we said earlier has has a path to health and wellness. So you were a therapist first, and then you became a yoga therapist afterwards. So tell us how it all started.

Ferny Barceló 5:42
Um, well, there be always kind of called to me on when I was younger, it was always something I don't really know why I was drawn to it. I just always felt really good when people trusted me with like, their personal stuff. And even like in high school, I was always like the one that people would come to and be like, help me out with this issue, or I'm having boy problems or whatever. And I always just really like the connection that I made with people talking about their own personal stuff. I never felt it as like a burden or a way, you know, some people just kind of don't like going there with others. I always really liked it. So when it came time to choose my masters or not my Masters, sorry, my bachelor in college, I chose psychology. And then I did four years in that I loved it. I moved to Austin about in 2008. And one of the first things I did was start my master's program at St. Edward's for counseling. Yeah, so that's where my path started. Um, the more I studied mental health, the more I loved it. Yeah. And then obviously, once the end of my program came, and I started actually seeing clients for the first time and actually interacting is terrifying at first. Because you're like, Oh, crap, this person is trusting me with their problems, and I don't know what I'm doing. And that's

Jon Mendoza 6:59
what you asked for them. Yeah,

Ferny Barceló 7:00
you do. And you feel like imposter syndrome the whole time you're doing it, you still do.

Jon Mendoza 7:04
But just the first year

Ferny Barceló 7:06
No, no lie you feel you have until the day that you die. But anyway, um, I obviously just was like, Oh, I really do love this when I started experiencing what it was like for people to tell me their app share. And trust me with their actual everything, everything. I mean, the personal issues ranging from the light to the very, very dark and deep. And I've been doing it like I said, for five years now. And I think I love it more with each year. And I feel more comfortable in my position as a therapist, to be able to help people and to offer them. The tools that have helped me personally, I think that's really important for me is my biggest life calling, whether it be through yoga, or through meditation, or through therapy is to take what has helped me heal or grow or be happier and just like, like, share it with them. Yeah, that's all these different menus.

Jon Mendoza 7:57
That's kind of our venue here. We're trying to share this you mean you're gonna come in and show us or tell us something and someone's gonna listen or hear this and say, I'm gonna apply this in my everyday situation. So, you so the next chapter was the yoga Yeah, right. Okay, so how obviously they intertwine. Right, yeah, how did it go hand in hand,

Ferny Barceló 8:14
they really intertwine. Um, so I started. So the type of therapy that I was doing Austin mindfulness center, it's it's a style therapy called act a CT. And what it stands for is acceptance and Commitment Therapy. And it's based in mindfulness. So it's based on a lot of the original mindfulness. In Buddhism, a lot of the tenants of just like present moment awareness and being with your emotions. And instead of fighting, whatever comes up, like anger, or suffering or sadness, trying to accept it and be with it. And so this type of therapy that I do works with those tenants. And so when I started, I started doing yoga, probably when I first moved to Austin, which, like I mentioned was in 2008. And after, let's see, a couple of years of practicing, probably around, I got trained in 2014. So I don't know how many years that is, but I felt a big call to it. I was never an athletic person when I was growing up, as you can tell them very tiny, I've always been really tiny and just like kind of clumsy and not very athletically you know, predisposed to do anything really well, in that sense. But when I found yoga, it was the first time I was doing something physical that I really connected to, like the first time ever, and it came a little bit later in my life. I was in my mid 20s, early 20s, probably 2122 22. And it was just this like breakthrough and like, Oh, I can actually like something that's physically demanding on me. And I think like most people yoga drew me in first because of that, because it was a workout that I connected to. And then the more that I did it, and practice and studied all the different things that were underneath, just you know, the physical practice. That's when it really started to draw me in like when I learned about what meditation could do and when I learned about all of the other branches Have yoga, and, and, you know, that really pulled me in spiritually and more than anything. So once I got to that place, I was like, I want to do this, like, as a teacher or share this with people, this is amazing. And you know, it's healing me and all these different ways. So I got certified in 2014. And I pretty much been teaching ever since. So about three years. And right now I teach exclusively at wanderlust downtown. And I love it. It's a great community, not only you know, is teaching fulfilling, but you get drawn into this world of people that really care about their well being not just physically but mentally. And we have these conversations about spirituality and wellness and all these awesome things that for the most part, I hadn't found a community that I could really talk to about those things. And it was awesome when I, you know, dove into my teacher training, I was doing my teacher training with all these women that that had the same vision as me because was an all girls group, just by coincidence. I was like, oh, there are other people like me to care about this stuff. And so it was just it blossomed into meeting different people and new people that were into the same stuff that I am. And I think that that's one awesome thing about Austin's that there's so many of us here that like, give a crap about Yeah, feeling good and, and mentally, physically, spiritually that, you know, there's a bunch of people here that really, really want to work their lives around that concept of well being.

Jon Mendoza 11:26
Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, hence why we're in Westlake hills, because community like this, we may even saw a few people walking in today. And they talked about this and where they've met is either through my chiropractor, or through cryotherapy, or acupuncture, or my yoga teacher, you know. And so my yoga teacher told me about doing this. And it led me to this. And it's funny, because one of the people that came in here earlier, they talked about yoga, on a mental spiritual kind of connection. And I keep hearing this over and over again. And I actually have experienced yoga in that light, too. That's why I promote it to everyone, if you haven't started doing yoga, I know, people look at as a workout and all that is true. But it actually is a different type of connection, spiritually touches your soul, and it touches parts of your brain and your thought process that might not ever come out. And so I know, maybe that had something to do with your choosing to go that path as well. Right? Yeah,

Ferny Barceló 12:18
I think it did. Like I mentioned, the type of therapy that I was doing is mindfulness based, I was already kind of being introduced to the concepts of meditation and mindfulness and all that stuff, which obviously is a huge part of yoga. And so when I started doing yoga, and then teaching it, it was just like this beautiful combination of all of the things that I felt I was being drawn to. And what previously felt like two separate parts of my life, like, this is my career. And this is more like my passion project. Yeah. And then over the years, it's just bled into kind of the same thing. Yeah, um, you know, because both of them teach me things that I can use and the other one, right, yeah, well, I

Jon Mendoza 12:58
that's what I try to emphasize to people, especially guys. Yeah. You talked about the all female class ball there was one of the few people probably in his class that you know, was this guy's

Ferny Barceló 13:08
Yeah, doing yoga, though. It's really good.

Jon Mendoza 13:11
Well, here in Australia, it's no longer just doing it anymore. There's guys that will come in there. And they'll do not just yo strong like they'll do like hardcore and power vinyasa. And they do it every day as part of their routine. Yeah, I mean, we've had NFL players we've talked to about doing yoga for the shoulder problem, right? And the funny thing is, though, I got that point, but what I got from yoga was, there's a different type of mental feeling that you get after you get done with it, right, like, and one of the things I always emphasize is savasana for extended periods of time, because when you start focusing on that it hits on meditation, and breathing. Yeah. And you come out feeling like this euphoria, right? Like you have this do the high a yoga high, right. And I've heard so many people say that, and I've experienced it. And it's this really like cool feeling, to where you get out and you're kind of like, in a daze, but you just feel great overall, like your whole body. Yeah,

Ferny Barceló 14:02
I call it I call it like peeling away, or like cleaning the slate, like you feel you feel like you're kind of like you've been doused in something, and you've been like cleaned of all the crap that you were carrying around before you got to class. And I think what that offers us is a really good opportunity to walk into the rest of your day or your week or whatever, with the intention of like, okay, now that I feel this, like, clean slate feeling this like peeled away this, like I dropped everything and I left it on my mat. What do I now want to move forward with? So one of the things that I emphasize a lot in my classes is thinking about that. It's like, if you clean out a closet, you have all of this space, right? You have like, Oh, I have this clean shelf now and I have room for new shoes or whatever. But what eventually starts to happen if you don't change the way that you feel that closet, it gets full of crap. Right? And it's probably going to look disorganized. Yeah. So one of the things that I like to integrate in my classes is kind of that reminder of like when you're cleaning something thing which we can do every yoga class if we want to, or maybe you're dedicating a period of your life or a yoga retreat, or you're really going in with the intention of like, I want to drop this stuff away, that's no longer serving me, you really have to think about, Okay, once you do that, what are you going to put in there, though? Yeah. Like, what is that space going to be filled with? Is it going to be filled with crap again, after a few months of not being intentional? Or are you really going to focus on like, what am I going to bring in? And it can be super simple, like, if you think about, you know, I want to walk into the rest of my day, just with more patience. And so you apply that with your boss or your co workers or your kids or your partner, whatever, that that's, you know, that's one intentional thing that you've chosen to put into this now clear space. So I think really, yoga offers us the chance not only to like, wipe all that stuff away, but then ask yourself like, Okay, well, what am I going to? What am I going to do now that I can feel like I can start fresh on? Does that make sense?

Jon Mendoza 15:55
If you don't get that from lifting weights? I mean, I don't know what. I'll tell you this right. Now, you don't get that from lifting weights. As a guy who's gone into the gym, and I look forward to the gym. I am the type of guy that's like, if I'm not going to work out the week. Sure. Yeah, I'm not getting thing done. I can feel my muscles getting smaller, right? But like when you walk out of yoga, Mm hmm. Not only do you have that workout, especially at wonder less, but the idea is that you feel this different type of connection that you almost feel like, I might have just figured out some life's issues and problems in that next 60 minutes. Yeah, like this clarity comes about you. And you walk out feeling like better about yourself. You know, I mean, I, I know the physical aspect injuries get better when you're doing yoga and all that. But it's this personal challenge to have you basically say, look, you have 10,000 voices in your head right now telling you different things. Focus on this one thing for just this moment. Yeah. And it's been in the moment, right, like, I know, and you probably see this too, like, the first 10 minutes, I might still be thinking about something. I'm like, quick, quit doing it. Focus, right. What's your intention today? What is your intention today?

Ferny Barceló 17:00
why that's so important. Yeah.

Jon Mendoza 17:02
And so I will say like, Well, my intention is focus, you know, clarity, right. And so then eventually, that kind of comes over. And next he knows, like, Oh, it's already been 45 minutes. And like, where did this go? I was focusing on this I was in the moment, and then you finally get to relax. And you have this sense over you where you're like, my depression feels better today, or, you know, I'm not as anxious today, I'm able to sleep better, you know. So that's where the mental health comes in. So right.

Ferny Barceló 17:25
Yeah. And I think that it's a nice segue into that, because a lot of what I was just talking about that I, you know, mentioned in my classes about this, like, okay, we're clearing away, but we're also what do we want to put in place? If you think about the way therapy works? That's basically it, right? Everybody comes into therapy, because something's wrong, right? I'm either suffering from anxiety, I'm depressed, I'm having issues with my relationship. There's something in my life that I want to change. Right? And so, yes, that is, you know, that is that is fair. But what I also like clients to focus on is like, instead of, instead of making it about what you want to fix, and I hate that word, because it insinuates that something's broken, right? And you're not broken, you're just a human being that's going through some hard crap, right?

Jon Mendoza 18:12
I love that statement. Like,

Ferny Barceló 18:13
it's not you're not you're not broken, there's not anything wrong with you, you're having an emotional response to something that's probably, like, the emotional response that you're having is probably appropriate to what's happened. Right, right. Probably really stressed out, or something really bad happened to you or whatever. But what I like to also focus on with my clients in therapy is, let's think about what you want to replace this thing that is no longer serving you with just as much as we're focused on focusing on the thing that's not serving, right. So if you come to me, and you say, you know, I'm realizing I'm drinking too much. And I think it might be because I have really bad anxiety. So yeah, we'll focus on moving away from the habit of of drinking to, you know, quote, my emotional response. I don't feel anymore. But what do you want to do instead of that, you know, because that really is going to be what empowers you to find a different method of approaching difficult emotions, without something that is a distraction, or like throwing a blanket over it, which is what like drugs or alcohol, or whatever it is,

Jon Mendoza 19:14
can be. Even medications,

Ferny Barceló 19:16
right? Yeah, exactly. medication, working out to the point where it's a distraction, right, not working out for your own pleasure, but working on food, everything. So all of these things, everything in your life really can become a distraction from your emotions. Because the minute you say, I don't want to feel this anymore, you're gonna reach for something to just to numb that. Yeah. And so the easiest things to reach for that are available in our lives are distractions, like alcohol or drugs, or sex or whatever it can be pretty much anything. And what all of those are doing are not letting us be with our actual human experience. So it's very difficult to solve anything when you refuse to look at the problem. And distracting yourself is just consistent looking away from the problem? I use this metaphor a lot with my clients like if you were to gash your arm open, like if you were to cut it open by accident. What's the first thing you do when you get a really bad cut?

Jon Mendoza 20:10
you bleed probably.

Ferny Barceló 20:11
But what do you do like in react? You freak out, right? Because it hurts and it's bleeding. And maybe it's really bad. And maybe you can like, see you. And it's gross. Right? So the freakout is normal, right? It's a normal reaction to something bad happening to you. Yeah. So we don't we shouldn't like negate ourselves from feeling that like, Oh, my God, something bad is happening. But then what do you do? That's the that's the

Jon Mendoza 20:31
question, right? What do you do after that? You try to stop the bleeding first, right?

Ferny Barceló 20:35
So you take care of the wound, right? You look at it, and you say, Okay, how bad is this? Do I need to cover it up? Do I need to clean it out? What type of bandage Do I need to put on it? What type of medicine Do I need to use on it? If you weren't to do that? If you were to just freak out and say, I want to look at this anymore? What would happen? You know, you'd either bleed out and get infected, because it got never, it never got looked at or it would heal wrong, right? You'd get like some funky

Jon Mendoza 20:59
scar. Yeah,

Ferny Barceló 21:01
because you didn't put something on it. So really, the first thing you need to do in order to figure out like, how do I heal this is look straight at it, you have to look at the gross, messy, painful aspect of what's going on in order for you to be like, Oh, this is the type of medicine that I need for it. And with emotional stuff, it's exactly the same. Like you have to stare directly at your depression, your anxiety, your pain, your suffering, your grief, in order to say, Oh, this is what's going on. So this is what I need to heal it. Yeah. And what these distractions in our lives do is, is remove the capacity to look straight at it. That's really hard. And it's terrifying. And it's scary for a lot of people. For most of us, I don't know one person that says like, Oh, I love, you know, sitting with my grief or with my depression. But it's an essential part of the process of who we are breaking through. Yeah, and figuring out like, what do I need today? And I often say that in Shavasana. It's like, have you checked in with yourself today at all? Have you asked yourself, how am I doing? And it's, you know, we never do that. So how can we say like, this is what I need today, I need to sleep or I need some vitamins or I need to exercise or I need to eat better if you're never checking in with yourself.

Jon Mendoza 22:09
I think most people don't ever ask themselves that question, because the focus is always a family member or I need to take care. Yes, there's 10 things I need to do today. Right. So when people come in here, one of the things I love to ask them is how are you doing? You know, and it's such an open ended question. It's broken record, but like it's a floodgate? Yeah. Like, my brother's doing this, and I got it. And they won't even talk about why they came in today. It was just like, oh, since you asked me how my day is going. It's all this stuff around me. But you know, how are you feeling? Exactly. And I think even in my personal experience, I finally accept the fact it's okay to say I'm depressed. Yeah, I'm sad. I'm angry. Yeah. It's like, Well, why are you angry? You know, my wife even like, tries to get out of me like, Well, tell me why. Healing? Yeah, you do back and I don't want to talk about it. And this that distraction. Like, I just need to go off and just do something else. Like, no, you need to be okay with the fact that you're upset right now and figure out why. Absolutely. Why are you sad today?

Ferny Barceló 23:03
Well, just the fact that just just being able to sit with whatever is coming up for you, in that moment, just being able to say I'm angry is huge. It's like a huge step forward. It's a huge segue into ball.

Jon Mendoza 23:14
Why? Why are we Why are we so afraid to say that? Like,

Ferny Barceló 23:17
I think because society we are taught to kind of just put up and shut up. I honestly think that now, now our we're making a turn that I think is it makes my heart like sinks. People are accepting therapy, and yoga, meditation and wellness and all of these, like things that are really good for us as important. Right? Yeah. Whereas a couple of generate one generation ago, like our parents, yeah, all of this stuff really didn't matter what mattered it is, you know, bring home the bacon, having a roof over my kids heads, paying the bills, and just kind of trucking away until I can retire. Right?

Jon Mendoza 23:53
Yeah. All right.

Ferny Barceló 23:57
All right there. Yeah. Um, and I think that nowadays, even though you know, people give crap to millennials for being very, like, I'm gonna work on my passion project. And I don't want to do anything that makes me sad, I want to do something that makes me happy. So I'm going to go travel and I'm going to go to Peru, and I'm going to do yoga retreats. And they kind of tease us about these like Frou Frou things that we're going for. Yeah, it's a little Frou Frou but also like, it's making us really happy it's making other generations get inspired by, oh, I don't have to work in a cubicle my entire life. If that's not what resonates with me, I can have the courage to explore something different, that might not fall in line with, you know, what we're told is the right thing to do, or making a six figure income or whatever it is, but it's going to make my heart really happy. And so I think that, with all these things that we've talked about, people are way more open to it nowadays, at least people close to, you know, my age range, which is like, early 30s, like 20. I mean, the younger you get, the more they accept it now. Right? Yeah. And I think that generation My parents generation, which is already in their late 60s, they're even opening up to it like my parents 20 years ago, if I would have asked them like, are you? Would you go to a therapist and be like, I'm not crazy, what do I need to go to? And now that their daughter is one, they're really proud of me. And they asked me questions all about it all the time. And whenever they're having an issue, I'm like, hey, Mommy, dad, have you ever thought about seeing somebody? They're like, no, but now I would. Yeah. And that makes me really happy that we're turning this, this corner where people are way more acceptance of this stuff. And when people start being accepting of it, that means they're gonna start doing it. And when people start doing it, you know, hopefully, as a society, we start blossoming into a, you know, the culture that embraces all this stuff, instead of like, turns our noses up at it as like, new age or Frou Frou or, you know, whatever it is that it gets. Yeah, it is. Absolutely. And we're evolving. As much as people say the world is going down in flames nowadays. Yes, but there's all these really beautiful ways in which we're evolving, which is like we're taking care of ourselves so much more than we ever used to, through our, in our brains and our hearts spiritually, physically, that now people really, really care about that stuff. Yeah. And I think that they're just, it's just gonna keep being more of that.

Jon Mendoza 26:11
Well, you look at like social media, for example. Right? And which is a big part of it. It's a huge part of it. I mean, you have a voice now, right? Like you have a soapbox, you can get on say whatever you want, no matter how stupid it sounds, or how great it sounds. That thing, right, yeah, have a voice for it. And so if people and you know, the me, too, that's going on, right? Yeah. Right. And so everyone's saying, like, I am saying something about this now. And so you're given a platform to say it. And now things like depression and sexual abuse, and and all this is becoming more prevalent, because people are saying, Look, I'm not afraid to speak out about this, because this is something I've experienced. And if I come out and say something, and maybe it's saved someone else,

Ferny Barceló 26:49
yeah, it'll give somebody the courage to do the same thing.

Jon Mendoza 26:51
Yeah. And I think that's great. If you want to do it, if you want to knock millennials for it. So yeah, but I remember growing up, just like you said, People said, I'm not crazy, I'm not going to therapists, I don't need to go see the doctor, because I'm not sick, they're gonna find something. And it's more like, no, if you look at health and preventative wellness, then what you're saying is I'm staying on top of this issue, so it won't get out of control to where my depression doesn't turn into something to where I, I might think there's not another choice,

Ferny Barceló 27:17
right. And it's way more likely to turn into a huge issue like full blown depression, or full blown anxiety, where you're getting panic attacks on a regular basis, or whatever it is, if you're checking in regularly, if you're checking in and you're asking yourself on a daily basis, or you're doing meditation, or you're doing yoga, you're working, are you giving yourself just a moment? Yeah. And you're noticing, like, I feel a little off today. And you notice that, you know, a week, two weeks a month in or you're you're more likely to be like, should I do something about it, rather than ignoring it to the point where you can't ignore it anymore, because it's so bad. And then at that point, the way that that it needs to be healed is going to be so much more intense than if you would have caught it, you know, a couple of months before years before that people spend so much time trying to avoid looking at their wounds, like I talked about, that they literally spend years trying to like, negate the fact that they're bleeding out and they're in so much pain. And so, you know, what makes me really happy is that now that we have a generation or not that now because people have always been vocal, but now that we have social media and ways to be more vocal in a way that reaches more people, that people will not feel shame, or embarrassment, about talking about their own pain and their own suffering. And they give, you know, other people that courage to do the same thing and it becomes less isolating. And so if, you know if you knew that the person sitting next to you on the bus had also gone through the same pain that you're going through, how much more likely would you be to talk to them about it? And then just talking about it helps liberate you from it.

Jon Mendoza 28:53
Yeah, I it's funny. We just got done with a show this past. Yeah, you know, past two weekends. And one of the artists did I mean, there's many tributes Tom Petty, obviously passed away. But one of the tributes was to Chester, the lead singer from Yeah,

Ferny Barceló 29:08
I was there when Jay Z did it.

Jon Mendoza 29:10
Okay. And then a zoo did the other ones too. But it was interesting, because, I mean, he committed suicide. And so Chris Cornell Same deal. Right, you know, and and it's, it's interesting, because it was, oh, they had so much going for him and all that. It's like, Yeah, but did they really, because just because they're these famous artists doesn't mean that all their problems go away. Right. And if anything, it may be separate some and there may be

Ferny Barceló 29:33
it might intensify.

Jon Mendoza 29:34
Yeah. And then now you're saying like what's okay to speak up and say I am depressed, you know, because music connects us in a way to vocalizes what we can't say

Ferny Barceló 29:44
Right, right. And if you were to listen to some linkin park songs, you can hear his his cry. You can hear the cries for helping his pain, which I think it was beautiful that he had that outfit outlet. It's really sad that he that he couldn't have, you know, the healing that he needed to be able to move past it but Yeah, you can hear it, you know, music gave him that meant that that channel and I think that that

Jon Mendoza 30:05
that's a relief for most people and and I still have said it to this day, they can take away our internet they can take away our rights for certain things, you know even which bathroom we're supposed to go into, but they can't take away the music you listen to in your car or your headphones. Yeah, so that connection is so spiritual because it vocalizes everything that we have problems saying on our own. And and it's it's incredible. But the reason I bring it up is because I cried during the gorilla set, like twice now. Yeah, back to back. As it connected with me. It took me back nostalgically to a place 1012 years ago where I was at a different point. And you can say like, I remember where I was, and how much it meant to me. Yeah. And and that connection people were yearning for. They want to say like, Look, it's okay to cry. It's okay to be happy. I had those emotions through the grill set. It was like, up and down. like to think about if you cry, you laugh, you smile, where you get upset, and all the span of 24 hours. That's a full day. And it's a huge release.

Ferny Barceló 31:03
Yes. Why you feel that's why you feel so good after a concerts over? Oh, yeah. Because it's not only like this release of emotion, but you're sharing it. Renee brown talks about this in her new book, which I just read, it's called braving the wilderness in case anybody wants to get it, it's so good. Anyway, she makes this that point. And she references concerts, specifically, that like, as a society nowadays, we so easily isolate, because of our phones, you know, it's so easy to just not even pay attention to the person that's sitting next to you or in front of you, or not even interact with the guy that's checking out on your card, and, you know, whatever. But and she says that now more than ever, since our society is becoming so polarized, like, think of think of Democrats and Republicans like just this extreme, like you're either on this side, or you're on that side. And we all just feel so separated, that things that bring us together and community, like a huge concert, or a music festival or whatever. For some people, it's church, you know, you can find it in many avenues, that those experiences of joy in community are one of the greatest healers, and you know, a remedy to this extreme polarization that's going on in the world today. And so it's so true. Why because we're sharing in a human experience, like, I don't know, anybody that doesn't have the time of their lives, watching their favorite artists on stage. I don't know anybody that when the music is loud, and everybody's dancing, and everybody's singing, and everybody's having a great time, and the lights are bright, and you're just with your friends and people you love that you don't feel like this full joy, like this huge amount of joy there. And it's because we're, we're like you're in a group of a bunch of human beings that are feeling the exact same thing as you. And I think that we need to be reminded that we're all just way more alike than we are different. But once you get on your phone, what do you read? It's like you're either there or they're you either hate Trump or you love him, or you're either pro this or anti that or whatever. No. Um, so yeah, I agree. I think that music is a super powerful thing, more than anything, because it gives us those moments of like, community and human beings. Remember that we're all just made of the same.

Jon Mendoza 33:12
Yeah, we're all sorry. Yeah, I can tell you right now. That's one of the biggest things I love. Going to a show is seeing that energy because it's, it's again, it's electric. And you and it's everyone's just happy and they're happy to be around the person. You run into people and see, you hug people and you jump for joy. You see grown ass adults like me hopping around. Yeah, doing handstands. And it's just, it's just, it makes you feel alive. Yeah. And I think that's what we all yearn for everyday is to feel something that inspires us to get up the next day and say, go do that again. Because it's going to be worth it. And so I guess I commend you what you do think mental health is one of the things that it's a pillar as far as health goes, right? Drinking good water, good food, being flexible, right, getting good sleep. And of course, treating yourself and addressing it even if that meant saying like, I just want someone to hear that I'm going through some things I need to get off my chest. Right. And so I commend you for everything that you do and what you bring to the community of Austin and beyond that, so if someone were to find you again,

Ferny Barceló 34:09
yeah, we find you for me. So um, I have a couple places people can find me you can go on my website, which is just six elephants.org. And it's spelled out si x. You can find me on Instagram, my personal account is at ferny at x for any with a y and then my business account is at six elephants wellness. They can also find me on Facebook, which is just facebook.com slash six elephants wellness, and pretty much you know, that's where they can reach me and, you know, I my services include yoga, meditation therapy, obviously, and I'm just helping the Austin Community feel a little bit better about

Jon Mendoza 34:49
awesome Well, it's been an absolute pleasure and Bernie on here. Gosier. Don't, you know, wait, just make it happen either. Cuz you can already tell she's great. She'll definitely help you out but Thank you for coming on being our first guest here at the new lounge and come see us over here MSW lounge. Y'all. Take care

"Yoga drew me in first because of that, because it was a workout that I connected to. And then the more that I did it, and practiced and studied all the different things that were underneath the physical practice; that's when it really started to draw me in."
 
"you're not broken, there's not anything wrong with you; the emotional response that you're having is probably appropriate to what's happened."

You can find the How do you Health? Podcast on Twitter @HDYHPodcast, and use #HDYHPod to submit speaker ideas, health questions, or topics you want discussed!

You can follow Ferny on Instagram @Fernybarcelo or visit her website: www.fernybarcelo.com

SPONSORS:
MSW Lounge
Slenderella® Bliss
Flabs to Fitness, Inc.

CREDITS:
Hosts - Jonathan Mendoza, MSW Lounge
Guest - Ferny Barceló
Podcast production - Allison Wojtowecz (Flabs to Fitness, Inc. - www.flabstofitness.com), Andy Havranek
Guest coordinator - Baldo Garza
Intro song - Benjamin Banger