Transcript: Episode 1: How we came to BE

Alina Soto
Sep 10
17 min read

Transcript:

Teaser

Dr. Soto: If we just think about the science, we think about, you know, what's going on during a traumatic event. Uh it is really hard to bring in that higher awareness of like I need to get out and these are the specific ways that I'm going to do it and I'm going to try to heal myself. It's very difficult to do that, right? Usually we hear about that after the event, but for you, you were in it, right? I was so impressed by that. I was like, "This person's a genius. I don't think they know it. I'm going to call them today." But it was midnight.

Dr. Jeannine: And you know, I will tell you that actually that has been the one of the most profound things I've heard this year. Yeah. This is the year we met. I had to think about that--is no one's ever said that to me but when you said it it resonated. I was like yeah and I felt seen when you said it. So thank you.

[Music]

Intro

Dr. Jeannine: Today's episode, How we came to be. And today we'll be sharing with you how we met and invite you to reflect on your own beautiful or chance encounters.

Dr. Soto: All right. So for today, I'm going to start first. I'm going to be interviewing Dr. Jeannine right here. And I want to hear all about how we met from your perspective. And this will be quite a treat because it's also the first time that I'm hearing it, too. So, this will be an awesome unfolding.

So, what was it that was happening for you that week or even the day leading up to receiving my very late night email?

Dr. Jeannine: Well, uh I did not look at the time when you sent that email. Uh however, what was going on for me was I was looking to restructure a bit of my business so that I have more of an online offering. That way I can have a farther reach uh as far as the work that I do. And when I got your email, I remember the feeling I had which was there was this excitement or like butterflies um of ooh I want to know what this person is looking for. You seemed excited. I don't remember all the details of the email. I remember it was short, sweet and simple and there was an excitement factor and I was really looking forward to getting on a call with you which I think that was my response was hey let's do a Zoom call.

Dr. Soto: Yeah, that's awesome.

So, what what were you looking to restructure?

Dr. Jeannine: Well, one was uh more partnerships, working with other practitioners. That's why it was so serendipitous that your email came through because the day of our conversation um I was literally sitting down and working on marketing and trying to figure out who I could partner with to bring more of those offerings worldwide with an individual or individuals who are like-minded and have the same uh mindset and sense of purpose around helping others uh using you know natural methods. etc.

Dr. Soto: Yeah. Wow. Okay. Yeah, that does sound very synchronous like that's so beautiful that you know because I I felt that pull too, right? And that I was able to almost catch you right right as you were entering either that energy or whatever phase of life was going for you there.

But also one thing I want to hear too like personally in your life, what what was also going for you?

Dr. Jeannine: Oh, well, I was still at the tail end of a grueling two-year divorce process that had taken up a lot of my uh time and energy. And there was just this feeling of something needed to change from the norm that was happening in my life. And I could feel it. And the moment I sent set the intention, I started receiving whether it was like emails from you, phone calls from people I didn't even know, and it was all lining up. Wow. For partnerships, which was really cool. And and that all happened in a oneweek period. Wow. Wow. That's crazy. Oh, you know, the other thing actually was I hadn't finished my dissertation yet.

Dr. Soto: That's right. Yeah.

Dr. Jeannine: And I remember, oh, this was powerful actually. You were pivotal in this because I had such low self-esteem coming out of the uh the marriage that I was in that I I almost felt like, why bother? I'm not even going to finish. And I remember you so clearly saying, no, you have to finish. This is incredible work. You have to finish this. And there was something about you saying it. I was like, here was a complete stranger. You did mention that you read my book, but you to me, you were a complete stranger still. And you were the one inspiring me, trying to light a fire under my butt to keep going at a moment where I literally was okay giving up. It didn't matter to me at that point. Yeah. So, yeah. So, thank you in that way. You've really blessed my life.

Dr. Soto: I appreciate that. Yeah, I remember that. I remember specifically it was about um I think the the piece that was hard for you was that you didn't want to do it in the way you had to. Yep. Right. And that that was my offering of like what if you do in the way you want to. Right. Radical. Right. Yeah. Just do it. Be you. Right. Yeah. Uh so yeah, how beautiful. And it's fun that this has led to where we're at right now, which we will discuss a little bit later. So stay tuned. But yeah, so now it's your turn.

Dr. Jeannine: Okay. Well, I want to hear all about, you know, how we met from your perspective, like,

What was going on for you that week before you sent that email?

Dr. Soto: Yeah. So, for me, it was it was interesting because it it was a lot more of a personal angle for me. So, I was actually in a time in my life where I was trying to think of what should I do next in my healing, right? And I I had been trying a whole bunch of different things. So at that time, I think that that part of the year, I was doing a lot more self-care physically, right? So I was actually going to the spa or trying to do it like every month at least. And that day I was at the spa and I remember just being like, I'm going to relax and then I'm going to go write and I'm going to think about, you know, what do I need to do next? What what's going to help me move forward in my own journey of healing through trauma? Because I I was in the middle. Well, I kind of still was, still am, uh, of a relationship that was essentially falling apart, right? And I felt like I wanted to clean up everything that was going on for me, right? I wanted to make space for something new for me. And so, I'm at the spa and I just had this sudden idea while I was just sitting there where I was like, you know what? I'm gonna do a new workbook because that was helpful before because I was trying to think about, you know, what what has helped me in the past and I I do actually like using workbooks and like, you know, using them to write on and do journals and I'm like, I need a new one. And I think this time I specifically need one about trauma, right? And so I went I had my my supernote with me, so my Kindle. I'm like looking through books and the one of the very first ones that popped up was actually your workbook.

Jeannine: Oh, right.

Dr. Soto: So it it popped up and I was I remember sitting there thinking like what is this? This is so interesting and I was kind of deciding between two and I I decided to go for yours and then I accidentally got the book rather than the workbook. Right? And I remember thinking like as I was reading I was like when do we get to the workbook? Right. But I I'm so glad I made that mistake because I ended up I started it at the spa and I remember it just it did light a fire for me. It it lit like a heartfire like OMG. Like I I remember I think there was one part in your book that really got me excited like not only how you were talking about it, right? Because that was the first time that I felt like it there was another person talking about these life experiences similarly to how I share them or I I talk about them, right? And very specifically, I think the thing that really got me was in the book, you share a memory of when you were about 5 years old, right? and recognizing, you know, uh, the essentially the the power of falling into a a wide social narrative or a big story, right? And I had pretty much the exact same experience when I was around that age, right? So, four to five years old, I was sitting there being like, wow, you know, people are really buy into these big narratives, right? rather than essentially thinking for themselves. And when I saw that, it like shocked me. Like I had never shared something like that with somebody else before, right? So for me, I like instantly felt a connection. I was like, "Okay, I need to talk to this person." And then I went home and I'm like, "But first, I need to finish this book." And I just like devoured that book, right? Like I read the entire thing all in that one day from the day I I discovered you. And then I was like, "OMG, I need to talk to this person." like everything that was coming up I like totally resonated with. I was so impressed with your ad here process because you know it it is one thing to survive and heal after trauma but what was so impressive about you and about the book was that you were doing it while you were in it. And honestly right when I when I came to you and the first thing I said to you was that it was [ __ ] brilliant.

Jeannine: Right. Like yeah. So, it still gives me goosebumps when you say it. Yeah.

Dr. Soto: Because if if you really think about it, right, if we just think about the science, we think about, you know, what's going on during a traumatic event. Uh it it is really hard to bring in that higher awareness of like I need to get out and these are the specific ways that I'm going to do it and I'm going to try to heal myself. It's very difficult to do that, right? Usually we hear about that after the event, but for you, you were in it, right? I was so impressed by that. Like I was like, "This person's a genius. I don't think they know it. I'm going to call them today." But it was midnight.

Jeannine: And you know, and you know, I will tell you that actually that has been the one of the most profound things I've heard this year. Yeah. This is the year we met. I think about that is no one's ever said that to me, but when you said it, it resonated. I was like, "Yeah." And I felt seen when you said it. So, thank you.

Dr. Soto: Yeah. No, of course. Like I I really felt that. I'm like, I have to go meet this person so I can tell them that this work is genius, you know? I need to go to her, right? And so, since it was the middle of the night, decided to do an email at midnight instead of calling. Yeah. Instead of calling. So, I I I did refrain from that. And I remember being just really happy. I think it was just like my email was simply like, "OMG, I want to meet, right?" And I sent it without thinking. I was like, "Oh, shoot. I should have uh, you know, scheduled that for the morning. Now she's going to think I'm crazy, but I'm so glad that I got a response back from you because that that was so I was so happy that we you responded. We had our chat and then we actually got to meet in person. It was such a beautiful like just chance meeting that I I I think is going to lead to way more unfolding and and hence why we're here, right?

Dr. Jeannine: Yeah, that's true. I'm curious though. So, you were in the spa and you chose to start reading this book in the spa?

Dr. Soto: Yes.

Jeannine: That's fascinating.

Dr. Soto: Yeah, I do a lot of healing things there. And so for me, it was, you know, anything that has to do with my own growth, like at the spa, we take the time to read it or doine or do something, right? I'm I'm always about doing like a little mini course about personal growth or something like that. So, right for me, I was used to it. Like I was like, yes, let's read this on trauma because I I was in a safe space, right? like I that particular spa I really really like it and it it helps me feel safe and it helps me feel like supported and warm and I was like yeah this is a good time to you know dig in a little deep deeper because you know as we know again with with the science and sometimes people resist this a little bit it's it's when we feel the most safe it's when we feel the most happy that it's the easiest or most important to do this type of work right.

Dr. Jeannine: Well and I'm curious um so you had said you know you were there was a relationship that was dissolving and you were looking at what do you need to do. So when you were you know you I essentially manifested the right book for you apparently.

Dr. Soto: Yes, I know. I appreciate it a lot.

Dr. Jeannine: So did it help with whatever you were going through?

Dr. Soto: Yes, because...so it helped both with what I was going through but also I think professionally. So this is where the the professional piece I think comes in because up until then, so I actually did your ad here process, right? Like I I actually followed it and I did the things and I remember doing the the meditation where I meet the the inner wounded part of me right and the thing is, is that was the first time in my life so it was shocking to me because I I like you know I'm pride prideful of my really good memory right and prior to having children I had a better memory and at the time I thought I knew everything that had happened to me, right? And when I did that process, I came face to face with almost like this like blackness and I had this realization like it when I was seeing and imagining the scene, it was like tweaking out. It was almost like, you know, movie film that had burned somehow, right? And I could only see myself, but the rest of the image was just like blackness, right? And I had this realization that I was like, "OMG, there's there's something here. There's a trauma that I actually don't remember, right?" And I remember being like I had this urge to try to move it, to try to see what it was, right? But then because of your book, right, and because I'm following the adhar process, I was like, "Wait, wait, why am I doing that to two-year-old me again? I I don't need to see this, right?" which is, you know, part of what I had been learning about the trauma process in general, right? And it was validating for me. I I I got that experience of why, you know, the the memory itself isn't really important. It's the impact.

Dr. Jeannine: Yeah.

Dr. Soto: So then how can I be nurturing to 2-year-old me? I don't have to go through this, right? I I can pull myself out and I can I can do that healing for me. And that did something profound, I think, in my own work life. Like it was like suddenly I I almost had just more of an understanding of what was in front of me and how to work with people. Like I I think other people even noticed it. My own patients would say that to me like you're more comfortable now. It's like you're you're more on it, right? And I I totally was. There was something there. And it it was important for me to to see that like no matter how good I was at cataly categorizing and like being structural and all this stuff, right? There was something that was missing. But that also wasn't the important piece. The important piece was that I could let it go. Yeah. I love that you brought up the fact that two-year-old you did not have to relive the trauma that they experienced. And for those of you who are listening, just remember you do not have to relive the trauma in order to heal. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So, I I got a full-blown like actual experience of that and I'm So, yeah, I'm definitely grateful to you. I suddenly got emotional here like yeah you did manifest the right book for me. Well that was that process was definitely what what I needed right and that even you know I did that all in one day. I and now that I know you I totally believe that to be true. Yep. I just did all the thing and I was like I need to reach out to Dr. Jeannine. This this is amazing. This is magic. We gotta we got to chat. We got to do it. So I I am so glad that we are here.

Dr. Jeannine: Me too. Me too.

Dr. Soto: Yeah. So, I think now that we've shared a little bit about, you know, how we how we met, right, and what happened, I think it might be helpful not only for our listeners here, uh, but also for us to to just start unfolding and and building more things together of kind of talking a little bit about why we even came together creatively, like why did we decide to work together? So would you like to start?

Dr. Jeannine: Sure. All right. Okay. So the question is why we came together creatively. Um the thing that sticks out the most probably was how quickly I sent the or I offered the invite for you if you were ever to be in California to come visit. That's not something that um I would normally do. And so immediately I thought, okay, I'm either really naive or um I really trust this person. I really hope it's the latter. And then lo and behold, you had, you know, sent another email. Hey, it just so happens I'm going to take this time off and I'd like to come visit. And I was like, wow. Okay, cool. And so we spent, I can't remember how many days we spent together. Um it was like three or four days. And the first thing we started doing was creating together. So there was creating happening in the kitchen. There was creating happening as we were talking about like life experiences, what was presently happening, what's happened in the past. And we were in this beautiful like dance and dynamic of supporting each other in whatever way we needed, listening, seeing, observing. Um I remember playing, you know, the game of life.

Dr. Soto: The Game of Life! I was just thinking that was great.

Dr. Jeannine: Yes. our walks like it just the moment we came together we were creating together and I remember feeling like yes these are the types of relationships I want where there is a a collaboration a creation together and because we are uh in a similar field and we have the same uh I I feel we have the same beliefs around helping others it just it just has naturally evolved into well one this beautiful podcast and lots of future offerings that we've talked about that I don't think I'm going to mention just yet.

Dr. Soto: Yeah. No, and I I was having a similar experience. So like quite honestly for me from the moment I read your book and I sent an email in my head I even said it out loud to some of my friends. I was like this person who wrote this book her name is Dr. Jeannine Rashidi. I love her. She's a genius. We're gonna get married and we're gonna make a baby and that's just how it's gonna go. So when you...

Dr. Jeannine: And that baby is going to be the unfolding of joy.

Dr. Soto: Exactly. And that was the title. I think you threw that out there, right? When you signed uh because you signed my book.

Dr. Jeannine: Yeah, that's right.

Dr. Soto: You came up with that.

Dr. Jeannine: That's right.

Dr. Soto: Yep. And I I remember being like, "No, this is going to happen." because I had already decided that we were going to come together in some sort of partnership and make some sort of baby.

Dr. Jeannine: Well, you know what's ironic is if you look at the date of your email, I'm pretty sure you sent it in January. We're now here nine months later recording our first podcast, right? That is right. Look what you manifested.

Dr. Soto: Yeah. Well, I was reflecting on that earlier in the year, not not necessarily like specifically about this, but since I was little, I had always wanted to somehow have a child, right? A baby during this year because it's the year of the dragon. And I'm I was born in the year of the dragon, right? I was born in 1988. And so like 2024, I was like, "Oh, I'll be in my mid-30s. I could totally have a baby right then." Right. And it was interesting because my actual children came before, right? But then here, right, nine months later, it's yeah, that it still happened for me, right? Like that that synchronous moment of like, no, they're they're like because because for me too, what I've been looking for is also what you said, like a partnership, a partnership that feels, you know, uh, balanced, right? Reciprocal that I I bring something and so do you, right? and we're working we're working together.

And I think the other thing that I think I really needed in my life is the the piece of me that I feel like isn't as seen because of the fact that I happen to be in a in a female body, right? And I I know what I look like, right? Uh is that I I tend to be about the cre the the container. I want to create the container. I want to create the structure, right? And that's typically seen as a very masculine thing, right? It's a very male-based thing. And it was uh you know I remember when you suggested that title you know we we did talk about that about how I was the container and you were the heart and I was like someone's willing to see that in me right and that was so you know I thank you. I'm I'm very grateful for that of having that part of me be seen because I feel up until then and and again I'm kind of getting emotional here. That part of me wasn't seen mostly because of this body, right? And that's been kind of my own journey. You know, I identify as non-binary. I use they them pronouns, but I I never was ashamed of my body, right? I I do not mind being in the female form, but it it was very painful for me to not have that part of me seen due to my physicality, right? That I could not be seen.

Dr. Jeannine: That's fascinating. Yeah, it's fascinating because I don't associate um like what your body looks like or whether you know you identify as masculine or feminine. I just know that that quality of container is a masculine quality. And I felt it the moment you like we started working together. And what I didn't realize about myself was how much I need that container because I need that container. So I know where that feminine can flow and what are the boundaries of this container. And so it just it was this beautiful synergy that was happening, you know, between us. Um, and I also, you know, there was a lot of learning involved in those three or four days. Um, I'd like to bring up the fact that, you know, you told me that you use they them pronouns. I don't have um that in my life. It's mainly because of just, you know, my circle. I haven't had the opportunity to even explore that and use the pronouns. And you were so clear and direct, but you were also willing, you know, and I remember saying, "Okay, this is all new for me. We're going to be living together for three or four days, so you're going to need to correct me." And I know we're like still, you know, on that journey, but um I appreciate just how gentle you've been around, uh me working through being able to use those pronouns and practice them so that I honor you also.

Dr. Soto: Yeah. No, and I appreciate that, right? Like I also appreciate the the willingness to, you know, go into something that is unknown, right? Yeah. And be willing to learn that piece and and Yeah. Ideally, you know, this is also what we're doing here, right? Bringing our nuggets, what we're learning, so hopefully, you know, others can take what they will from it, but also learn as well.