Candice Wu 0:00

Hello, welcome to the Embody Podcast, this is Candice Wu. Thank you for joining me today. If you listened in last week to the episode about freedom and expansion, the terrifying gifts of spiritual and existential crisis, I will be continuing that conversation and updating you on my journey in the next podcast. But today, we will take a break from that and welcome a special guest, Holly Mihelic.

Candice Wu 0:24

Holly and I came from the same beautiful lineage of young women who opened themselves to the rigor and learning of inner motivation, persistence, responsibility, sweat, and tears, hard work, dedication, who’ve poured their hearts and souls into a team effort, that is called High School competitive cheerleading. And this particular team we were on is the team of Rochester High School and for me at least, it was one of the most amazing and profound experiences that taught me almost everything I need to know about how to move through life in a way that feels empowered.

Candice Wu 1:06

Holly and I met years after both of us graduated and in some ways, we’re both cheerleaders now to ourselves and to our clients that we are doing deep healing and growth work with. Holly is a multi-passionate, creative entrepreneur who wants to elevate the world through the power of words and connection. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and has a specialization in Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. She has completed a series of advanced coaching and leadership certifications, as well as KRI, accredited Kundalini Yoga certification and her mission is to help others master their desires through inner connection, outer clarity, and daily consistency.

Candice Wu 1:55

On top of coaching, Holly is a writer whose work has been featured on popular online publications like the Huffington Post, Thrive Global and Thought Catalog. She authors a weekly Q&A lifestyle column titled Hey Holl. Holly also regular posts, tips and inspiration on Instagram at Hey.Holl.

Candice Wu 2:16

Today we light up a conversation about Holly’s personal story of wanting to be a magazine writer, but finding her true gifts of writing about the soul and self-help and connecting with angels and using other spiritual tools even if you are a skeptic, the practice of working out your intuitive muscles, and how to have fun getting to know yourself and shift your life.

Candice Wu 2:40

This episode is brought to you today by the Soul Body Women’s Retreat in October 2018. This is a spiritual and healing retreat inspired to support connecting soul and body, the elements of earth and sky within, the feminine and masculine, and all of the opposing energies inside of us. It’s a sacred intensive of meditations, Yoga, Family Constellations work, Somatic Healing and soul work to deeply heal stuckness, beliefs, or ancestral bonds that limit you. It’s for any woman who wants to embody themselves, their freedom, and any specific personal intentions they have. For this retreat and future retreats, you can find out more information on my website at CandiceWu.com/retreats. Your support in sharing this retreat or joining the retreat helps me make more healing albums more content and creates more podcast episodes. I’m so grateful for your support.

Candice Wu 3:41

And now let’s get to the show.

Candice Wu 3:44

So today I am thrilled to have Holly Mihelic on the show today and on the Embody Podcast.

Candice Wu 3:50

Holly and I just totally clicked right from the beginning and what I noticed about Holly is that she just has this beautiful, heartfelt way of connecting with people, making them feel safe and comfortable, so that they can dig deep into their soul, but also connect that up with their life dreams and the most professional worlds in them and outside of them. And I’ve really admired Holly for the way that she can take phrases that are just so catchy, and that stick with you to help someone love themselves or help them heal, or to remember something that will support them in their life journey.

Candice Wu 4:37

So without further ado, Holly, welcome!

Holly Mihelic 4:40

Thank you for having me, Candice. I’m so honored and excited to be here.

Candice Wu 4:45

It’s fabulous to have you. How are you doing today?

Holly Mihelic 4:48

I am doing well. So, I’m in Michigan right now and we are finally experiencing spring. I feel like today was the day that spring broke through. So, I’m in a really good mood.

Candice Wu 5:05

Oh, I was so glad I know. It’s like, end of April and I’ve been hearing, as I’ve been in Bali, I’ve been hearing about the snowstorms you’ve been having. It’s crazy.

Holly Mihelic 5:16

Yeah, so I was just outside, soaking up some Prana, breathing in some fresh air, feeling the grass even though it was all wet. I was just rolling in it. And I was like, oh, I felt so connected to Mother Earth and it was amazing is how much winter is taking its toll on me. So —

Candice Wu 5:35

Yeah, it can be so hard and that first break into spring just feels like the best and so enlivening and refreshing.

Holly Mihelic 5:45

Absolutely, and I feel like the energy right now, the, you know, spring always has that energy of rebirth and it’s been really interesting to me, because I’ve noticed — like, including myself, they’re going through these really interesting and amazing transformations right now. And so I know that there is some type of energy cycling around too that kind of people are coming out of the darkness and into the light and in ways that they wouldn’t have imagined it happening. So, it’s been really cool. I’ve been seeing different themes and my coaching work lately and that’s been one of the themes going on is people going through these transitions and almost finding themselves landed on the opposite, it was not what they were imagining it to be, which in most cases has been even better than what they were imagining. So it’s cool. I love spring because of that energy, that it starts moving around within people.

Candice Wu 6:55

Yeah, I can completely relate to that in myself, as some of my life listeners have been hearing in on some of what I’ve been going through with spiritual crisis, and I shared with you a little bit. And it’s just a nice reminder when spring comes around that this rebirth is happening, there’s been so much cleansing in me. But the interesting thing is where I’m in Bali, I’m not having the same kind of seasonal shift, although some part of me seems still connected with the Detroit area and the Chicago area, the weather there, because it’s almost literally, as you said today, that you had spring break, or like, the break into spring where it got warmer and it’s been so cold, it’s almost like something in my unconscious has been lined up with that, because it’s been today that things have seemed to really shift for me. And it’s wonderful to hear that your clients are experiencing that. Can you tell us a little more about what you do and your gift and your passion in the world?

Holly Mihelic 8:00

Yes, absolutely.

Holly Mihelic 8:01

So, I am a life coach but I identify deeper with the title of guide and writer. So, I work with clients one on one, and also within groups. So, I like to say that I help people make peace with the past, find the answers in their present and gain clarity in their future. It just depends on the client and what they’re coming for, and what they’re wanting to work through whether we go into the past, present, or future.

Holly Mihelic 8:37

And I also run a signature course called Mindful Motivation, which I found years ago and that has been an amazing way just to bring together the community, right now that program is just local. And it’s so inspiring to just gather together with women in person and just sit in a circle and, you know, talk through teachings and have deeper discussions about life, and do healing meditations together. And it really is an honor that I get to do what I get to do.

Holly Mihelic 9:22

And I also write a life column called, it’s called Hey Holl. So, it’s a life advice column that I post on Instagram and that’s a passion project of mine, because I’ve always loved to write and actually becoming a coach was something I never even knew was possible. Let’s say about five years ago, I didn’t even know what a life coach was. And so today, as I am kind of in shock that this is what I do for a living. But that’s what happens when you’re just in flow, and you are open to possibilities and you find yourself somewhere you never imagined. Like, all through my teen years and in college, I definitely thought that I would be living in New York City as an editor for Cosmopolitan, or, you know, Glamour or Elle, that was all I wanted to do. And no matter how hard I tried, it never seemed that I could run that industry, like trying to connect with people, applying for internships, like it just never worked out and it was really discouraging. And now I like to joke that the universe didn’t want me to write about sex and shoes, they wanted me to write about like, the really super hard stuff. You know, nobody else wants to write about it. So I finally surrendered and took the universe’s assignment for me, and it’s perfect. It’s absolutely what I was meant to do.

Holly Mihelic 11:02

I have been writing self-help articles since I’ve been 14 and I just didn’t even know what self-help was, and so it all lined up how I needed to, it was always something my soul was meant to do. It’s just, I babbled it for a long time thinking that I wanted to fulfill this expectation and picture in my head of what success would be. And that looked like wearing, you know, Christian Louboutin in New York, in this amazing penthouse apartment, which we all know is not the case, even if you are living in New York.

Candice Wu 11:19

That is so funny, the way you describe what the universe wanted for you to not be writing about sex and shoes, but maybe something like writing about the soul and your roots, rather than your shoes. It just is fabulous, how you found yourself in this way and it reminds me of just how much humor you bring into your work and fun and lightness, it’s beautiful. Your column, Hey Holl is such fun. I’m curious, because people are just asking you fabulous questions out there and what has been a question that either has challenged you or has been the most interesting question for you?

Holly Mihelic 12:17

Oh, that’s a really good question. That’s a good question asking what question.

Holly Mihelic 12:23

The most challenging question — So, I received a question and it’s actually been the only anonymous question that I’ve gotten so far and it’s from someone who’s 19 because they put their age and it literally just said, anything to help. And when I got this question, I stared at the question, honestly, for probably a good five minutes, because it brought so much up within me. And the fact, even the age of 19, that was around my first really deep, devastating heartbreak was at 18. But I fell in love at a very early age and it was, you know, almost like the “Notebook” style love, just this deep soul connection with this person. And then, you know, the breakup drag out for almost eight years, right. Like, it was a very painful experience. And so seeing this question come up of just heartbreak, anything to help, and from anonymous 19, like, she’s so young, you know, and it just brought me back to how devastating young love is.

Holly Mihelic 13:44

And at the time, whenever I was experiencing that at 18, that was actually honestly what threw me into the world of self-help. And now I can look back and be very thankful for it. But I remember thinking to myself, just being so devastated by it and shattered by it, and I was working a waitressing job that summer was when I was in college, and the day is just felt so long, and you’re just in your mind, you know, wiping down the table.

Holly Mihelic 14:16

One day after work, I just went to Barnes and Noble and went to the self-help section, and just stared at the books and was like, I need help, you know, I’m so unhappy. Something needs to help me heal. And I saw this book that said, It’s Called a Breakup Because It’s Broken. And I still have that book, it’s on my bookshelf with all of my other millions of self-help life coaching books that I now have. And that book always stands out to me, and it’s special to me because that was the first self-help book that I’ve ever purchased.

Holly Mihelic 14:47

It’s one of those things where in hindsight, you look back at a painful event in your life. But you find so much gratitude for it as well, because it led me on the path I am today, and I was able to answer that question for this 19-year-old now, who you know, is in this deep pain. Because I went through it myself. That’s definitely was the hardest question I had. But I approached it as real as I could to honor the pain that he was going through because I often think not enough people honor heartbreak enough. I think people expect you to just get up and get out there, and get on a dating app and go to the bar. And you know, in reality, someone chose to no longer be in your life, even though they were perfectly fine and healthy and well, and they chose for you to not be in that. And sometimes I think that can be one of the things when someone makes a decision of that kind.

Holly Mihelic 15:57

Just so you know, when I was answering that column, I really tried to honor the deep pain that comes with heartbreak for this person, and hopefully, direct them and whatever I can through my wisdom and that column. I try not to do any fixes, I guess, so try this breath or try this technique. You know, it was just like pure wisdom of this is what I know now because I’ve been there and I am sending you love.

Candice Wu 16:26

Yeah, it sounds like just acknowledging what’s already, what’s here in them and what deep hurt that might be and respecting that without trying to move past it too quickly.

Holly Mihelic 16:40

Exactly, and I think that’s what so many of us need to do in our healing, this time that we’re in, and all of the media sites and all of the information that we’re exposed to in this realm of, you know, mental health and emotional healing, I feel that, you know, so many people are just like, or how do I, you know, like, what’s the pill I can pop that can make me feel better, or whatever it may be.

Holly Mihelic 17:13

I remember seeing a couple of months ago, this actually kind of really triggered me because this girl that I follow on social media changed her title to mental health hacker and I remember like staring at it and thinking, but you know, mental health can’t be hacked like this, there aren’t just three simple steps to, you know, like, this process is deep, it takes time, you have to be gentle with yourself and patient with yourself, you have to go places that are scary, you have to be in those places and visit them multiple times. And sometimes even when you think it has yelled six months later, it’s going to come up again, and it’s going to bring you to your knees again. It’s like there is no hack to this.

Candice Wu 18:01

Oh, you’re speaking my language and it’s such a relief when I hear those words too, because there is so much out there that pressures people to hack it or to go forward or to do these tricks, and then it’s done. But you know, that might work out like very momentarily. But in the end, I actually think it’s putting so much pressure on us to feel happy in a false way, in a way that just forces rather than organically transforms us and we find our pure joy because everything, all of those feelings have moved in the moment or that we’re working with them and at peace with them or continually working with them in understanding that that’s the way because so many people feel like, I’m not happy so what do I need to do? And out there, it feels like this expectation that that’s the normal way that we should be happy like that and things shouldn’t bother us, or else something is you’re not doing something right. And that’s just not true.

Holly Mihelic 19:07

Absolutely. This is so interesting, whenever this happens, and when, during this time that we’re speaking of right now, I’m trying to figure out like you know that something is off, you look around in your life, and you’re like, Okay, this isn’t exactly where I wanted to be, I’m not happy in this place. And this is where I found myself, right when I found life coaching and so it’s funny because now this is where usually when I do meet my clients like, this is the phase that they’re in and it’s, I remember, for me, I was at a job that I wasn’t happy at the — we had great cube walls, it felt like I was you know, walking in a prison every day. And even though my co-workers were great, I wasn’t passionate about the work and my commute was very long, and this is before we really had podcasts.

Holly Mihelic 20:01

So my commutes were just like dreadful, I hated country music and I was finding myself listening to country music because there was at least a story going on in the songs. Having these one hour and a half long morning and evening commute listening to country. And I just was so unhappy with where I was, it felt like everything in my life was just stuck.

Holly Mihelic 20:30

I was stuck in my relationship, I was stuck in my job, I was stuck in my home environment, just in every aspect and I started to, I realized that I needed to do something that would back into my life. And that was when I started my blog on spirituality and I didn’t know what I was doing. I had no idea. I opened up, you know, just a random blogger account and I just started writing again.

Holly Mihelic 20:57

And at the time, this was very scary for me because I had been in a previous relationship where the person essentially called me out for my writing and I realized now looking back at it, they just want to just strip my power away. But they had told me that my writing was embarrassing, and I shouldn’t post it and you know, everyone thought I was silly for what I did. And that really hit me deep and I stopped posting my work, I stopped publishing my work and I went through a period of almost five years where I had completely stopped writing the content that I loved. And I was simply writing news articles and press releases and anything I had to for work, but I didn’t write anything for myself.

Holly Mihelic 21:45

So starting up the spiritual blog was a huge step for me and it was terrifying. I was terrified to post beliefs that were, you know, projected on me. I wound up walking through the doors of a local business called Soul Space, and really, I was walking through because I wanted, I felt like I was on a writing assignment. I wanted to learn more spiritual tools and so I signed up for the Soul Coaching certification, really honestly just thinking that I wanted to essentially steal their content. Like, I never planned on becoming a life coach and the founder of Soul Coaching and I are very close to this day and we still work together and we coach together. And we like crack up about this because I’m like, I really went into this course just wanting to steal all of your stuff.

Candice Wu 22:37

Oh my gosh, that’s hilarious.

Holly Mihelic 22:39

Yeah, it’s so funny. And so, and then through the process, I started coaching, and it was challenging and it was terrifying at the same time, like sitting down across from someone and just looking into their soul and working with that energy and I was doing this at the age of 24. And so, so much of me did not feel qualified to be doing and I fell in love with coaching, and I just stumbled upon it. You know, but I was so unhappy in that day to day, mundane, you know, going through the motions on autopilot and I knew I couldn’t keep living in that way. And so I, you know, I picked up the one thing that I knew that I loved, which was writing. And so when clients walk through my door, and they’re in this mundane slog, you can say, I, the first thing I asked them is, I was like, what is one thing you have always love to do? What do you love to do that you’re not doing? And then I’ll say follow that, like, that is going to lead you where you need to go. Because all of our souls have different paths, all of our missions are different, all of our purposes are different. And you know, I can help guide you. But these are your answers to find, this is your path to explore and discover.

Holly Mihelic 24:01

It’s so funny, because sometimes I remember being in this space as well. But people will say I don’t even know anymore. Like, I don’t even know what I actually like, I just know what I’ve been either told to like, or write to like, what I should like, but what do I really like?

Holly Mihelic 24:21

And so that’s always kind of the first phase that we go through of actually asking yourself, what do I seriously like to do if when nobody is watching, and when I’m completely alone? What have I always love to do and that’s a great time to go back and visit your inner child and think about when you were little, things that you just love to do, the little quirks, your little interests, like, what did you love to read about? What movies did you like to watch? And to just start following that passion and following that part of you that has been with you, you know, your entire life, your soul and following that calling.

Candice Wu 25:00

That’s beautiful and I think, when you were talking about that, I was just thinking about how we are so in some ways afraid to like what we like and afraid to want what we want, and to love what we love, just so freely. And we’ve given up a lot of that for what we think we should do or what we have been told, as you said to do. I’m wondering, now what feeds your soul and what makes you feel alive in yourself today?

Candice Wu 25:29

For me, it changes all the time. So I have to almost ask myself every week or every day even right now for me, it’s ballet. I just love getting my shoes on, getting my tights on even if it’s just for myself in the corner of my bedroom. It’s just like a little splodge of space. And six months ago, it was something else. How about for you?

Holly Mihelic 25:54

Well, there have been a few things feeding my soul lately. One of them is very simple, but flowers for the past couple of months and I don’t know if it’s because I’ve just been in winter blues craving nature, I’m someone who needs to be outside. But I have been very drawn to flowers and I’ll buy them for myself, and I’ll put them in my office and they simply make me happy. And I realized that I really love flowers. And it’s funny because I think a part of me, the part of me that is non-receiving, and that is you know, conforming to what I believe others would want of me.

Holly Mihelic 26:45

So for instance, I remember I heard a girl say one time, I think flowers are silly, because they just die, and a girl who expects her boyfriend to get her flowers, it’s just silly, flowers just die, it’s a waste of money. And I remember hearing that and like immediately, almost taking on that belief like, I started to feel that it was high maintenance or silly or ridiculous to want flowers or you know, want to receive flowers from a guy or even just want flowers myself. And it’s so funny when just someone else’s opinion can suddenly just grip on to you and create this false belief within you. And I’ve I held that for years, then the guys that I date, I would then say that same thing. But then I found myself always like my soul secretly, you know, when they would show up without flowers, I would be like, Oh, I wish they had flowers. And it’s like, well, why are they going to have flowers because you told them you don’t like them. Trying to be the cool girl, right? Like the cool girl that is going to say, I don’t want flowers, because that’s what you think the guy wants you to say.

Holly Mihelic 27:55

So anyway, the past couple of months, I’ve really just taken that, you know, that on of just loving flower, enjoying to receive them and just being happy when I buy them and put them in the vase and set them in my office. And then I have this beautiful treat for myself for the next week and a half. So that’s really feeding my soul.

Holly Mihelic 28:19

Another thing that has really been feeding my soul lately has been just really working with divine energy and like communicating with it. So in working with my angels, talking with my angels, feeling their flow, asking them for help and I tell people this all the time who are interested in it, I’m like, when you are working with angels and divine energy, they can’t intervene unless you ask because of your gift of free will.

Holly Mihelic 28:54

You know, here on Earth, we have the privilege of free will and energies are not going to intervene unless you ask them to. So a lot of times people will be like I really not working and I’m like, well have you asked and they’re like, Well, no. And I’m like, well, you got to ask.

Holly Mihelic 29:11

So lately I’ve been really experiencing the flow of the universe in just so many ways that are just remarkable and it’s almost inexplicable when you’re in this flow. And I, every single morning I intentionally put myself in the flow, I will either do a meditation, or I’ll burn sage, or I, well I’m excited and I’m about to start doing this, but just get outside with the wind and the earth, and I live by a pond, so go connect with the water element.

Holly Mihelic 29:47

But for example today, I was handling and working with the energy of Archangel Gabriel today, because we have this podcast tonight and Archangel Gabriel is the Archangel of creativity and communication and media. And so, I was just calling upon him throughout the day and as I was setting up tonight for us to connect, I did an angel prayer, just asking for whatever angel to come forward of their energy needed today and then I set the card by, I was going to set the card by my microphone as I was doing this podcast. And sure enough, connected into the cards, pulled one card, and it was Archangel Gabriel.

Candice Wu 30:31

No.

Holly Mihelic 30:31

Not kidding.

Holly Mihelic 30:34

You can’t make this stuff up. You cannot make it up.

Candice Wu 30:38

You cannot.

Holly Mihelic 30:39

And I just stared at it. I know and I just, I was so happy. I was so validated and I just was like this is for y’all. But the funny thing is when you get skeptics around any of this, I just told them I’m like, you have to just experience it, like I can’t convince you in any way, just try it because you are going to experience a miracle, you really will, like, it will happen. Like, if you believe in it and attempt to experience it, you will. And it was just so funny. Because this card that I pulled today, it just once again. And this assurance, that you are supported. We are here, what do you need, we’re here to help you, just ask. And it’s so powerful.

Holly Mihelic 31:27

So I use my cards a lot as — I like to tell people, I use my cards as a way of communication to support the communication with divine energy. So, I like to use the metaphor, just like right now how we’re connecting, we need the mode of Skype for us to be able to talk together right now. And so I say there are different tools, such as card decks, such as numerology, such as asking for a sign, such as, you know, various crystal work, and there are so many tools, but those are kind of like spiritual cell phones, right? Like, you need that mode of communication to be able to work with this energy. But if you have the phone and you can make the call, that’s why I love working with cards so much is because they just continuously provide the messaging that, not that I necessarily always that I definitely always need.

Candice Wu 32:25

That’s so powerful. I think about people who are interested in this, but don’t know how to access it, or are afraid to or just feel like I don’t have enough information. And I’m wondering from you, even if you don’t know who you’re talking to like which angels you’re talking to, or what the angels mean, each one of them or what they bring, or what a crystal can enliven in you. Does that matter? What is your thought with that or how do you work with that?

Holly Mihelic 32:54

It doesn’t matter. I’m like, be open, but also, you know, if you’re interested in it, like, give yourself permission to dive into it, to practice non-judgment around it, because it’s supposed to be fun. It’s really fun and beautiful, light-driven work to that response. So, if you just begin the communication, so I remember for me when I was first starting out, praying to God again, because, for a long time, I had stopped praying altogether. So I started whenever I was driving on those long commutes to my job, rather than listening to the awful country songs that I did not enjoy, I would just start praying. And that looked like just talking out loud. Because I was like, I want to make sure you can hear me. So I’m going to talk out loud right now. Because I want to make sure that this is — And I just started talking and it made me feel better even though at the same time I kind of felt like a psychopath. I was like, it’s fine. Because I started seeing, synchronicity started becoming a normal thing and I couldn’t explain it. And so I was like, this is doing something.

Holly Mihelic 34:14

I remember this moment, it was just so funny to me, but I was praying out loud and I was just, you know, talking to God and the universe and the angel, and I remember at the end of my prayer, I actually reached over and I tried to press the end button on the sink in my car, I had felt like I was on the phone and I was trying to hang up. And I just started cracking up and I was like, I just was on a phone call to God, it’s fine. And that’s really all you have to do, like if it — yeah, if it takes, you know, pretending you’re on a phone call with an angel-like they’re receiving it, they’re totally on the other end, like, all the time like, for a while I started getting into this where I was like, Okay, my prayers are literally taking a half-hour now because I’m like, okay, got to cover my mom, got to cover my Nana and Papa, got to check off all this list. Okay, now we’re going to talk about this and I was like, Oh my gosh, this is becoming so time-consuming.

Holly Mihelic 35:13

And so, what I started doing is, just as things would visit me, I would almost imagine doing like a little prayer tweet, like, obviously, I wouldn’t literally tweet the prayer. But okay, 140 characters or less like, please bless my best friend, as she’s pregnant with her baby, love her, shout out to her, like #health. And then like, as people would visit my mind, or through my day, or something would come up on Facebook, that would make me think of someone, I would just start sending out these little like, zaps of prayers for them. And that was how I started praying.

Holly Mihelic 35:51

And now I do a new thing, where, after my meditation, I’m still on my cushion and I’m in a very, like, deep place, and I literally just hold visualizations of the people in my life looking happy and fulfilled and healthy. And I hold, like, just a quick visualization for all these people, I hold visualizations for our planet, for our world, for peace and that has been a new form of prayer. For me, that’s been really fun as well, because I feel like it’s helping me get out of my head and into my heart, and to hold this energy for the people that I love, the events that are going on in our world.

Holly Mihelic 36:31

With that being said, I encourage anyone, if you have an interest in, you know, any type of metaphysical work to dive in, because it’s such fun and it will change your life. And it literally, it’s called light work but it really will make your life lighter, you’ll feel lighter, you’ll feel happier, you’ll feel surprised when these incredible things happen to you that you can’t even begin to explain. And it says —

Candice Wu 37:01

It’s a beautiful work. Thank you for describing it that way that’s so simple and clear, the way you share it in your own experience, it just makes it so enriching.

Candice Wu 37:11

So just going back to the question about Hey Holl, and what was the most challenging question you got, and you said, the question you got was heartbreak, anything to help, and as soon as you shared that with me, I felt this wave of sadness and grief. And I know that for me, I tend to feel with my clients and I have to sort out what’s mine and what’s theirs. As you were describing earlier, your experience being 18 and that being, that bringing that up for you. And the interesting thought I had when you first brought up that question of this 19-year-old was, wow, there’s like no information really, other than this giant, glaring topic, which is big, heartbreak. And it’s not specific at all but it’s so universal. And then I’m sitting here feeling this wave of energy and I know that you work with Clairsentience and Clairvoyance and Clairaudience and the clear abilities, and I’m wondering how you navigate that, and I guess I have a lot of questions for you, how did you harness it? And how do you navigate it and work with it with your clients?

Holly Mihelic 38:28

For me, it has been really using it, starting to use it, starting to trust it and see what happens. And usually, whenever it’s coming through strong, it’s not going to lead you astray and it’s going to hit something. And so for me, I am very clairaudient and clairvoyant. So I, sometimes we’ll hear different blips of words or, you know, just like a jolt and that’s how I tell people, the difference between their ego and their intuition is that your intuition is very efficient and very quick. So it will feel fast, and almost like a lightning bolt of either information or sensation, or vision, or, like a word or a voice, or a laugh.

Holly Mihelic 39:35

A lot of people are like, well, how do I know it’s just not me making something up and it’s just like the voice in my head that’s just telling me this thing, and I’m thinking it’s my intuition, and really, it’s just me being weird. And that’s how I usually differentiate it, is that this jolt, it is quick, is this download of information. And so the biggest thing to develop it is to really just start to use it and to start welcoming it and to be open to it.

Holly Mihelic 40:02

For me, I intentionally will open my channels, almost like turning the open sign, a storefront business of you know, okay, I’m open for intuitive hits now too, because I truly believe that I work with the divine energy who was messaging to me. So in order for me not to get burnt out and exhausted, I will turn on my open sign and then I’ll also turn my closed sign for the day when I’m ready to you know, relax and not receive intuitive hits all the time. So that’s what a lot of people just think it should just naturally happen, or just common. It is. It’s a natural part of all of us. All of us have the ability to be gifted in the realm of our intuition and you just have to develop it.

Holly Mihelic 40:55

And another way that I heard it told to me before was around intuitive gifts, that it’s just like any other, say, for drawing, for instance, there is Picasso and then there are people who can draw stick figures. And the same thing goes for intuition where there are some people that’s where you get the psychic mediums, and the very gifted Chancellor’s. And then there are other people who just kind of get little jabs here and there and they can always develop that to be stronger. And just like, I mean, with drawing, you can learn how to draw, you can practice, you can strengthen it, if you work hard at it, you’ll become a better drawer, the same thing goes for intuition.

Holly Mihelic 41:42

So when people are wanting to develop their intuitions or their intuitive gifts, I tell them all the time, I’m like, you know, just like if you wanted to be a bodybuilder and get chiseled, like you got to go to the gym, it’s the same thing for developing your intuitive gifts, you got to start training, you got to get on the cushion and meditate, you got to breathe, you got to make sure you are outside in nature and connecting with the flow, like the ebb and flow of everything. And you’ve got to be talking with your angels and all of these things, and then you’re going to, you know, essentially become a very chiseled intuitive.

Holly Mihelic 42:21

And also what you eat is a huge thing too, because your intuition is very tied to your gut. So clean eating and eating healthy foods and taking care of your body so you can receive those downloads even quicker is important as well.

Candice Wu 42:37

Yeah, that makes complete sense. Because sometimes when we’re just full of toxicity, or we’re just full of emotions that are undigested, we don’t have much space to receive anything else.

Holly Mihelic 42:48

Exactly. And, with that being said too, I know we’re on a podcast right now, which is amazing, because there are so many platforms now for us to be able to connect, and that is so beautiful. And with Instagram and Facebook, it’s a great opportunity for, you know, artwork to be shared, and for messages to be delivered. But at the same time, it’s also a breeding ground for judgment and just low vibe energy. So it’s also really important, what you are consuming in the media and to make sure that you’re detoxing and that you’re, you know, separating yourself from your phone a little bit because that’s overstimulating you. And if you’re overstimulated in that way, then it is going to put a damper on your intuitive antenna.

Holly Mihelic 43:41

My friend, the other day, who’s actually a software developer, she actually goes back and forth to using his old razor phone, his old razor flip phone and he was asking me about it. He was like, what are your thoughts on psychological addiction to cell phones and social media? And I was like, well, I think that it’s becoming more and more prevalent, and it’s manifesting as depression and anxiety and stress, and lack of sleep. And I absolutely believe that this is going on in our society and it’s only going to get worse and worse.

Holly Mihelic 44:18

And it was just so interesting talking to him about this, because he knows this, the back end of these platforms better than anyone and he gets that the phones are vibrating at certain ways to trigger you and to create a response within you and then when you don’t have that response for a while your brain is wanting to create that response and it really is scary. And he was like, just get out, become aware and look around and just see how many are there around like all the time. And so I actually did that just this past week.

Holly Mihelic 44:53

And I was in the line at Barnes and Noble and like a store full of amazing things to look at, like, tons of books, tons of knickknacks and I was in line at Barnes and Noble and there are about five people ahead of me and every single person was on their phone, and the cash register, people had to literally call like wave their hand and call the person, Hello, we’re open to get them to come up to the cash register and so I noticed that and that kind of freaked me out. Because I was like, wow, everyone is standing in line and this entire time in line not looking at the knickknacks, not starting to read the books that they’re about to buy. They’re just not you know, making small talk with the other person, they’re just on their phone.

Holly Mihelic 45:34

And then later that day, I was actually at a stoplight and I’m totally guilty of this too. But like, you know, texting at a stoplight or like changing the song at a stoplight or something. And I was like, very, like trying to be very aware of not using my phone in the car and that’s something I’ve been trying really hard to do, because I want to stop that. And I looked around and the person to my right was on their phone, the person in the left-hand turn lane was on their phone and the person behind me that I could see in the rearview mirror was also on their phone. And I was like this is scary. Like, I’m in a car at a stoplight and every person is on their phone right now and I’m guilty of it too, you know. And so I started becoming hyper-aware of how often the people around me are on their phones and if, like, I encourage it, I encourage anyone listening to also do this exercise because it will make you put your phone down.

Holly Mihelic 46:34

People talk about the zombie apocalypse and I’ve kind of been thinking like it’s here.

Candice Wu 46:39

Oh, yeah, exactly. I was just thinking that we’re walking around, not even seeing where our feet are going. I have even done that. I think it was five years, maybe six years ago and fell into a hole, like, in the ground. It wasn’t that big of a hole but I did twist my ankle.

Candice Wu 46:57

We are walking around like zombies. So yes, I would love to hear what you have to say about how to look at this or what to do with this.

Holly Mihelic 47:04

Yeah, well, I mean, I feel like the answer is very simple, which is to put down your phone. I’ve been trying, I’ve actually been absent on Instagram for the past couple of weeks, which isn’t great for my column, but I’ve just needed it spiritually and I’ve just honored it and tried to approach it without any fear of whatever, you’re going to lose followers or people, like people want to see your content, you’re not making it I’ve just been like, it’s like Instagram’s was going to chill for a while, it’s good, because I got to go live my life for a bit right now.

Holly Mihelic 47:42

You know, putting down your phone, if that takes leaving it in a different room, it’s just so interesting. Like, I encourage people to kind of start almost analyzing where their addiction is at. Because right now the probability is that all of us have some, like, degree of addiction. And so, starting to realize like, so I started putting it in a different room on silent and I’d be like, how do I feel about this? And it was kind of crazy to actually acknowledge that it was giving me anxiety that my phone was in another room on silent. I was like, you know, and so I was like this is not okay. And so actually a fun exercise that I created for myself and that I’ve randomly just been talking about, because I think it’s fun, is taking a week to pretend that you’re in an episode of Friends, as I love the show, Friends. And sometimes when I’m watching it, I feel this like, twinge of nostalgia for that time. Because I mean, yeah, it’s a written sitcom, but they’re so disconnected. They’re in the coffee shop, they’re like, in these adventures, and it’s like, they have pagers, in those episodes, right? And it’s awesome, like, they leave voicemails, like there’s that whole episode where Rachel is trying to break into Ross’s apartment to delete that voicemail, because she like left him like, confessing her love to him and then she had to like try to go and erase it before he heard it. And I was like, that is great. I really want to go back to those times.

Candice Wu 49:20

I know we’re missing out on all the adventures that we could be having when we’re trying to save something that we’ve done, that we don’t want to be out there or that we like —

Holly Mihelic 49:30

Now we just wake up and we’re like, oh, man, drunk texted him last night, whoops! Nothing you can do about it.

Holly Mihelic 49:38

I encourage people, I say take a week and pretend that you are living in an episode of friends. So, that means that you can only use your phone when you’re in your house and you can only use it to speak on the phone. So that means no texting, you are communicating with people like, as if you have a landline, and also to invite two different people that week to have coffee with them, or if your person is long distance to have a coffee with them via FaceTime, but still in your house, because we have to stick to the rules. And it’s really fun, because you realize, like, our communication, it starts to become okay that we, you know, my nephew lives an hour away and because I can FaceTime him or because I can send text messages all the time, it suddenly becomes okay that I don’t physically go visit him, and that’s not okay. You know, and because I text my best friend every single conversation like, I haven’t seen her in three weeks and that’s not okay.

Holly Mihelic 50:48

So it’s interesting to whenever you start to actually call someone and talk to them via voice, how that dynamic changes and how the relationship actually strengthens. I encourage people, obviously, it’s hard to do. It’s not ideal all the time. But just to give yourself a week where you try it and just see how different, a really fun experiment.

Candice Wu 51:13

Are we also allowed to use our phones like pagers, paging Holly, Hey, Holl call me back #now?

Holly Mihelic 51:22

Like all caps, short messages.

Candice Wu 51:26

The one thought I had was inadvertently I also did my own little experiment of minimizing my communications and use of technology because now I’m on the other side of the world. And if you want to communicate with me, there are just periods of time in the morning and night that I’m communicating with people. And actually, half of that time I’m working with clients and so other than that, sometimes I’ll just not check my phone all day and it’s the most peaceful feeling sometimes. Although, the next day I’m like, there’s a lot that’s piled up here. And so I have to manage that. But, I think unconsciously, I wanted that to some degree too as part of the benefit of being away.

Candice Wu 52:13

So we have a little bit of time left and I wanted to just say a quick shout out to Hey You, your book, and how beautiful it looks, it’s just a beautiful workbook. Can you just say a little bit about it? And what inspired you for that?

Holly Mihelic 52:28

Yeah, so Hey You is a workbook for, it’s specifically written for teen girls between the ages of 14 to 19. And, but really, it serves, you know, all ages, really, I’ve had 50s actually work through it, and they got a lot out of it, and their 30s.

Holly Mihelic 52:51

But I wrote it for teen girls, about a year ago, well, it was like October 2016, so longer than that. But I read an article in Time Magazine, and it was talking about how depression rates have gone up by I think it was 37%, from 10 years ago, it’s even higher and more common within teen girls. And this, first of all, me, but second of all, it hit very close to home for me, because I have struggled with depression, which is also essentially what got me in this realm of work was just my own road to recovery lead to self-discovery, and it led me to where I am now.

Holly Mihelic 53:43

And so I wanted to be able to create something that would just help the teen girls to have maybe 10 minutes a night to get off their phones, to just connect to their hearts, and to also go through a little bit of self-exploration. Because I remember at that age, you know, you have a lot on your mind and you also choose to go through a lot of it alone, because when you are a teenager, you want to act like everything is okay and you want to go to school and have everything be on point and have no one think that anything is wrong. And I wanted to just provide a tool that would help these girls.

Holly Mihelic 54:32

It’s okay if there are some things wrong and you’re not alone in it and you do have support, while also focusing on a lot of the positives that are pieces or part of them. Because you know, you tend to, whenever you’re dealing with depression, a lot of things feel very dark and very negative and exhausting. And it feels like everything just to get out of bed. And so to try to bring their focus on to the beautiful pieces within the gifts and their strengths and their talents. So the book, it has 40 different exercises in it, 40 different topics and they, it’s essentially a 40-day challenge to help create that shift within themselves and just explore their souls and their hearts, and to find that glimmer of hope even if things are feeling really hard.

Candice Wu 55:27

I feel so supportive and you touched in on the feeling, the experience of being alone in high school, like feeling like, you’re just alone with all of your own troubles and struggles and emotions, and it’s just such a painful experience sometimes. So thank you for that. And you have an audience gift today.

Holly Mihelic 55:47

I do.

Candice Wu 55:48

Please share what is it.

Holly Mihelic 55:50

The gift I’m sharing today is the Hello Self Audio Empowerment series. And this was a series I wrote that if you find yourself in that time, where you’re stuck in the car and you are unhappy with your job, or you’re just looking for a change, but you don’t know what you like, you don’t know what you want, you’re not sure where you want to go, this was a series I wrote that will help you to start uncovering some of those answers within your soul.

Holly Mihelic 56:25

So I cover five different sections of yourself. So self-perception, and self-power, self-love, and self -worth. And I share a little teaching around each of those subjects and then I really just start firing off questions. So this is a great practice actually to do in your car, if you’re driving on a long trip to work, because it will help you reflect and you’ll just start being forced to certain things and to start finding those answers for yourself. So there’s just a link, which is an embedded link within my website. It’s not open, openly on my website, so this is a link, a private link for you and you can just start listening to the series. It’s about an hour long and I tried to make it really fun and relatable and to share some spiritual and psychological in a very digestible way, and so that is the Hello Self Audio series.

Candice Wu 57:35

Thank you so much for that and it is really fun. You, the questions you ask are just some of them are very serious, some of them are silly, some of them just get two different angles of things and I really appreciated it, when I listened to it.

Candice Wu 57:51

I want to thank you for sharing that with our audience. I know that this can really help a lot of people, especially if you’re looking to shut off some of the information overload that you’re getting from the outside world and to feed yourself to go inward a bit here, especially on a trip as you’re saying.

Candice Wu 58:08

So thank you so much, Holly, it’s so good to have you. Where can people find you?

Holly Mihelic 58:13

Thank you for having me, Candice, this has been so fun.

Holly Mihelic 58:17

I can be found on Instagram at @HollyMihelic and you can also find me on my website, which is also sheglows.co. And also on Facebook, you can find me just at Holly Mihelic, and I’m always excited to connect and I’m very responsive. You can also email me, [email protected]. I take your questions seriously and hold them with sacredness and I’m always happy to be a resource for people and to support in any way I can. So please feel free to reach out and connect and I’m happy to just build connections and relationships.

Candice Wu 59:01

Beautiful. Thank you. Is there anything else you want to share with our listeners today?

Holly Mihelic 59:06

I guess, one more thing I want to share is probably this is one of my favorite quote that was written by Glennon Doyle, she wrote, “People who need help sometimes look a lot like people who don’t need help.” And this quote resonates with me so deeply, because I feel like I am that person. I often don’t look like I need help and when in reality I deeply do. And I feel that if you connect around that concept, and you found yourself trying to get through whatever it is that you’re getting through alone, know that the answer is to reach out and to find the support, and to talk to your girlfriend or to connect with a coach or to find a meditation teacher or to get into a Yoga studio, know that it’s okay. And that, you know, showing weakness actually takes an incredible amount of strength and so find the beauty in that weakness and give yourself the opportunity to heal.

Candice Wu 1:00:19

Thank you for that, that’s — I can completely relate to that in the moments that I’m pushing away help is often when I needed it needed the most. Thank you, Holly.

Holly Mihelic 1:00:29

Yeah, thank you so much, Candice. It was an honor to get to spend this time with you and thank you to everyone who took us into this conversation.

Candice Wu 1:00:40

Absolutely. I’m so grateful you were here and I appreciate all that you bring to the world. And if you’re curious about Holly, find her on @HollyMihelic and you will see all of the links in the show notes below including her Hello Self Audio series, and her book Hey You.

Candice Wu 1:00:58

Thank you all for listening in today with our guest Holly Mihelic. I hope you found something in this that you can take away for your own personal growth and awareness. And as I mentioned earlier, the show notes and other podcasts can be found below on my website at CandiceWu.com/podcast.

Candice Wu 1:01:17

I invite you to explore other interviews, meditations, and healing conversations with me there. Also, you can subscribe to my weekly newsletter and become a member of the Embody Community at CandiceWu.com/embody where you can get lots of free resources on embodiment and healing, meditations as well as information about retreats, workshops, private sessions, and other offerings. See you next time on the Embody Podcast.