Venessa Rodriguez – What Would Nature Do? – EP18

Candice Wu 0:00

Hello, this is Candice Wu on the Embody Podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today. By now, you might have noticed that every other week I have a guest on the show, and it’s usually a friend, colleague or somebody that I’m interested in having a conversation with. And this week is no different.

Candice Wu 0:18

Our guest today is Venessa Rodriguez. She is a functional nutritionist, intuitive nourishment guide, and host of the Feed Your Wild podcast. Her mission is to awaken the innate healing capacity of women struggling with chronic disease by reconnecting them to their own medicine and nature through food, spirit, and love.

Candice Wu 0:39

Venessa supports wild-hearted change-makers to build physical health and vitality through her work, combining the science and spirituality of food using a modern functional approach, also using intuitive guidance with Akashic records and ancestral wisdom from Earth-honoring traditions.

Candice Wu 0:58

So I’m excited to bring her on the show. In this episode, Venessa and I talk about nourishment on all levels and what that means? What is food on the many levels of our being?

Candice Wu 1:08

We talked about Akashic records and what feeds Venessa’s wild. We explore ant medicine, in our own personal stories around ants, and what’s coming up for us.

Candice Wu 1:20

We also explore belonging and the relationship to what we give ourselves to, coming out of the spiritual closet, the question, what would nature do? And digesting love.

Candice Wu 1:31

The show notes for this episode can be found on my website at CandiceWu.com/podcast.

Candice Wu 1:37

And before we jump into it, I want to share that this episode is brought to you by the Soul Body Women’s Retreat. This retreat is happening in October 2018. And it completely supports my ability to create more podcast episodes, to create more healing albums and content. The Soul Body Women’s Retreat is a spiritual and healing retreat.

Candice Wu 2:01

This year, it was actually quite inspired by the location, Zion National Park, Utah just really called to me this year, because of the richness of what that area brings. The energy of spirituality and consciousness and the traditions of the Hopi tribe are in that area, as well as religion, the opposite balance of religion. I’m not religious, but I’m just so interested in that duality, as well as the caves and the depth of the caves, in contrast to the mountains and the sky, and all of what nature brings in that area.

Candice Wu 2:38

So this retreat is all about connecting soul and body, the elements of the earth and sky within us, the feminine and masculine, and balancing all the opposing energies that happen inside of us. It’s a sacred intensive of meditations, Yoga, Family Constellations healing work, Somatic Experiencing work, and spirituality to deeply heal any stuckness, belief sets or limitations, and clear up ancestral bonds that may be limiting us in some way. And embodying the freedom and specific personal intentions that each woman brings.

Candice Wu 3:16

You can find out more about this and future retreats on my website at CandiceWu.com/retreats, and again, thank you so much for supporting me, we’re sharing this retreat, because it does help me continue to create accessible information for all.

Candice Wu 3:33

So let’s get to Venessa.

Candice Wu 3:35

Hello, everybody. I am thrilled today to invite one of my friends and colleagues to the show, Venessa Rodriguez, and she is just magical. And one of the things I love most about her is how she’s taken multiple areas of her study and growth and learning over the years of her life. And completely personalized it so that it becomes a creation of her soul.

Candice Wu 4:05

And what I’m speaking to is that she is a functional nutritionist. But she’s picked up all these different ancient, wise, indigenous practices over the years meshed that science practice with Akashic records and Soul work, and in her words, Sacred Ecology, and just design this beautiful practice of nourishment to help people tune into their own souls and what nourishes their souls.

Candice Wu 4:37

So without further ado, I want to introduce Venessa, thank you so much for coming on the show. Hello.

Venessa Rodriguez 4:43

Oh, Candice, thank you. I’m so grateful to be here. And that was such a kind intro.

Candice Wu 4:49

Yeah. So I would love to hear from you. Those were my words. And I’ve just gotten the chance over the time that I’ve known you to hear from you, and hear what you do. But I’d love for you to share that with our audience today.

Venessa Rodriguez 5:03

You know, it’s funny, I think you got it right on the nail on the head when you said a mishmash of a whole bunch of these different disciplines and practices. But essentially, what I do for work and my passion, is really utilizing food as medicine.

Venessa Rodriguez 5:25

And when I speak about food, yes, I’m talking about the food that we put in our mouths as a functional nutritionist. And so I’m using food in a clinical way through functional nutrition, but I’m also looking at food on all other levels. So emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. For me, food can be you know, steamed broccoli, love from your partner, a new hobby or learning, time and nature, all of that is food.

Venessa Rodriguez 5:58

And so, I kind of see myself as a detective, and a channel for people to really come into a deeper understanding of what food they might need, right now, to nourish the parts of themselves that are hungry, and need nourishment. So yeah, we’re combining science, you know, looking at labs and blood work, and what you’re actually putting on your plate. And all of that is so important, but also bringing in more intuitive tools, as you had mentioned with Akashic records. And so tapping into the deeper realms, the unseen realms, that can bring a lot more insight and information to, you know, help one, sort of uncover what they might be needing in that moment, especially if they’re experiencing a lot of chronic health issues or feeling stuck in a rut, you know, with their life. And it’s kind of manifesting physically as well. So that’s just a little bit of what I do, and — kind of a roundabout way.

Candice Wu 7:16

Yes, no, it’s great. It feels like this juicy sandwich of seen and unseen, like, from food and physical all the way to the soul and unseen, unconscious, maybe. And can you speak more about Akashic records? And how you tap into that? And what gifts it brings to your clients and to yourself?

Venessa Rodriguez 7:36

Absolutely. Yeah.

Venessa Rodriguez 7:38

So, Akashic records, well, first, I should probably describe what they are. And then how I came into using them and working with them.

Venessa Rodriguez 7:49

The Akashic records are, it’s a bit esoteric and kind of hard to put into words. But we’re lucky in that we have a wonderful metaphor that we can use. And that is, like the cloud, “Icloud” and the internet. And so here, we are able to upload all of this data and information in our files and store it in this unseen realm called the cloud. And there we can always access and go back to it right, we can, like, you know, set up so that our hard drives back up into the cloud, and then you can tap into that in the future. And so that’s kind of like what the Akashic records are.

Venessa Rodriguez 8:32

They’re a realm that really holds the vibrational imprint of everything. So everything has energy, and everything has a vibrational imprint. And the history of that is stored in this realm called the Akasha, in the Akashic realm. And we can actually access that realm and information, and tap into the knowledge that is stored there.

Venessa Rodriguez 9:05

So I’ll give you an example. As an individual, as a person, we each have our soul file, so to speak, in the Akashic Records, and so we can go to the Akashic library. And if we have a question about something that is going on in our soul’s journey, or path or this lifetime, then we can ask, and we asked through intention and prayer.

Venessa Rodriguez 9:31

And I, as a reader, as a trained reader can tap into other people’s records with their permission, and essentially channel information that is coming through, regarding that question, and then intention.

Venessa Rodriguez 9:46

And so, I like to think of the Akashic as not just some, like, you know, here’s this library in the sky kind of thing, but that it’s also everywhere and within us.

Venessa Rodriguez 10:00

You know, I think of like the spaces in between, like interstitial space, if we think of spaces in between in our body. And I feel like that’s where the Akashic really is. It’s literally within everything. And we’re all interconnected. And so not just reading Akashic records, but actually tapping and tuning into that space can be really healing for people.

Venessa Rodriguez 10:27

And so not only do I incorporate readings and bringing in information and insight through the records for clients, but I can also help assist them in connecting to that realm. So that healing can really come through, you know, not in a sense that we may cognitively recognize, but it’s just something that is more of an energetic type of experience for people.

Venessa Rodriguez 10:54

And so, the Akashic Records, I was introduced to years ago on a personal level, so I wasn’t seeking out to incorporate in my professional life or anything like that. I met someone who eventually became my mentor and teacher. And she had invited me to learn the Akashic records. And I had only one experience prior to that, with the records.

Venessa Rodriguez 11:22

I had actually seen an intuitive who, because, after my mom, I tell my story a little bit about my mom, and how I came to this work, which is a lot longer story. But essentially, my mom had journeyed with breast cancer. And after six years, she passed away. And that was really the catalyst for everything that I do today. And changing my life in a radical way. And after my mom had passed, and crossover, I went through a grieving period, and I don’t ever feel like grieving ever ends.

Venessa Rodriguez 12:00

It’s cyclical. But in those, you know, first couple of years, I was really soul searching. And I felt a big shift in me. And so I would actively seek out guidance. And I knew of some wonderful intuitive in Chicago at that time, when I was living there. And so I went to see this one in particular. And in that reading, he told me that I would come to know the Akashic records in the way that he understands them. And that I would be able to tap into them and start working with people.

Venessa Rodriguez 12:39

And at that point, it’s not like I was doing any kind of intuitive work with others, right? It was, that to me seems like another world it wasn’t — It was just so interesting. I was like, it was one of those moments when you’re like, this guy probably tells everybody about, you know? Have you ever had that?

Candice Wu 12:55

Oh, right. Yes! It was so far out.

Venessa Rodriguez 12:59

Yeah.

Candice Wu 13:00

Was that when you were in grad school?

Venessa Rodriguez 13:02

No. So that was before grad school. Yeah.

Candice Wu 13:07

And, literally, that week, I received an email from this woman who eventually became my mentor. And she had actually, I was following her because my mom went to see her, she was an integrative psychotherapist, and I just, there was something about her, I was like, this woman’s special, you know? And what she brought to my mom, the gifts that she brought to my mom at the end of my mom’s life. And so I was following her. And she ended up emailing me about a new program she was doing, teaching the records, because she was a reader, she had been reading for over 20 years and teaching, and I was like, holy crap, you know?

Candice Wu 13:48

It’s right here for you.

Venessa Rodriguez 13:50

It’s right here the same week that he told me and so I, of course, had to do it. And that was the beginning. So that was quite some time ago. And I got hooked, I just studied and was in a group where we support each other, group of readers. And we just did it on a personal level. And so I did that for years before I started incorporating it into my work.

Venessa Rodriguez 14:16

And I think that that was a natural organic process. It was sort of creating, developing my relationship to the records, so that I could, you know, I feel like so that I can bring it in a good way into my work. But there’s also something about, you know, coming out of the spiritual closet, so to speak.

Candice Wu 14:37

Because my work was so rooted in science. And so that was an interesting awakening for me and transformation, and really incorporating and the more intuitive work in that way that seems so esoteric for people. But that was so profoundly helpful. And when I brought that into my practice, it changed everything. So that’s kind of my journey with the records.

Candice Wu 15:01

That’s really cool. I remember that time period, and also really resonated, because it’s like, you have to break through this judgment, perhaps, or just this boundary of what your science entails. And just bridging. What I’m seeing you do is bridging that to what’s already there, in the ancient realm, in the inner bodies that we already know. And tapping into that.

Candice Wu 15:32

I know that a lot of your work is helping people feel nourished in themselves and feeding their wild. And this is a question you ask your interviewees on your podcast, which is coming out soon. But what nourishes your soul and what feeds your wild right now?

Venessa Rodriguez 15:52

Yeah. It’s like I always wonder -Ask and hear other people, and then it’s turned on me, and I’m like, “uh-oh.”

Candice Wu 16:00

Right, — a little bit of, “Ooh! Wait a minute.”

Candice Wu 16:04

I love it.

Venessa Rodriguez 16:05

Um, you know, right now, what is feeding my wild is?

Candice Wu 16:13

Gosh, I would say a couple of things.

Venessa Rodriguez 16:16

One is getting so deeply connected to nature, in a way that I had never experienced before. And so what I mean by that is, nature has always been a part of my life, but I grew up in the inner city of Chicago, you know, like, I grew up with concrete all around. And although I would, every year, we would go to Puerto Rico to visit family, my family’s from Puerto Rico. And, and so there, there, there’s a lot of nature and beauty, and you know, frog sounds at night and all of that.

Venessa Rodriguez 16:53

But about a year ago, I moved to Southern Oregon, in an area that still has wildlife, you know, there’s like cougars and bears. And this is amazing. And so, for the first time in my adult life, I have this chance to explore like a kid, you know, really play in nature and immerse myself in just the magic and the beauty and then being able to have that sense of wonderment. Again, sort of restored. And so it’s a kind of remembrance, but it’s also just, it’s like play, you know, it’s playing. It feels so good and natural and healing.

Candice Wu 17:40

I was opening my email and read your recent posts on Ant Medicine. And now I’m also connecting the dots because you’re in this environment that has so many animals and that sounds like you also have the space to see, and to feel more with them.

Candice Wu 18:00

And so the Ant Medicine was really interesting, because just the other day, my partner was clearing out some dead leaves from our front space. And this might make people feel a little bit jealous. But as I’m in Bali, there’s — the space I’m living in is just one of the most beautiful homes that I have ever lived in. And when you walk into the private gate, it’s just like wooden doors, there’s this stone pathway and right there, there’s a pond. It’s surrounded by palm trees and tropical plants and leaves and foliage and it leads right to the house.

Candice Wu 18:42

So every day, we get to sit and look out at this beautiful — all these plants around us. And so he’s cleaning out some of the dead leaves. And he takes one and after he takes it out and puts it to the side, he realizes that he just stranded a whole colony of ants. And they were just floating in the water at this point.

Venessa Rodriguez 19:07

Oh my goodness!

Candice Wu 19:07

Yeah.

Candice Wu 19:08

And so he watched and wonder if he should do something. And at some point, he noticed that they had made their way over to this rock in the middle of the pond, which was a stranded rock. And so they’re all just running around on this rock. And we noticed that they have ant eggs, so there are babies coming. And they’re just sitting there on this rock. And so we have this whole, just beautiful couple of hours watching these ants. Because at that point, we were like, we have to do something, they’re just stuck here. Right, and there were some that were still stranded in the water and treading water.

Candice Wu 19:53

So I took some leaves and move them over to the rock. And he took a long palm leaf and made a bridge. And eventually, they took every single one of those eggs, every single ant went across. There were a couple that went back and forth. It was just fascinating to watch. And it didn’t take too long either. And so to get your email with Ant Medicine was just so fabulous. Because there are so many ants here.

Venessa Rodriguez 20:20

That’s so cute!

Venessa Rodriguez 20:23

You know, and like you were mentioning the bridge. I mean, I feel like, that’s what it’s about, too. It’s just like, we don’t have to do anything, but maybe, be the bridge or provide a bridge and allow nature to be the bridge. And I love that story.

Candice Wu 20:40

I like — Yeah, thank you. I like what you’re saying here. Because it gives an ease to it, that it’s — what would the potential in us, it’s already living there. And the bridge is all that’s needed sometimes or the light turned on. But it’s not like you have to force something to happen.

Venessa Rodriguez 21:00

Absolutely.

Venessa Rodriguez 21:01

So, speaking of the Akashic records and the Ant Medicine that came through, and I do these monthly Akashic Soul Nourishment readings, where each month I just tap into the records. And I asked, you know, what is the message coming in for the highest good of all those who are listening, and I just write whatever is coming through and for April, it was Ant Medicine.

Venessa Rodriguez 21:27

What I really learned from this particular reading with Ant Medicine is, you know, how closely related they are to us, in terms of characteristics.

Venessa Rodriguez 21:41

So, for example, you know, like you were saying, I mean, here, they have their eggs, they were busy, they’re doing things, they see the bridge, they take advantage of the bridge, like, they’re extremely industrious. And they have community, and they build, they farm. I mean, it’s just incredible what really happens when we take a look at the underworld of some of these creatures, you know?

Venessa Rodriguez 22:13

They create their world underground, and they have their anthills and they’re little architects. I mean, it’s just amazing. And I feel like, you know, your experience being in nature and seeing that, like, these are the teachings that were so native to us when we once lived more closely with nature.

Candice Wu 22:38

Absolutely.

Venessa Rodriguez 22:38

Right?

Venessa Rodriguez 22:39

So yeah, I’m glad that I’m so happy that you found that to be, you know, entertaining, and it seems so timely.

Candice Wu 22:47

Yes. And have you heard of Martin Horat, who is a Swiss weather predictor? And what he does is he goes and sits on an anthill. And he looks and sees what, — how the answer behaving and what they look like and how they’re moving, and if they bite, or what sense he gets from them, and he predicts the weather based on that every six months. That’s incredible.

Candice Wu 23:12

Yes, that’s what we’re talking about. You know, I feel that’s what tribes and peoples have done, since we’ve been on this earth is pay attention, like pay attention to our surroundings. And this is a good example, I was listening to an interview on the For The Wild podcast. And they were talking about biomimicry, and using biomimicry to create regenerative communities and societies and ways of being again, because we’ve kind of lost that, right? But it’s about paying attention to nature. And asking the question, what would nature do in this situation? What does nature do in this situation? And then applying that to the problem.

Candice Wu 24:11

That’s beautiful. It’s a really good question to ask ourselves, like, in any moment. And I’m thinking about being here in Bali, and as I mentioned a little bit earlier to you personally, that I came here, knowing that there are volcanoes, and they’re erupting, and there’s so much heat. And what does nature do? It just — when it bubbles up, it blows. That’s quite a lesson to me, or one that I’ve been learning over time.

Candice Wu 24:43

And when I got here, sure enough, my body reflected that and surfaced all of the heat that was latent in my body, and it wanted an expression, it wanted to blow. And it came through the form of anger. And as one of my teachers says, Red energy, and just wanted to move. And so I’m wondering how you really tune in to nature like that? And what’s something that you’ve integrated recently that nature has brought you?

Venessa Rodriguez 25:13

Oh, man, you know, I feel like they’re — sometimes I feel like, going into stillness is necessary in the moment. But then what I have learned from nature, and being outside, and being in “stillness” is that there is no such thing as 100% pure stillness.

Venessa Rodriguez 25:44

There is always something that’s reverberating, moving, whistling, rustling, moving, and so it brings, you know, you’re talking about that sense of ease. It kind of brings this sense of ease and relieves the pressure to be in the kind of stillness, that, you know, my mind kind of conjures — you know, no thoughts, no sensory, anything, like, no movement. And it’s a different kind of stillness.

Venessa Rodriguez 26:23

It’s more of, you know, you and I were having a conversation earlier of being so connected to the energy of what is around you. And to me, that is what stillness is now, you know? I can go outside. I can sit in the grass. I could be up against a tree. And stillness for me in that moment is tuning into what is going on with that tree, what is going on with the grass, and it’s never, you know, 100% stillness. So kind of — it releases that pressure.

Candice Wu 27:01

Yeah, just like laughing, as you’re saying that like laughing at us as humans that we think we can have that. I mean, —

Venessa Rodriguez 27:12

Totally.

Candice Wu 27:13

It’s a nice — I don’t know, quest, but I’m hearing and feeling that, as you’re speaking, like, stillness is always moving, stillness, it’s the moving — it’s the sinking up with nature, that might be the stillness that we’re seeking for.

Venessa Rodriguez 27:30

I love that. Yes. You put it perfectly. And, like, coming back to the fact that we are nature and so even within our own bodies, there is never true stillness. I mean, we would be dead if we had true stillness, and then even after that, there’s still stuff going on. There’s decomposition, right?

Candice Wu 27:55

Yeah.

Venessa Rodriguez 27:55

And so there’s always movement, there’s always flow, there’s always life. And in like, you were saying, tune into that.

Candice Wu 28:02

Yeah. I’m wondering from you, as you have all these tools in your belts, and so many people that you touch, what are the challenges that you’re having at this time? What has been on your heart, your mind in you?

Venessa Rodriguez 28:19

I feel like, in this work, in supporting and being of service, there is an infinite number of opportunities where, you know, things are reflected back at you. And so, I feel like there’s so much opportunity to, “Let’s choose this reflection, let’s choose this reflection to look at,” you know?

Venessa Rodriguez 28:45

For me right now, I feel this strong, it’s a desire, I would call it to shed some of these conditionings that I’ve held on to, you know, not in a conscious way, or maybe a conscious way.

Venessa Rodriguez 29:04

So my partner and I have conversations about this, and he calls it accessories. It’s like we’re walking around carrying accessories, of what we think we should be, or look like, or sound like or do. So it’s the “shoulds”, right? And what it means to be successful, what it means to be happy, all of that.

Venessa Rodriguez 29:28

And so one of the things that has been lighting me up and really catching my attention is this concept of belonging versus being. And there is an amazing author and educator, and shaman, his name is Martin Prechtel. Have you heard of him?

Candice Wu 29:51

No, I haven’t.

Venessa Rodriguez 29:52

Some of his work is just so incredible. I’m just starting to scratch the surface, right. So, he has many books, but one of them is called, Secrets Of The Talking Jaguar. And he talks about this concept of belonging that is within the Mayan culture that he’s closely related to. And that within this, their language, there is no word for being to be, like the verb, to be, or time.

Venessa Rodriguez 30:28

And so if we think about the way that language informs our understanding of the world, right? And how we live and breathe and walk in this world, it’s interesting to think of a world where we are not something, like there isn’t to be there are no generic nouns for people or things, but rather, everything is in relationship to something else.

Venessa Rodriguez 30:57

So, for example, instead of you know, that person is traveling or they’re a traveler. So you are traveling, Candice, right? Instead, they would say that you belong to roads. And so for me, it’s looking at this concept of there is no ownership of anything. Everything is part of creation and everything is in relationship to something else. And so there’s a sense of belonging and camaraderie within that and purpose inherent in one’s existence.

Venessa Rodriguez 31:39

There’s another book too on the topic of belonging that, I think is also fantastic. And the author, her name is Toko-pa Turner, the book is Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home. It just came out. But she was influenced by Martin, but she has this gift of taking these teachings, and then putting it inside the context of the English language and our understanding of the world and what that means within the context of our lives today. So it’s a fascinating concept that I’m diving into and sort of blowing my mind at the moment.

Candice Wu 32:22

I can feel that. It’s really exciting to hear you talk about that, and belonging to the roads like that just feel so different than to say.

Venessa Rodriguez 32:32

I know, it’s like, the entire language is poetry.

Candice Wu 32:35

Yes, I love that. And it also feels like, it touches. I have this feeling sense of how it touches on no sense of time, like not relating things to time or their singularity. It’s this feeling of connection and embeddedness within everything, or within the thing you can name or next to the thing you can name or see. And it also makes me think of Family Constellations, like being within the lineage of something. And being, maybe that’s with earth, and the connection with it is inherent.

Venessa Rodriguez 33:15

The concept of time to, like, having no word for time, blows my mind, but at the same time, it’s almost like, you know, you’re saying Family Constellations. And I would also bring in like, the concept of Akashic and the Akashic records, like in that realm, there is no time, space, as we know it. So it’s almost like they are living in an existence that is closer to like, the Akashic.

Venessa Rodriguez 33:50

And yeah, so it just makes me think about, what would it be like, if we lived from that place, like, if we tuned into that place where we weren’t limited by our concept of these boundaries of, you know, time, like our past. You know, you talk about Family Constellations and your brilliant, intuitive work with navigating people through that. And how, by shifting something today, they’ve literally shifted their constellation, and you know, for the “past”. And so it’s living in that space, and I feel like, then that just cracks open possibility, you know, and hope and really lifts sort of these heavier, what can feel like, a prison or limitations for people.

Candice Wu 34:50

That feels like it’s something I’m doing right now inside of me. And what I’m talking about specifically is breaking through the ideas of time and space, like, what I think this world is and what I’ve believed in, and it’s terrifying. It’s hard. What do you recommend for people on that quest? And on that journey of diving into whether the words are the Akashic or the unseen, or the very subtle, living energies that are already there? What guidance do you have?

Venessa Rodriguez 35:32

Yeah, you know, I think that is the question for so many.

Candice Wu 35:38

Yeah.

Venessa Rodriguez 35:39

So I’ll just go with, you know, some of the first things that are coming to my mind and heart right now. And with some people that I’m working with, and it’s almost like, the work is in creating the space for all of these things to flow in.

Venessa Rodriguez 36:02

So with regards to healing, for example, it’s our work isn’t to, “heal ourselves”, you know, or find somebody to heal us, because I believe that all healing is self-healing. But rather, it’s to sort of get out of our own way, and create the space for what is really so innate and natural for our body, for our heart for our soul, what it already knows what to do, you know?

Venessa Rodriguez 36:40

We’ve had many lifetimes, and so we can take our brain and our mind and just kind of step aside. And I feel like, for me, it’s kind of a hard concept to really feel into, but I feel like I’ve experienced that with accessing the records. Like, I actively have to stop and just — instead of shutting my mind up, right, and making sure that I don’t have any thoughts, it’s just having my ego just sort of step aside so that information can flow through, and I can connect in a different way. So it’s not banishing, or, you know, having this miraculous moment where I’m enlightened, and there’s no thoughts. But just creating, like a crack, just a little bit of that space to allow everything else to come in.

Candice Wu 37:38

That’s beautiful. Absolutely. And I was just thinking, your thoughts belong to the ego, just applying what you were thinking about with belonging. And so knowing its place, knowing that it’s not: “Your thoughts mean the world”, or “your thoughts are the world”, or your beliefs even, but they belong to someplace, to shift out into another place and spend some time there.

Venessa Rodriguez 38:04

I love that. Yeah.

Candice Wu 38:07

Thank you for that, Venessa.

Candice Wu 38:09

I’m wanting to shift gears here and play a little bit. Especially play off of your words and do a round of wildfire questions. And so what I’ll do is just ask you a few quick questions and just whatever comes to the top of your mind or heart, feel free to share, and they’re just playful, so nothing too serious. Ready?

Venessa Rodriguez 38:31

Okay, let’s do it.

Candice Wu 38:33

Okay. What’s your favorite animal medicine?

Venessa Rodriguez 38:36

Oh, well, you know, Ant Medicine just came through, because that’s what I’m really feeling right now.

Candice Wu 38:41

Yes. It’s so now, right?

Venessa Rodriguez 38:44

Yeah.

Candice Wu 38:45

What would you rate a 10 out of 10?

Venessa Rodriguez 38:47

What would I rate a 10 out of 10?

Candice Wu 38:49

Yes. Out of anything in the world.

Venessa Rodriguez 38:51

The intelligence of nature.

Candice Wu 38:53

Great. Despite how many times I might trip and fall well, looking at my phone, you know, while walking, I still do it over and over. I notice it. What mistake do you keep making again and again?

Venessa Rodriguez 39:08

believing that I have to do more to get more.

Candice Wu 39:12

Yes.

Venessa Rodriguez 39:13

Constantly, all the time.

Candice Wu 39:15

Like the disease of our world.

Venessa Rodriguez 39:17

Yes. And it’s like, you know, every time I shut it, it’s like, oh, there it is again.

Candice Wu 39:24

I know that too. Yes.

Candice Wu 39:26

Okay, ready for the next one? What kind of art do you enjoy the most?

Venessa Rodriguez 39:31

Oh, gosh, that was so hard.

Venessa Rodriguez 39:33

What came first to mind was dance movement.

Candice Wu 39:38

Yes. I’ve seen some of your free body, strong body love inspired movement.

Venessa Rodriguez 39:48

So much fun. Yeah.

Candice Wu 39:49

Yes. Okay, I think this will be the last one. What would be your first question after waking up from being cryogenically frozen for 100 years, if that happened to you?

Venessa Rodriguez 40:05

You know, the very first thought was, what’s for dinner?

Candice Wu 40:09

So, it fits, it totally fits. You’d be quite hungry.

Venessa Rodriguez 40:15

That’s a wonderful question. I love that.

Candice Wu 40:17

Well, and I guess, it leads me to one more question, is what are you hungry for?

Venessa Rodriguez 40:23

Oh, you know, always love. Always. And I feel like that is something that is interesting, because I feel satiated, yet always hungry. Right? And I feel like that’s just sort of the nature, it’s like, there is no destination, you are never full. Because when you get there, then you’re like, oh, then there’s more. Because that’s the medicine, like, that’s what keeps us going. It’s this never-ending well of love that is available to us. So just to stay open and allow.

Candice Wu 41:01

Yeah, that’s really a good reminder and a good way to see it. Because if we look on the, like food, physical food level, if we filled ourselves with this most delicious, scrumptious meal, and we didn’t let it metabolize and integrate and eliminate, you know, some parts of it, then we would just be bloated all the time. We have to and then we’re hungry again.

Venessa Rodriguez 41:26

My gosh, that is so true. It is exactly like digestion and metabolism. I mean, we have to let it go once it’s gone through us.

Candice Wu 41:36

Yes, we’d be like love hoarders. Let that digest and move and give more space for something else.

Venessa Rodriguez 41:44

Although, you know, I wouldn’t mind being bloated with love for a minute.

Candice Wu 41:49

But that’s really an interesting image. I wish for you that you are bloated with love.

Venessa Rodriguez 41:58

Like the new Valentine.

Candice Wu 42:01

Let’s — thank you for playing with me. Let’s shift gears again. And you have some gifts for listeners today.

Venessa Rodriguez 42:09

Yes, so I am so excited just to be on and chat with you. I mean, that’s one of my favorite things. You’re so brilliant and fun to talk to. But I’m also excited to connect with your audience. And I have on my website a, what I call a Sacred Ecology Journey and Activation audio.

Venessa Rodriguez 42:34

And this is something that I created because I found that one of the first challenges that people have, especially when they’re dealing with a chronic illness or health challenge is really uncovering what is keeping them stuck. And not knowing what foods to bring in right now for further nourishment and clarity. And so I wanted to create something that was really working with just the intuitive realm for each person. And, you know, because we can be so in our heads, especially in those moments.

Venessa Rodriguez 43:18

So this is a meditation journey for people to take and just sit back, relax, you know, plug in their earbuds, and just go within.

Venessa Rodriguez 43:31

And so, the Sacred Ecology Journey and Activation Audio are available on my website, wildlyrooted.com, that is free, and so that you could sign up for that there.

Venessa Rodriguez 43:44

And I’m also excited to offer anybody who’s listening, that I have a few spots open for a 45-minute Soul Nutrition Assessment. And so I have longer ones that are paid, 75 minutes long, for people who are interested. But this is sort of a taster. And to really dive deep into the Sacred Ecology, what we were talking about earlier, what is going on.

Venessa Rodriguez 44:14

So after you do the meditation, then you’ll have a bit more to work with, with these Soul Nutrition Assessment sessions. And we can explore your Sacred Ecology, we could explore what nourishment you need to bring in and dig into what might be behind your health challenge, you know? What is at the root of it.

Venessa Rodriguez 44:35

And so I have a few spots open for that. And you can go on to wildlyrooted.com/embody. And there will be an application so that you can sign up. This is a totally free session. But I also want to make sure that it’s a good fit for everybody. And so I just have an application process for that.

Venessa Rodriguez 45:00

And yeah, so if you’re interested in diving deeper in that way and looking at, you know, the functional nutrition aspect of it, so the science aspect of it, but also the intuitive nourishment aspect of it as well. Man, I encourage you to check that out.

Candice Wu 45:18

That sounds beautiful. Venessa, thank you so much for offering that to our audience today. And I cannot wait to dive into the Sacred Ecology journey. I haven’t done that yet. But I remember the session that I had with you early on and thinking about you offering this 45-minute nourishment, journey for people, that sounds fabulous. And I know those lucky people will get so much out of it.

Candice Wu 45:47

And I want to just share one piece that I got, when we did Akashic records together for me, I remember you sharing this image that you saw, of, I don’t know if it was me or a spirit guide, it almost doesn’t matter at this point, but putting me, I’ll just say me, me putting like stakes into the ground in the four corners or stones, and like digging my hands into the earth. And it was this message of being in the ground and really getting my hands and feet into earth. And that image was so powerful, because not only you gave me the words that you felt behind it, but I could see the picture. And that gave me a whole download of sensing information that words really couldn’t. And so I think that’s such a beautiful aspect of your work. Thank you so much for what you do.

Venessa Rodriguez 46:45

Oh, Candice, thank you so much, I mean, ditto to everything and my experience with your Family Constellation work. I really made some incredible shifts in my own journey. So thank you.

Candice Wu 47:01

I’m so glad. You’re welcome. And as we wrap up today, is there anything else you want to share, any last words or thoughts that come up for you?

Venessa Rodriguez 47:11

Yeah, you know, I’ve been really feeling lately, just this energy, this flow, especially around the time of Earth Day, you know? It’s just sort of, there’s all these posts of, you know, all these wonderful things that we can do to reduce our impact or, you know, reuse, recycle and all that great stuff that is really good to know. But I really do feel that so much of what I have seen with clients and my own experience with dis-ease. And this is really stemming from, you know, a disconnection. A disconnection from ourselves and disconnection from Mother Earth. And when we can tap back into that, it’s really love, like, that’s what it is.

Venessa Rodriguez 48:07

It’s this, the energy that Mother Earth provides, it’s love and universal energy and the Akashic, right? And so if we can just begin to tap back into that, and one way that we can do that is just connecting with nature and connecting with our own bodies. And what you’re offering is such a gift to the world, Candice, you know, in this podcast of embodying, that step alone is so huge for one’s healing journey and such a gift that you can give yourself. So yeah, just taking that one step forward into nature and into love.

Candice Wu 48:49

I love that. One step forward into nature and into love.

Candice Wu 48:53

Thank you so much. Where can we find you?

Venessa Rodriguez 48:55

You can find me at wildlyrooted.com. I am also hanging out on Instagram now. My handle @wildlyrooted. And I’m coming out as you mentioned with a podcast, too. And Candice is going to be on it. And it was such an amazing read interview, you guys are gonna love it!

Venessa Rodriguez 49:21

And the podcast is called, Feed Your Wild. And it’s really talking about everything that we’ve talked about today, food for your body, mind, and soul. And that is coming out mid-May.

Candice Wu 49:33

Beautiful. Thank you so much. And I so appreciate that you’re here today with me and this beautiful conversation we got to have. And I hope to see you soon.

Candice Wu 49:45

Yes, Candice. Totally. Thank you so much for having me. This was a blast.

Candice Wu 49:51

Thank you so much for listening. And I want to just mention how much I enjoy these conversations with my guests because it really challenges my edges. It brings an aspect of energy and discussion that I’m intrigued with and also pushes my boundaries. And I am so thankful that you joined us for this conversation.

Candice Wu 50:12

As I mentioned before all of Venessa’s information and the show notes can be found on my website at CandiceWu.com/podcast. And there you can also find all of the rest of my podcasts, including the a{Live} now mini-series and other episodes of guests conversations.

Candice Wu 50:32

Before you go, I’d also like to invite you to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and become a member of the Embody Community at CandiceWu.com/embody where you can receive lots of free resources on embodiment and healing, meditations from me, as well as other information about retreats, workshops, private sessions, and other offerings. See you next time on the Embody Podcast.