How to Stay Centered, Even When Triggered with Lucia Giovannini

In this Episode

• [01:15] Orion introduces Lucia Giovannini, a transformational speaker and author of 13 books. She has been defined as the Italian Louise Hay by prestigious media.
• [08:19] Lucia tells the story of how she gave up everything in her life, even her marriage, to continue her passion for reducing human suffering ever since she was a little girl.
• [17:04] Lucia reminds us of how important hardships and obstacles are in our lives to make us stronger to fight for our dreams and goals.
• [25:43] How can you keep yourself centered and maintain a strong connection with the Creator despite what is happening to the world due to the pandemic?
• [33:02] Follow Lucia Giovannini on her social media accounts and visit her website at LuciaGiovannini.com to learn how to have a happier, more fulfilled life.

Jump to Links and Resources

About Today’s Show

Hey Lucia, and welcome to the Stellar Life Podcast. It's a pleasure and an honor having you here. Thank you so much for being here.

Thank you, Orion. All right. I'm super excited to be here. Thank you for having me.

Wow. So you're in Italy right now. I've been there. I visited Rome three times. It was so beautiful.

Yeah, I know. Italy is beautiful. Now it's difficult because it seems we are in the middle of the second wave of COVID. So it's not so fun. Especially cause there are lots of restrictions on traveling and everything but apart from that Italy is beautiful. 

Yeah, Italy is wonderful. And the people are awesome, too. So we're gonna dive into all of this, like, what's going on in Italy right now? What's going on in other countries around the world? Everybody is affected by what's going on. We're gonna try to raise the frequency here and help people feel better and happier and get a deeper understanding of how to own their happiness. Before we start, Lucia, can you please share a little bit about yourself and your passion? How did you become so passionate about what you're teaching? 

Yeah, I think is this kind of topic has always been my passion since I was a little girl. I remember when I was little, I have been asked by my parents' friends, like, "What do you want to do when you're grown up?" I would say, "I want to do something to diminish and possibly eliminate all kinds of suffering in the world." Animal suffering, human suffering, and those people would look at me with, like, there's something weird about this little girl. I used to go around asking lots of questions, but not normal questions like every kid would ask. Like, why is the sky blue or things like that? Now my questions were like, where do we come from? Why are we here? What's our mission in life? And they would look at me, "Uh-uh, bye." Up to a point where my mother said, "Stop asking any questions. Questions are not polite. Just shut up."

Oh, no.

I've always remembered that I always had this urge in me to do something about basically reducing suffering and getting back to joy, to happiness, to freedom. But then, of course,  the promises you make to yourself when you're a kid that then you tend to forget them, at least I forgot them in a certain period of my life. When I started psychology and I used to read Jung when I was 14 years old. For some coincidences, I started modeling, it went from a part-time job that was meant just to help to pay for my studies. Then it became a full-time job, a full-time career for many years. In those years, I didn't forget my passion. It's not entirely true, because I kept on reading, going to seminars, attending workshops on spirituality, I kept on meditating and all that, but I kind of got so attracted by that world. 

I used to do vision boards but the things that I used to put in my vision boards were like, be on the cover of Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, things like that. So all my spiritual dreams and goals were just forgotten. And I lived like that for quite a while, I got married to a dashing man, he was a model himself, all my friends were in the fashion world. I kind of forgot my beginnings, my call in a way.  I continue like that until I ended up being depressed. All that glamorous life didn't mean anything after a while. And I woke up every day, and I was more and more miserable. Even if I was making a lot of money, living in a beautiful house, etc. To make a long story short, I ended up giving up everything. I gave up my marriage. I gave my beautiful house to my ex-husband.

Why?

Because I was young and full of a sense of guilt. And then I came back to my hometown, Bologna, Italy. All that I had left was my big desire to do something to diminish suffering and help people and the world. But in Italy in those times, there wasn't anything about that. Coaching was non-existent in Italy, except for sports coaching. Even if I have a degree in psychology, I didn't want to open a practice in psychology because that was not what I wanted to do. I wanted to help people be more in contact with their spiritual mission and help them navigate through life. Be more connected to their soul. It was a different thing. But it was something that I had to build from scratch. And it wasn't easy because I doubted myself, I doubted my choice so many times. But eventually, that's what I ended up doing step by step. It was not an easy journey. I ended up giving up everything for that. And the first few years were really difficult because my savings were dwindling very fast and I was not making enough money, not having enough clients. On the other side, what I had left was a promising career. 

So if you look back at your younger self today, and you see that the young woman who just gave up everything to follow her heart and her desire and her spiritual connection, and she's having a hard time, like, what would you tell her? Was it worth it doing all that? What would you say?

I gained a lot of peace, I would say. The fashion world is a beautiful world, I was traveling, I was making a lot of friends, I was earning a lot of money, but still, I was feeling empty. I was feeling I was not making any difference. My voice was not heard. And actually, I wasn't even speaking so much as to make my voice heard. To that younger version of me, I would say, "It is worthwhile. Trust your heart. Trust that little voice within you." Because the difficult part, at least for me and I think that's true for many people, is keeping on walking in that direction. Even if you don't have a clear picture in front of you, even if you're not sure where you're walking into,  what is the result that you want that is going to happen. So trust that was a very important resource that I would advise my younger self to develop. Lots of trust.

That's beautiful. Even in my life, I feel like, where there were times where I gave up money or safety. I did things that people would think are crazy but I followed my heart and I followed my intuition. I struggled too. When you burn the boats, where you don't have anywhere else to go, it gives you so much more passion to follow your dreams. When you think to yourself, "I came so far. I gave him so much. I'm not gonna give up my dream."

Exactly, precisely. What I think is also important to understand is that hardships are there to make us stronger. Because I meet lots of people in my workshops, for example. When they tell me their transformation stories or the changes that they're going through. For example, they say, "Yeah, I want this. I feel this is what I want to do in life. But then there is that obstacle. The fact that obstacle is there, maybe it means that I'm not meant to go forward." Among spiritual people, there is somehow the idea that everything needs to be super easy. Otherwise, it's not your path. And this, I think it's a big trap. Because it's not true. It's not true that everything needs to be super easy. Sometimes we need obstacles in our life. And there's a reason also for that. Sometimes life just tests us to see if our intention is strong enough. And if we give up, then just thinking it means that was not meant for me. I was not meant for that goal or dream. I think it's a pity.

I don't remember the quote. But I remember hearing something like the reason why God the Creator put an idea in your mind to give you a certain dream. Like you have a different dream than your neighbor or your friend or your parents. You have your dreams. And the reason why those dreams were given to you is because you probably have the capacity to achieve them.

Yeah, absolutely. And there's another quote that says, I don't remember it precisely, that God does not give us weight that our shoulders are not able to carry. 

Yeah. It's beautiful. We are all carrying a lot of weight recently because of the way the world is and COVID-19 and we have to deal with so much change. We have a certain dream, and we thought is gonna work a certain way. But now, you cannot travel, you cannot do things. And your dreams seem further away. What are your thoughts?

Yeah, absolutely. It's true. I think that this COVID-19 is teaching us many things. In a way, it is a great teacher for us. It is teaching us patience for everybody because we feel like our dreams are not proceeding. They have been delayed in a way. The other thing is we often feel we are not in control of our life anymore. Because I don't know about you. But here, for example, in Italy, but in Europe in general, they keep on changing the laws, like not every day, but almost.

Here too. Israel right now, it's insane. Like I never felt not in control of what's happening. I think before COVID-19, there was this illusion of certainty. We thought we had freedom. I'm looking at the governments and what they want to force us to do. I'm like, do we have a democracy? Is there freedom? I feel like I'm in The Truman Show. And there's a big crowd looking at me and it's ready to pull the curtain say like, "Hello. What's going on? This is your new reality." 

Exactly. Absolutely. It is like being in a movie.

Yeah.

Maybe I'm dreaming, maybe I'll wake up this nightmare. Is it truly happening? It's not possible. And we have no more control like we were used to a certain kind of freedom, at least or apparent freedom. At least you could decide how to plan your life in the next month, in the next year. And now, it's not possible. This forces us to cope with uncertainty. And uncertainty is that is not a nice position or a comfortable position to be in. Another thing that this COVID is teaching guys is how to be grounded and balanced even when all our certainties are shattered and destroyed in a way. And the other thing is, there are lots of energies that come up. For example, this is happening a lot here in Europe and in Italy, too. I don't know about where you are, but we are divided like pro-vaccine, anti-vaccine, pro-mask, anti-mask.

I've never seen such division in my life. We live in Los Angeles and we came here a few months ago to be with my family. We're gonna go back to the US but before I left, the US is so divided. White, black, blue, red.

Yeah.

It's like, there is a force that is dividing us. It's mischievous. Mischievous is a good word for that. This force that wants to divide us. Family members don't talk to each other because of political opinions. Like, pro-mask and anti-mask, pro-vaccine and anti-vaccine. How do you navigate all this? Especially me, I don't listen to mainstream media, I listen to other channels. It's really hard for me to wrap my head around everything that's going on. And to some days to keep center.

Yeah. For me, it's the same. I don't even own a television. I don't watch television. This is since 20 years ago, I just got rid of television. And I'm just watching the news from alternative channels. But of course, here in Italy, everybody is in front of the TV from morning to evening, and they watch the government media.

They are watching programs being programmed.

Yes. I normally live part of the year in Italy and the rest of the year between Thailand and Bali. I was in Thailand in September, and I came here to Italy in late September, because I had some workshops planned here, and I wanted for them to happen because people needed so much to come together. Luckily, I was able to do these live workshops. And then we had the second wave. So now, it's not possible anymore. But anyway normally, people who come to my workshops or my readers are more into alternative media and so on. But even with them and with friends here or in Thailand, Thailand is divided not only because of the vaccine but also because they have the government – the pro-government and anti-government. There's a rebellion going on.

That’s happening here, too. It's like the same frickin program, every frickin country all over the world. It is such a brilliant plan. In every country, it's the same stuff is going on. It's so so weird. How can it be so accurate in every way? Same division. They even say in the news the same thing.

Yeah. For me, it's really weird. I can't help thinking that there's a higher plan going on or orchestrating all this. But by higher, I don't mean divine plan. It's a kind of hierarchy, or people behind this because it's happening all over the world, or almost all over the world. For example, a few days ago, I sent some links to some interviews that go against the mainstream information about vaccines, and so on. And I sent it to some friends of mine, and they had a very strong reaction, like, "Don't dare to send us these things. These things are evil." I respect everybody's opinion because I think that everybody needs to be free to have his or her own opinion. But at the same time, when you offer an alternative point of view, why is it that people get so inflamed and so ready to fight one against the other.

Yeah. I feel like you're more awakened-I would call you're more awakened, you're respectful in all perspectives. But you see people are having a very strong reaction to what you have to tell them. I feel like some people don't want to hear, don't wanna even listen, I don't wanna see. They just go with blinders on. And if you say something a little bit different than what they think, they go nuts. I think everybody's getting triggered quickly these days because of what's going on. How do you keep centered? What do you do every day to keep center, to keep a higher vibration, to keep a stronger connection to your Creator, to keep the vision of your dream, and focus on that regardless of the storm that is happening outside?

Yeah, so I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do, I do some breathing exercises, some pranayama exercises, and then some yoga, not longer-like half an hour. When I have time I do more. But other than that, if I have a busy day is just half an hour between yoga-like 20 minutes yoga, 10 minutes of breathing exercise, and then I do my meditation, which again is 15 minutes to 20 minutes maximum. Then some days when I feel I need more, I do more, but my basic meditation is no longer than that. And then I walk with my dog. I do that every day. Because here in Italy, I live in a flat with no garden. So I'm forced to do that because he needs it. So I normally walk, I have a very beautiful park near where I live. I walk for an hour or so in nature. And that also helps me a lot because I think that nature is a fantastic womb. I see it as mother nature, like a motherly figure that is there for us to hold us and to absorb all our worries and pains and negativity and fears so that we can go on with our life much lighter. After that, I go back, I come back home, I have my breakfast, or I work a little bit until breakfast. My breakfast is around noon because I do intermittent fasting. The last time I eat in the afternoon is from around 5 PM maximum five-thirty. And the next time is around noon.

I do intermittent fasting in between meals and I have about 24 meals a day. Just kidding.

Intermittent fasting is helping me a lot, especially in the morning with my meditation and my yoga because it keeps my mind clearer and more focused. Anyway, I'm vegan and I usually have light meals. After that, I start working. Normally, I start working from like twelve-thirty or one o'clock and then to about five o'clock when I eat. After dinner, I have another walk with my dog, a shorter one. Normally, I work a little bit more, if I need to work or I read or I have interviews, depending on the day. Now, I don't see my friends because here in Italy, it has become impossible. 

It must be so difficult.

Yeah, it is.

Are there any practices that you do? If somebody is here listening to you, and then they feel alone, and they feel fearful of what's going on, what will be your advice to help them deal with those emotions?

Journaling is a fantastic practice. Just because of the idea of becoming aware of your emotions and naming your emotions. It is super helpful in observing your emotions without needing to stop your emotions. But you just let them pass basically, like if they were a wave in the ocean. And so naming them, writing about them, writing about how you feel, or writing on a piece of paper all your fears, all your pains. Another very beautiful practice, if you have the possibility to go out in nature, is to bring your notepad with you and write about your fears, your pains, etc. But then, take a little stick, like a wooden stick or you can also use your hands, and just dig in the earth a little bit and talk to Mother Earth. The idea is to give all your burdens and offer your burdens and your pains to Mother Earth. That is already something very useful, but if you want to make a ritual out of it, bring some seeds, sunflower seeds with you. After you discharge your burdens and offer them to Mother Earth by digging a hole where you energetically put all your fears and pains. Then, you plant a few seeds, and you'll cover them, and then you let nature do the rest.

When you do that, is it okay to give your burdens to Mother Earth? Will it not affect her? 

No, it won't affect her because Mother Earth, in that sense, has very powerful transformational capacities. Traditionally you could offer your hair – one small hair. Or you could offer some tobacco, or you could offer like flowers – sunflower seeds. In that sense, you offer something beautiful to your mother.

That's beautiful. Well, thank you so so much. This is amazing. And I appreciate talking to you. If people want to know more about you, get your books. I know you have 14 books. This new book just came out in Italian for now, and probably will be translated into English. Where can they reach you, find you, learn more about you?

Yeah, they can find me at my website, www.luciagiovannini.com. And of course, on my social media, Instagram, same name, Lucia Giovannini. Official Facebook page or LinkedIn.

Beautiful, thank you so much. And I appreciate our conversation today. And I know that we're gonna have an upcoming chapter where you're gonna guide our audience in the process. So that's to come. And so thank you so much.

Thank you, Orion it's been a pleasure and an honor.

Thank you and thank you, listeners. Remember to connect to Mother Earth, go into nature. Have some kind of a morning ritual, move your body, and do some good breathing. Condition your mind for the day so you feel guided and protected and more centered to navigate this crazy world we living in and have a stellar life.