Practicing Breathwork, Choosing Authenticity and Honoring Your Future Self

Season 5, Episode 8 

Featured Guest: Sepideh Eivazi, Founder, Dawn of the Earth

What does the future version of you look like? Sepideh Eivazi, founder of Dawn of the Earth, shares how to tap into breathwork, honor your personal transformation and live life authentically. 

Listen now:

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Meet Our Guest

Sepideh Eivazi is a passionate advocate and has a pioneer spirit for holistic wellness. She is the founder of Dawn of the Earth, a unique platform that combines Somatic breath-work with custom-made tea blending. With Dawn of the Earth, she has created an approach to wellness by integrating the power of Somatic Breathwork with the therapeutic benefits of tea. 

She is also a recognized member of the Breathe Initiative at the Global Wellness Institute. Through her involvement with this initiative, she educates and impacts others by sharing the power of breathwork to empower the body and nervous system. Breathwork is known to have a profound impact on our well-being, as it can help reduce stress, increase energy levels, improve focus, and enhance overall vitality. 

Sepideh's guidance in breathwork practices allows individuals to tap into an inner and elevated state of being. Through conscious breathing techniques, individuals can cultivate a deeper sense of self-awareness and connect with their inner selves. which helps to release physical and emotional tension, promote relaxation and reduce stress levels. 

Sepideh deeply believes in empowering and inspiring individuals to take an active role in their well-being and self-care journey. By practicing breathwork techniques, individuals can create a state of calm and centeredness, allowing the body to enter a state of regulated state of being. By incorporating breathwork into daily routine, individuals can cultivate a sense of balance, resilience and overall well-being. 

Living in Iran gave her the opportunity to develop a deep understanding of herbs and teas, allowing her to curate exquisite blends that offer both delightful taste experiences and profound healing benefits. Her passion for herbs and tea extends beyond their flavors and aromas. She recognizes the potential of tea as a powerful tool for connection, self-care, and mindfulness. 

Through her unique tea blends, she invites individuals to embark on a sensory journey that nurtures their bodies, soothes their souls and awakens their senses to the beauty of the present moment. Tea has a long history of being associated with relaxation, rejuvenation and mindfulness practices. It can be a vehicle for creating a sense of ritual and mindfulness in daily life. The act of savoring a cup of tea can be a moment of stillness and reflection, allowing individuals to be fully present and appreciate the simple pleasures of life. 

In addition to her expertise in tea blending and somatic breathwork, Sepideh also incorporates the use of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). By integrating EFT, she guides individuals on a transformative journey where she helps others tap into their potential, release emotional burdens and cultivate a profound sense of self-awareness where individuals can experience profound shifts in their lives, enabling them to navigate challenges, find inner peace and live authentically.

Connect with Sepideh: 
LinkedIn
Instagram: @sepideheivazi 
Website

More About Our Host

Courtney believes that transforming past experiences into impactful conversations through raw, authentic storytelling challenges the status quo, connects people from all walks of life and results in great change for the world.

Courtney is the youngest member to have ever been elected to Meeting Professionals International’s (MPI) International Board of Directors.

She is the recipient of Smart Meetings’ Entrepreneur Award, MeetingsNet’s Changemaker Award, the Association for Women in Events (AWE) Disruptor Award, the MPI Chairman’s Award and MPI RISE Award.

Named Collaborate and Connect Magazine’s 40 under 40 and a Meetings Today Trendsetter.

Recognized as one of the event industry’s most impactful change-makers, Courtney serves on the Events Industry Sexual Harassment Task Force, AWE’s Board of Directors, MPI’s Women’s Advisory Board, is a Meetings Mean Business Ambassador and is the co-founder of the award-winning movement, #MeetingsToo.

Courtney was named as a 2020 Meetings Trendsetter by Meetings Today.

Connect with Courtney:
Website
LinkedIn
Instagram: @courtneyonstage
Twitter: @courtneyonstage
Facebook

Transcript:

Editors note: The following transcription was facilitated by AI program Otter.ai and proofed by our editors. Although it is very accurate, there inevitably will be some mistakes, so please consider that when reading. Thank you.

Courtney Stanley  
Hello, everybody. This is Courtney Stanley, and welcome to another exciting episode of Dare to Interrupt, the only podcast made by women for women in the world of events, hospitality, tourism and beyond. We hope you feel empowered as you listen in on honest, unfiltered conversations with leaders who are considered to be the most influential, inspiring and innovative women in business today.

Throughout their careers, these leaders have dared to interrupt conversations, their own comfort zones and sometimes even societal norms to hustle toward their greatest levels of success. 
Please welcome today's guest, who is a new friend of mine, and I'm just so excited to have her here. Sepideh Eivazi, founder of Dawn of the Earth, welcome Sepi. How are you?

Sepideh Eivazi
Thank you so much for having me. I am so excited and grateful to be here in your presence, and it's been such an honor knowing you and learning about your incredible work. You really, definitely set the tone for hospitality. And thank you for being who you are.

Courtney Stanley  
Oh well, likewise, Sepi. I loved the first conversation that we had a week or two ago, and even our conversation going into today, I have to share with the audience that you took me through. Actually, you know what? I would love for you to explain what you just did so that it's the right language, but audience, I can tell you that Sepi just completely changed my energy and my mindset before we started this conversation within moments. So Sepi, talk the audience through what we just did together.

Sepideh Eivazi
I truly believe living in our authentic self and living consciously and before any interviews, before any podcast, any talks, any conversations or connections, I always set the intention that, how do I want to show up in that space? And a lot of times in our daily basis, we live in a very fast-paced life, and we bring a lot of stuff to the conversations. We bring a lot of past, a lot of emotions, a lot of to do lists, chores, and at the beginning, when we were going to start the conversation, I suggested to have a breathing to have breathing exercises, to ground ourselves and set the intention for this call, which really grounded ourselves each other. 

We were able to ground ourselves and then also align with the messaging. So, my intention was, I asked Courtney to press this area between the collarbones, there's a little hole that you can just press. That's where you can reset your nervous system when you're feeling anxious or you're not sure, you have self-doubts. 

And as pressing that area, we were doing some breathing exercises. It regulates your nervous system. It grounds you. It helps you to feel more clear about the intention. And we both set the intention for this call. So, my intention is transformation, empowerment and making a difference in our industry. And would you like to share yours?

Courtney Stanley  
I would love to, So, my intention today was to facilitate an experience for you that was safe, vulnerable and meaningful, so that our audience would also experience those things.

Sepideh Eivazi
So, when Courtney shared her intention with me, it really touched my heart, and I got really emotional, because one of the biggest things that we all experience as human beings is the feeling of safety and feeling being received in that space, and when you set that intention, it really made me feel safe, and I felt that you got my back, and you really want your intention to create that space for me so I would be able to align with my own intentions, so we can create a badass discussion. So, everyone can just everyone can enjoy this.

Courtney Stanley  
Tell us more about where the name of your company came from. So, Don, if the Earth’s in the name, I know it's got a special meaning. I'd love to start there.

Sepideh Eivazi
Sepideh, in English, means dawn. I'm Iranian, born and raised. I moved to the States when I was 20 years old and this company was born during Covid, when I was lost, I was confused. I wasn't sure. I just left corporate and I was trying to find my way around.

I was working. I just joined elevated meeting solutions. But Covid happened and there weren't much events and conventions happening, and I really had to sit with myself and connect to my roots. And as an Iranian, I grew up around herbs and tea, and my grandmother, she taught me all these knowledge and wisdom of like, how these herbs can just transform our lives. 

So, the first step that I took was, I need to come up with a name and Sepideh in English means dawn, and my purpose, when I was designing my company, there were three things that really matter to me: to be sustainable, eco conscious and purpose-driven. 

So, the Earth, the Mother Earth, is really like my thing, my jam. I'm always thinking, how to give back to the Mother Earth, how to take care of the Mother Earth. We have a responsibility. 
So, in order for me to give back, I started thinking, I'm going to start planting trees by making all these blends that I make. So, I added the Earth at the bottom. I just found the words that really resonated with me. And that's how the name came about, like literally, intentional alignment my purpose. 
And then when I curated the name Dawn of the Earth--because Mother Earth again, we all come from Mother Earth, and we go back to Mother Earth--and I called my sister, who's an artist in France, and I gave her the name, and I said, I want something earthy. I want something herby, and I want to have all these earth elements in this logo. 

She designed the logo for me. It has, like a saffron flower, because saffron comes from Iran, and it has this heat. It has so many benefits, with health, with depression, with anxiety. I wanted to just talk about all these amazing things comes within the herbs, there's so much wisdom, and that's how the company actually started as like a tea company. I worked with local farmers from different parts of the world to support globally. 

So, I find all these small farmers that don't use pesticides and chemicals and stuff in their herbs. They are very sustainable. And I love to support globally, because it matters to just give back globally and then in order for me to give back within the country and where I live. I go to schools and educate kids and children about the power of the herbs, all of that together. It took me to place of where I came from, and all these practices that I've learned at the very young age.

Courtney Stanley  
Wow. And I love, first of all, I love the saffron in the logo. I also love that your sister designed it. I think it pays homage to so many things that are personal to you, including growing up in Iran. And you said you moved here at 20, what was what was that like? What was that experience for you?

Sepideh Eivazi
I think at that age when I moved I was so fearless. I just wanted to leave Iran because I knew that was not a place for me to be able to live and sustain and pursue my dreams. It's a very male-dominated, suppressed society, and as a woman, I was very outspoken. I was always in trouble. 

I wasn't able to be me. I had to always be a different person in order for me to be able to function or to stay alive. Basically, there are so many rules and regulations, there's so much control, and I really wanted to leave when I was 18 years old. I called my dad and I said, I want to work because I want to save up money in order for me to move. I knew that I needed to have money, so I just got a job. From the age of 18 to 20, I worked. I was going to college at the time. 

Also, my dad was not happy with me working, not that he didn't let me work. He wanted me to have higher education, and then after that, he wanted me to work. But I had a different vision. I knew that that was not a place I wanted to live… I had so many limitations in that space in order for me to be able to grow and be who I am and create my true self and live my true self. 

So, I took the leap at the age of 20 with my younger sister, who was 17, and we moved from Iran to Las Vegas.

Courtney Stanley  
People could have chosen more different place to move? What? What, what? How did you choose Vegas?

Sepideh Eivazi
Only person that I knew at the time was my uncle, who was living in Vegas at the time. Okay, you just need to know someone you know, like we didn't any community, we didn't have any family, we were leaving and we were so young. 

So, we moved to Las Vegas. My uncle was living there at the time. Two weeks, we stayed with him, and then we were on our own. And the journey has been--I look back, I'm 38 now, so it's been 18 years that I've been living here--and I look back and I'm like, wow, that was so fierce, like the decisions that I've made. I had to become a parent at the age of 20, I had a younger sister; we were so attached to our family, we missed our friends, we missed our community, and we just moved to a place that we didn't know a single soul, and we didn't know how to rent an apartment, we didn't know how to buy a car. We didn't know how to open up a bank account, like all these basics that for people is like, basically, they're born into the systems are different. Everything is different. 

Different is not bad. It takes time to learn. It takes time to adopt. It takes time to really understand how to live with. Within the new system, but there were a lot of like, survival patterns that I experienced at the very young age, and as I got older, it led me to a place of going back to that time in my life and really sitting with that younger self of me and really understand what she went through, because survival definitely creates a lot of trauma within our body. 

And just going through my own healing and my own journey; I had to always go back to that girl, and I'm so proud of her, because that girl took me where I am today, and I'm always grateful for her tenacity. She just believed in herself, wholeheartedly. She was unstoppable. I was unstoppable. And I just love that feeling that nothing could stop me--not my dad, not the government--nothing could stop me because I knew that that was not where I wanted to live.

Courtney Stanley  
Hats off. Hats off to that 20-year-old version of you and who you are today, because you know the person you are today had a lot to do with who you were back at that time. And I love that you use the word fierce. I think that that is such a powerful word to describe that human being that was really just forging her own path in the world at that time. 

How were you received when you first moved or when you started to transition into your career in the States? What was that like?

Sepideh Eivazi
Well, it was very challenging, because I moved here with this idea of, like, I'm going to move to a new place and I'm going to make new friends and I'm going to be accepted, and all of that. And in Iran everyone's Iranian, like it's not like America that you see people from all walks of life, which is very beautiful. And I love this diversity, diversity of minds, diversity of thoughts, backgrounds, race colors, all of that. I think it's very powerful. 

But the way I was born and I was raised in that country, everyone's Iranian, so I moved to a country that there were all these new things that I was exposed to, and also I never understood how media just painted the image of like Iranians and Iran because of all this political stuff that was happening, and I was just being boxed in based on what people were watching on TV, not wanting to get to know me, there was already, like, a prejudgment when they were meeting me, you know, like asking me questions, do you have internet in Iran? Do you ride camels? Do you drink? Are you Muslim? Are you this? Are you that? 

There was a lot of projection, and I was 20 and I just wanted a friend. That's all I wanted. I just wanted a community. I just want a connection. And it was hard to navigate because it was just very confusing what was happening. It took me a while to really understand what was going on, and then I started educating people what is really true, and what you're watching on TV is not the reality of what's happening there. 

Because Iran is a very rich country. There's so much, poetry, culture, tradition, history, cooking, art, like all of that design. It comes from that that region, I understand what's happening. One of the reasons I didn't want to live there was because of the government and the way the whole thing has been designed. I get that part, but the part that I really struggled with was I was being boxed under all those like things that they were information that they were receiving from media, and there wasn't a curiosity to get to know me as a person. And I think that was the most challenging part for me, to be able to just connect the dots. 

So, that's why I took on a role of educating them about our art and history and what really is coming. And I really enjoyed that. I just turned this around. So, I had friends that they were calling me, and they're like, “Oh, I met another Iranian person, Sepi,” and it just became a thing.

Courtney Stanley  
I love that. I think one of the things that you said earlier that really stuck out to me was you said, and I will paraphrase here, but you said something along the lines of, basically survival comes with trauma, and I want to know what that means to you and how that experience of survival shaped your future and really where you ended up today.

Sepideh Eivazi
I love this question because I transitioned my tea company to a wellness company as I incorporated somatic breath work. And it all comes with every modality that I've ever introduced in my company. It all comes from like my own personal work. I really deeply believe that as practitioners, we are responsible to live in our integrity and do the work first. 

First, we really need to do our own work first, before we use the taglines and use wellness as a trend and say the right things. For me, it’s how are you showing up in that space? Are you walking the talk? And for me, it's been always, always my curiosity to just heal myself and just really understand what's there for me to learn, and just that curiosity led me to a lot of places. 
So, survival patterns really put you in a place of fight, flight or freeze, because trauma stays in your body cells. You know, they always say your issues are are in your tissues and… we live in survival, fear, anxiety and trauma, necessarily, doesn't have to be a war zone, because people sometimes are like, well, I grew up when there was, like, a war happening between Iran and Iraq that I had that trauma also, you know, as a young child, like, I couldn't even comprehend what was happening, Right? I was, like, four years old, and just remembering that my parents, when we were just hearing the sirens, they were taking us to the basement and we were hiding there, just fighting for our lives, you know, like, but trauma necessarily, is not that that is trauma, but there can be experiences that you have with your parents, or with your society, with society or your social group, or your environment, or at school, people get bullied. All of that can just lead to trauma also.

So, when people say I didn't have, like, a horrible childhood, I didn't go through war zone or blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but did you have a narcissist parent? Because that can be a trauma for you. You know what I mean? 

So, I want to just be very clear when we talk about trauma. It doesn't have to be anything horrific or horrible that you're just like destroyed in every cells of your body. It can be the incidents that you experience at a younger age. And because we don't have the capacity to analyze and understand what's going on, which takes on those emotions and feelings and hold on to that for many years. 

So, for me, the survival part was staying alive, figuring out the basics. When I moved I left my country, I left my family, I left my parents. We were very, very close, and then, like in this new dynamic, I was like, who am I? And I was not being accepted in my new life, in my new environment. 

So, that was another trauma, like I was trying to fit in. So, like I had to. I was just being so hard on myself to speak English very, very well. I was trying to hide my accent, because I was thinking that the first question is, like, “Oh, you have an accent. Where are you from?” And it was just this fear inside of me that I just didn't want to expose myself, that I come from that region, because I was, I knew that there would be a judgment right after that, like there were comments, there was never a curiosity for them to learn me. 

So, all of that together, surviving my social network, my college, my work, all of that, it led me to a place of sitting with me and just really understanding how my body and nervous system held on to those emotions for many, many years, because it wanted to protect my nervous system, because I wanted to just feel safe, and the safety was not there because of survival and safety, they don't go together throughout all my practices. I've done Reiki, I've done past life regression. I really…I went deep. I really went deep. And somatic breath work was something that really, really spoke to me for many, many reasons. 

The main one is the intelligence of our body. I really believe in every cell in my body, that our body is very intelligent, and we underestimate the power of our breath, um, through these modalities. Because every time I was meditating or, you know, doing things that I was just getting silent, my body used to start shaking, and I used to freak out. I'm like, what's going on? What's wrong with me? I'm broken. 

The brokenness that we have, that self-talk and breath work helped me to understand that I'm not broken. These are all trapped emotions in my body that I just didn't know how to release them from my body cells. And the more you hold on to that, the more they show up in your life because you're operating from a place of fight, flight or freeze, which they are all trauma responses and learning how to put my body in a place of like parasympathetic, which means putting the body in a place of calmness and regulated state of emotions, where the cells and the organs and the tissues in our body starts healing. 

The more I practice that, the more I started feeling myself again, because I was not cluttered with all these thoughts and emotions. I felt more space in my body. I was creating more space in my body because I was releasing all these trapped emotions. And I'm like, Wow. This is incredible. I want to bring this to the world. I want people to know that you don't need to rely on a guru or a shaman for this, and that an external thing outside of you to feel who you are. All you need to do is truly to connect within you and connect your breath. And the breath is so intelligent, the breath knows exactly where the trauma is sitting in your body, and through this work, you're able to release it. 

So, when people ask me, Sepi, how do you see yourself? I don't see myself as a guide or as, you know, like I said, I don't like these, any of these labels, because I think it really dehumanize the intelligence of our body; it's just the ego we want another label that who I am. I see myself simply as a catalyst. I'm a guy like I just hold space for people to come feel safe, like what you just mentioned at the beginning of the call. 

When I feel safe, I am living in my true, authentic self, and I create that safe environment for them, that safe container that they can connect within, and they can release all these deep wounds that they've been holding on to for many, many years, the sadness, the grief, the anger, the betrayal, all of that we all experience it, but we're so trained and programmed to just mask it and live in a different you know, like, just pretend that it doesn't exist. 

A lot of times I hear from, like our hospitality friends, that I don't want to feel it, I don't want to go there, but the answer is, basically, it's just sitting with what is. And I'm very grateful that I was courageous and curious to sit in that space and face me and all the things that's been holding me back to create space, and that's why I'm so passionate talking about somatic breath work. 

I'm working on my TEDx also to bring this to the world, because when you heal, you're better to your neighbor, you're better to your family. You're better with the Uber driver. 

You know, we can all collectively live together and just have compassion toward one another. 

So, this work really matters to me, and I'm so grateful that I did all the work that I did when it came to survival, and sometimes I still feel that the journey never ends. By the way, you know, people, they're just like a process. They're layers and layers and layers, or things that we don't even remember that's been sitting in our subconscious. And breath work helps us to just bring those like memories or emotions to the surface and release it from the body cells. That's the power of the breath.

Courtney Stanley  
How important is it for people to understand what their trauma response is? So, you mentioned fight, flight, freeze and then dawn? I think is another one that I've heard ofm too. How important is it for people to understand those different trauma responses and maybe identify with what seems to be their knee jerk response.

Sepideh Eivazi
I don't know. I think we all have so there are times that I get to my fight and there are times that I get to my freeze, and there's times that I get to flight. I think we have picked different ways of coping with different things, like, how many times you're like somebody said something to me, and I just froze. I couldn't react. And then you're in a different situation, and somebody says something, and you lose your mind, and you get so angry, and you get to the fight mode.

I think depends on the situation. How we choose different ways of, like, protecting our nervous system, all of that is playing inside of us. And I don't like to really, like, shed a lot of light on this is fight. This is so you're good or bad. There's no wrongdoing in any of that, you know, like the nervous system is just picking whatever it is to protect the nervous system. Because the nervous system, when it feels in danger, the job of the nervous system is to protect itself. 

So, however that shows up, it shows up to predict, but the problem is, we never shake it off from our body cells, and that's where all these illnesses manifest in our body cells. The more we hold on to that like, you know, I talk I work with a lot of people that they deal with terminal diseases, cancers, you know, like all these stuff, diabetes, heart problems, like all of that. And when we really sit and talk, it all comes to all distort emotions in our body.

Courtney Stanley  
Is it possible to share with the audience a brief somatic breathwork technique. Let's say if somebody that's tuning in is feeling really anxious and stressed, there's something that's been going on, or they're just overwhelmed with life, with work, whatever it is. Is there something that we can help to guide them through as they're listening to this podcast?

Sepideh Eivazi
Absolutely. So, when it comes to somatic breath work, we really need the full hour to put the body from sympathetic to parasympathetic. And I would tell you the why, because the HA the first half of the session, we're putting the body in a place that body feels safe to express. 
So like, the expression comes from, like, the releasing whatever that we're holding on to, we really need to it's building that trust muscle with the body, that it's okay to feel and release, because we've been trained that I'm in a hole and I'm gonna numb and I'm gonna drink and I'm gonna overeat and I'm gonna use substances and I'm gonna scroll on social media. We've created so much numbing, you know, tools for not feeling what we feel. 
So, the first half, I really need to create that space for the body and for that individual to feel safe, to be able to release. And then the second half is the embodiment. So, we need time. We really need time to put the body from sympathetic to parasympathetic, to get the body to a place of embodiment that I really want to feel, the calmness. The calmness is not going to happen within five minutes if you're not a conscious breather, if you're not in tune with yourself, if you have all these self doubts, if you're just not in that space.
This space and the environment is very important, so what I would love to do to help, like a quick reset, there are different ways of breath work. So when it comes to somatic one hour, we really need to be in that space to create from sympathetic to parasympathetic, really allow the body to express and then regulate the nervous system throughout the day. If people are looking for tools, I would share this really amazing technique. It's like double inhale. It's actually coming from Andrew Huberman. He does like double inhale from your nose. 
You hold on top of your head and you stay with it. You count to 4: 1, 2, 3, 4, and you release, and let it go from your mouth. But when you release, you release it all the way from your core. You release whatever you're holding on to so tight, you release it from your body cells, because you know, whatever the anxiety, the sadness, the depression, the grief, whatever is sitting in your body cells. 

So, it really matters. When you we are releasing, it's going to be a long sigh, like ahhhhh. You really let it go and you feel it, so double inhale from your nose, hold on top of your head. Count to four and release it from your mouth and let it go.

Courtney Stanley  
I think that that is a perfect exercise for people to start with, and I love that you said it takes time to get into a space of safety in order to transition your body and how your body is surviving in that moment. You mentioned to me that there's something called pause, right? That's taking place on Mondays. Can you talk to me about that? Is that something that other people in our industry can attend?

Sepideh Eivazi
Yes, I'm a former hotelier. I worked at MGM Grand, so I've worked in really high, intense levels of anxiety when I was just part of the events and conventions, and then now I work as a corporate event planner with Elevated Meeting Solutions and pause was a platform that's been inspired coming from all my background, understanding that how as hospitality workers, we are on the go, go, go. We don't take care of ourselves. We're always taking care of others. 

I always look at this industry as a codependent industry. Yes, everyone wants to please everyone, and when it comes to us, the answer is, I don't have time for that. And it really breaks my heart that we're not making ourselves a priority. I always go back to the example about the oxygen mask. If you don't have the oxygen, even if you have a child next to you, you need to put the oxygen on you first. 

But in our industry, we're so trained to take care of others, and when it comes to us, we don't matter. That message to ourselves, I think it's really strong and bold, and I really wanted to make a difference in that space. So, my really good friend, Sarah Ruder, I traveled with her in Colombia. She called me, like a few months ago, and we were talking about a destination, and she said, Sepi, I was visiting San Miguel and I got this message that I need to do a retreat with you. And I just called to just explore this opportunity as we're talking and exploring. 
She’s also a corporate event planner and in a health and wellness platform. She does a lot of amazing work, and this collaboration that the pause happened through this conversation and we are creating. It's so young. We started that in June, and I call that a pause movement, because it's a grassroots movement. 

We're just asking people to bring a friend, we're asking people to bring whoever that they need to have a 20-minute reset every Monday, like the way we did the intention for this call. We set the intention for the week. And every month, we focus on different energy centers in the body. 

So, in the month of June, we focus on the heart and the gratitude. This month, we're working on the solar plexus, how to build your inner confidence, like authentically living in that space. And what we introduce, we do body movements, breath work. We teach them different modalities in 20 minutes, 10 am PSD, every Monday for people to come as a community and all like teach them how to they can apply these modalities throughout the week. And it's so beautiful. I just get chills even talking about it, because it's been unbelievable. 

The amount of support that we're receiving and the posts that people just post organically after this 20-minute session and share their experiences that how they went through this incredible shift. Truly like holding space and showing up for them wholeheartedly, and really reprogramming them to take care of themselves first. And it's so beautiful. I'm so grateful for our pause community. 

Like I said, it's a movement because we want to ask more industry people to join, to support one another, to exchange business consciously. We can all eat at the table. We can all learn from one another. My message is, we're always better together. So, all these isolations. It's my business. It's my account. All of that. It's not welcomed in our platform. This platform is about being together, heal together, learn together, expand together, grow together. And I'm very proud of myself and Sarah for just taking the lead on that, and I'm very grateful for our community, that they show up. And it's incredible.

I can't tell you how beautiful this is. It's a genuine, sincere space, taking responsibility, removing all the victimhoods, taking the responsibility and ownership of my own actions and integrity, to me, it's key. It means keeping your words and promises to yourself and others, and it's a big responsibility as a leader, as a practitioner, as a corporate event planner, integrity comes to really understanding who you are as a person and have that clear vision. 

So, I keep myself accountable for my words. I would never make promises that I can not deliver. And I used to. I used to make a lot of promises and under deliver, and through all my practices, that was the biggest thing. That's my highlight, that's like my core value, that's my non-negotiable. And it took me a minute to really arrive to that space. But I've done my work, and I understand that living in the place of integrity, it really puts your life in a different place, the people that you serve with yourself. I don't tolerate ghosting, not texting back, not being present, not being engaged, flaky, one foot in, one foot out, like all of that energy is out of my life, because I don't operate in that space anymore. Integrity is about showing up 100% and being present. And when you say something, you keep yourself accountable. 

Of course, life happens, and I always say, we are I, when I find I catch myself that I'm being out of integrity. I always restore integrity with people. I show up, I take responsibility where I just I was off track, and by restoring integrity, I give them another action plan that how this is not going to happen, because when we're out of integrity, we're impacting others. 

It's not only about us, you know, it's about, like, how do we show up in that space? And how, how am I impacting others by ghosting you, not texting you back, not responding to your emails? You know, like, we create a lot of like, assumptions, storytelling, you know, like, it matters how we show up, it matters as leaders, we're showing up in integrity, and we keep our words and promises with others, and we're living in our authentic self. And if I am in a situation that I'm not able to carry that message, I would always communicate. I would always let them know that this is where I am and when I'm operating from a place of like, authentic self. Because, like, the question is, like, what is authenticity? 

Everyone's throwing this word out there. It's basically, instead of like being so worried about, like how you look in front of others, you really honor who you are. You really honor like, what you feel and what is your true being. You know, I see. Lot of social climbing. I see a lot of people. They want to fit in. They want to click with this group. They want to be seen with that group. And when I talk with them, I do see that this misalignment because they're too worried about their image, then like being authentic and being true to themselves. 

So, authenticity and integrity, for me, goes like hand in hand, and it's very important to be aligned in that space.

Courtney Stanley  
When you see somebody who is struggling to be authentic, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say they do want to be authentic, but they're afraid. What advice would you give to them to make that transition from being afraid to really lean into who they are and really fully taking that step into being themselves.

Sepideh Eivazi
The question for me is, is this serving my life and my purpose? And if the answer is no, and you keep choosing to be on authentic you're betraying yourself, because you look back in your 40s, in your 50s, in your 30s, in your 60s, and you're like, I didn't live the life that I wanted to live. I live the life that I wanted to impress other people. And if you're okay with that result, then continue what you're doing. 

To me, that's a very empty place, because we're always looking for that external validation. And that external validation would never happen because we are not living in our or whoever. You're not living in your authentic self. You're living for other people to get approval, to get validation, to feel good, and it's like a quick dopamine rush. We get it here and there, and the brain is like, Oh yeah, I got the high. But is it really authentic? Is it Is this how you want to live your life? It's a choice. It's really a choice. 

And that's how I keep myself in check, by asking is this serving me? Is this really, truly serving me? And every time I'm not being authentic, the answer is no, it's not serving me, and I just redirect myself back to where I know we're all human. You know, it's okay to catch yourself in areas that you're not being authentic, because we all want to be seen and heard. It's okay to be human in the world that we're all fighting to be seen and heard. I fall out of my integrity that times. I fall like not being 100% authentic. At times it's okay, but just being real and coming forward and saying, Hey, listen, this is where I see I need more work and asking for help. You know, like we don't have this excuse anymore. We have social media, we have internet. There's global communities, so many communities that you can tap into, their coaches, their leaders, there are trainings, there are books, there are podcasts, there's so much there's so many ways that we can learn who we need to be who am I really as a person. 

And I think during that time, when I was designing my wellness company, I had this good two to three years of like, being so confused with who I was, because I was living on authentic in many ways, also because I wanted to fit in. It's all my internal work, just facing who I am and who I want to be, who do I want to create? And I wrote a letter to my future self, and that letter really shifted a lot of things for me, because that future self is telling me things that my present self, my action, the actions that I'm taking at the present, really matters for who I want to become, and I keep myself accountable for that.

Courtney Stanley  
That's fascinating. So, if somebody were to go through that exercise and write a letter to themselves, what type of framework to their future self? Okay, what type of framework would they need to have in mind when they're doing something like that?

Sepideh Eivazi
So, the way I did, like my future-self letter, it's all about who I want to create. So, if I want to create a high vibe tribe, let's talk about community. Like I want to be certain that with women, that they are high vibe. Am I being that person? Am I showing up in that space? Am I saying the names of Courtney in the rooms that Courtney is not even there with, like confidence in supporting her work and not living in my envious and jealousy, my future self is a woman of words, integrity, community, connection, empowerment and the letter is all about that, that what I want to create and who she is, and then I practice how to be that every single day. 

And, you know, it's very challenging, because we live in an automatic world. That's why I love the breath work. Because the breath work breaks the automatic, we live in a hypnosis state. If you just pay attention, when you wake up in the morning, you have a to do list in your head. When you're brushing your teeth, you're thinking about your email and phone call because we're living in a hypnosis state, but living consciously and just really knowing who you want to be. And that's so powerful. That practice is really powerful. And just lke understanding that, who do I want to be today, who do I really want to be today, and showing up in that that space. One of the reasons I reached out to you--very organically, you know, I literally I listened to your podcast. I was being interviewed with Mandy, and it was literally… I looked at her list. I was just going through the names. I have no idea why I chose you. I've never heard of you, and I listened to you, and I'm like, Oh my God, who is this woman?

And I just messaged you because you really inspired me. And I could feel the energy. I could feel the vibe. 
You are part of my future self. You are the mirror who I want to be, and surrendering ourselves with people like that, that they're not afraid of your power and your strength and your message and your purpose, my future self is that. So, in order for me to be that, I'm just coming to people like you, that you align with me or Megan. We were talking about Megan Henshel before that. So, these are our tribes. We see each other and we know that, yes, they're coming, but if I was not vibing in that space, if I was not being authentic, if I was not being real, if I was not living in integrity, this connection would have never happened, because the words that I said, you felt it and you knew it was true.

Courtney Stanley  
Yep, I completely agree, because that really was like….we had a call, and it was just a meet and greet, and we were chatting and getting to know each other. I had no intention of asking you to be on this podcast before a conversation, because I didn't know you. And the moment you stepped up and started sharing who you were with me, just through… again, the words you were using in your energy and your essence, I immediately knew. I was like, Oh, she's a real one. Like, this is somebody that I definitely want to get to know better, spend more time with, also share parts of her with our audience. Because there's such beautiful, powerful stories here, and I know that there's so much wisdom in those stories to share as well. 

And something else that you said that really resonated with me was looking at somebody and saying, you're going to be a part of me in the future. Wow. I think when we think about relationships in general, friendships, partnerships, but relationships in general, it's tough to leave people behind when you feel that you're moving in a different direction. And so, I think what a beautiful way to look at somebody new or somebody else in your life, and see that you are aligned in your values and your mindset and your integrity, and say that is the person that's going to be a part of the present and future version of me, and starting to really be intentional about the relationships that you have around you, moving toward that future version of you. 

So, I just thought that that was so beautiful that really stuck out to me.

Sepideh Eivazi
I just love what you said, and the reason is because that we have so much shame when it comes to that, and the shame of, like, being successful, it's like part of the block. What's going to happen to my friends? How am I going to be seen? You know, like they're going to think this, they're going to think that I'm a big deal, blah, blah, blah, and we hold ourselves back and we keep ourselves small because we don't want them to see us that way. 
And the past few years, I had to go through so many challenges, like making those difficult decisions and release some of these relationships. 18 years friendship, 20 years friendship, like it was hard, it was heartbreaking, it was I was sad. I was grieving some of these relationships, but I knew it in my heart that I had to let those go in order for me to level up and to expect and I had to honor that truth within me that's the authenticity that's literally practicing authenticity and knowing that this does not serve me anymore, and it served me for a period, and it was amazing. 

And I sent all of them love, and I'm so grateful that I experienced so many beautiful things with them. But where my future self is heading to, I need a different vibe and different energy, different tribe, and really being honest with yourself. And just not shaming and guilting yourself or just making that decision. It was a huge shift in my life, and for a period it was lonely. It was very lonely because I identified with them. They were my tribe. They were my sisters, they were my community. And I'm like, did I was that a right decision? Did I make the right call? And guess what? Like, I'm getting all these incredible people that they're walking to my life, you know? And like, Yeah, this is the why that I want. 

This is the tribe that I'm building. Because I want to grow and expand with all these people. I want to stand with them. I want to show up for them. I want to support them, because I know they have the same energy and the same mentality, and they're not afraid to be in that space. And it takes work. You know, everyone's looking for that magical pill. It's a lot of work. Even when it comes to breath work, people want to lay down and just like, want me to make some miracles for them. I'm like, it's called breath work. So, you gotta do the work. Let's do work. 
Everything happens when we are in action. I call that a love incident law, law of attraction. I call that law of action. You need to take action in order for you to be able to get where you need to go. And one of those actions are making these difficult situation decisions. Who am I surrounding with? You know, who are these people that I'm contributing and investing my time and energy with, and is this serving me, and I'm very grateful that I made those decisions, because the new tribe and community that I'm building, they're definitely a different level. It's like next level. 

And I want to add it's not good or bad. I always say it's not good or bad. I'm not making anything wrong or anyone wrong. It's like we change, and we need to honor our change and transformation. And if we want that future self, we gotta change, and we gotta accept that this is just part of the process.

Courtney Stanley  
I love that you took us there first of all, and I love where you ended in not shaming anybody else, either you know, not experiencing or, you know, absorbing self shame or self doubt because of the decisions that you're making to really move in a different direction and surround yourself with different types of people, but also expressing that there's no shame or blame on people that maybe you're taking some steps away from that everybody's on their own path. 

Everybody's going at their own pace, and that's okay, but I think doing what's best for you and really knowing deep within your intuition that these are people who are going to elevate me, empower me, support me, and vice versa, me, wanting to do that for them is a very healthy place to be. But in order to get there and make space for those people, you have to do just that. You have to make the space. 

So, I love that you took us there, Sepi, and this whole conversation has been everything, which I knew it would be. I knew this was going to be a really, really good conversation because of you and who you are. I want to give you space to share any final words of advice or any pieces of wisdom or anything else that you want to leave the audience thinking about as they go about their day. Yeah.

Sepideh Eivazi
I would like your audience to really take some time to sit with themselves and see if they're living in an integrity with themselves. 

First, like question yourself. I feel like that that really changed my entire life, because I didn't really know that I was not living in integrity. And when I learned how to live in that space, I really transformed in many, many levels of being, my own being, and it's a lot of work, but I want them to know that there's always a space like I'm sure you, you're an outstanding coach, and you can help them with that. I can help them with that, creating that safe space for them to come to us and ask, How can I just change this for myself, not that you're wrong, not that you're broken, how can you add value to your own life by living in that space of integrity and also surrendering yourself with people that they want you to win. 

This is why I ask them to come to us and ask for that, because we want them to win. And when you win, I'm winning and understanding that winning is not like getting a prize or an award, all these small wins that we have, the conversations that you have, the connections that you make, the new tribe that you create, and celebrate those small wins. It's not about the prize, it's not about the award. It's about the journey. It's about the path. It's about the process. And we're always better together. Always better together.

Courtney Stanley  
Couldn't agree more. And Sepi, I want to say, thank you so much for spending this time with me and, of course, with the audience. This has been absolutely wonderful.

Sepideh Eivazi
Of course, thank you so much for having me. You are amazing, and I'm so grateful just knowing you and having you in my life,

Courtney Stanley  
Me, too, girl, me too, and to many more conversations in the future, and also retreats, because I am going to be there for whatever retreats you plan in the future as well. Thank you all so much for tuning in and make sure that you share what you took away from this episode with us on social media, and of course, follow @MeetingsToday and at @CourtneyonStage. 

Be sure to never miss an episode by subscribing to Dare to Interrupt on all platforms and make sure that you continue to trust your instincts to lead with integrity and keep daring to interrupt my friends. Until next time.