Hello, everyone! This is Tonya Dawn Recla, your Super Power Expert and I have on this show with me today, Laura Greco. She is the founder of The Art of Soulful Parenting and those of you who have talked to me for more than a second know that this is a topic that’s very near and dear to my heart as I traverse the world with Neva, our young daughter. And so I was really excited to have Laura on this show as she talks about how to connect people with their higher selves and obviously come from that much more just yummy space, like that really good gooey space where we can parent from our hearts, you know, not from any kind of script. And she’s also involved with Soul Languages, correct, Laura?
Yes I am.
Awesome. And so Jennifer, our lovely Super Power Expert, is entwined in this conversation as well energetically so but please without further ado, please join me in welcoming Laura to the show. Welcome, Laura.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Absolutely so we’ll get into all of this fun-ness here in a moment but let’s go ahead and just start with my favorite question, what are your Super Powers?
Listening to that quiet voice.
Photo by Ashley Batz on Unsplash
OK so I thought about this question myself and…what are my Super Powers? And I have to say that I have, I believe it’s the intuitive knowing, you know and listening to that quiet voice. And being a great listener. But basically to…I help, you know, I work with myself as well as others in seeing things from another point of view or angle that inspires the opportunity for peace in our lives.
Right there and then when you said peace it’s like ahh…it’s like a nice little exhale. It’s like a little embrace that was awesome. That feels really, really good on you. And I know, especially in the parenting arena, there’s such a huge need for that. You know, so easy I remember when I found out that I was pregnant it was like, you know, that began this whole trajectory of, you know, I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this and I had all these amazing ideas and then of course the second she was born all of it was out of the window. And there was and it was about, I don’t know probably three four months into it, where I decided, you know, I’m not going to read another book. I’m not going to ask for another piece of advice because it made me feel inadequate. I was allowing it to create this kind of self-doubt and I just kind of looked at her one day and just decided like I think we got this. Like I think we’ll figure it out. And then there was a little…there’s a little bit more peace after that moment but it can be stressful for parents.
Yes. Yes and they do, in much like what you’re describing. Often we go into parenthood don’t we, where we’re expecting, you know, things to go a certain way. And guess what? Life has a way of going its own way.
And it was so funny because we were engaged to be married and it was we found out two weeks before the wedding and we’d been engaged eight months or something like that we were engaged. And it was like oh, well, this is interesting. But what was fascinating about it was we’d always felt like she was in control like so even like there was tumultuousness in the pregnancy, I mean, you know, childhood and everything but at the end of it, it was like when I really sat back and settled in, it was like I just had this clarity that she had her own trajectory like it was her existence like it wasn’t so much an extension of me as it was. She was like this whole entity that in her path was laid out and she was making her own, like it was such an interesting way to experience. It was like, Kahlil Gibran The Prophet, where you know, he talks about On Parenting or On Children is the section.
Yeah. That’s probably my philosophy all along. And that is that our children are not really our possession, that they are definitely a gift…a gift from the Divine and it’s our…it is really our privilege and our honor to be bringing them from their childhood to adulthood in a way that’s most successful for them. Or at least providing those tools for them. It’s their mission not ours.
And it’s funny because his work did the same thing for me with marriage like I was not a big fan of marriage like, you know, my parents are happily married like it wasn’t that I didn’t believe it. It just never resonated with me and it wasn’t until someone suggested I read his…On Marriage from that same work and it was kind of…the two…the concept of two souls kind of walking side by side as opposed to these, you know, two halves of a whole kind of concept. And then on children came along and it was like it just made sense. And so we’ve really structured our lives in that way but I have to tell you as you know like that that’s not really all that’s supported and affirmed in our society.
No, no.
Which is why your work is important obviously.
Right. Well, there’s a lot of you know the history of man has been at least in the fairly recent history has been all about going to outside sources for affirmation, for you know clarity, for you know how I do it, right? You know begetting approvals, from whether it’s religious elements or governmental elements or parental elements, it’s always approval-oriented outside of ourselves. And so being able to have that opportunity to now say, “Yeah, let’s look within and see what you got going on and what your tools are.” because there are, you know, there is a lot there that is in abundance and everyone has them.
Well or even to think that children, you know, gasp, may have their own guidance.
They do.
You know, and that’s kind of a mind twist if you’re not supported like if you don’t have other people affirming that, you know, it’s easy to doubt.
Children do come with their own guidance system.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
Yeah. And that’s the other beautiful thing about parenthood. I’m sure you’ve noticed this is that children do come with their own guidance system but they also come as their own person and they really do help us to grow our selves because we are coming from old stuff, right? Things are answered of our past and now we get to see life in a new way and meet the challenges of these new experiences. So sometimes it’s pushing our buttons a little bit. You know, we get to see where we’re coming from and how we can grow out of that.
Yeah I think you’re being kind with the whole a little bit. She’s just trying to ease you all into this, make no mistake about it. It’s like holy cow like it’s, you know, it’s so fascinating to me because when I met my husband I was very confident that I had done so much work on myself like there was nothing anyone was going to tell me about who I was and here I come into partnership with somebody else and it’s like…oh it’s like I felt like I was starting back at the beginning again, you know, because you see certain aspects of yourself through them. And then it was like, “OK so I ran through that compliment for a little bit.” And then here comes this child and it’s like, holy cow, there’s more? Like there were other layers? You know, it was about the time I just kind of gave up on the idea that you ever got like to an endpoint. I’m like I think the message here is that this is ongoing.
Yeah. And, you know, parenting isn’t art at all, you know. So that’s when you bring in soulful parenting. The art of parenting is to bring children right through to their adulthood. But soulful parenting is now bringing more into it. It’s actually, it’s like a black and white picture where you begin to add some color to it.
That’s a really neat way of looking at it.
Yeah it just really creates fulfillment for both…for all the family experience.
So talk to me about how you work with people. How do you assist them with this?
Well we start actually with the idea of it’s a two to three part process. But we do work with Soul Language. And Soul Language is a very helpful tool in knowing and being able to tap into your own energy. As I’m sure Jennifer has already expressed on her show but the…then we talk about my first part of the program for example is, you know, Soulful Parenting actually starts with Mom. Mom is, you know, she’s the person that is generally in touch with what’s going on in the household. Traditionally she’s also the, you know, I work with women who are in that supermom overload kind of process. So helping mom to get back in touch with herself and then eventually the father too. But the idea is to get back in touch with…the parents getting back in touch with themselves allows them space to open up and become curious and open as a parent towards the child to being available to them.
That’s beautiful. So how did you get into all of this?
Oh, my own journey.
Shocking right?
Yes I had my own experiences of child, of course. Though I knew there were a lot of things I wanted to do differently. And then I went and had four children of my own and my whole mission during that time period was to create a new experience from the one I came from. I did a lot of it on my own and through reading and so forth. But if I could bring in just the experience of, you know, tapping into my Super Power, you know, along the way it grew and it grew. But then I found myself, you know, you think you know everything right or at least more, right? Then I found myself in a position where I was…one of my daughters was experiencing anorexia which was a real…it was a real blow to me if you will. Like I was like wow I did all this. I, you know, I thought if I just did it all right, it was all going to be great, right? And then this came along. And so I, you know, I read three books right away so I can understand what I was working with. And then of course the process is the traditional hospital thing. But when we were sitting in the waiting room, I looked around and I said, “Oh my gosh, there’s people who have been coming here for this particular situation for years. And it’s not working.” So we stepped back. They released her from the program before she was, you know, completed her experience. And what happened was a friend of mine became certified in HK, which is Holistic Kinesiology and she worked with my daughter and turns out myself too. And what a beautiful experience. My daughter moved through the process in a matter of around 10 months and worked through her inner stuff. But the challenge for me was that my community, you know, the people I knew and the people that were family and so forth were not in support of this at all. I really had…but I knew it was right for her I just knew it and I did, you know, we went through with it and it turned out to be a beautiful experience of her blossoming, you know, into the young lady that she is and has always been just re-finding herself. And it also put me on the path of appreciating how really tapping in is such a critical part of our experience here on the earth. And it can really add meaning and color to our lives. If we take the…you know, if we take that on. So it became the start of it. So I met Jennifer along the way and I got to continue that growth.
That’s so amazing and what a phenomenal testament to not just trusting yourself but trusting your daughter and really stewarding that in her and giving her the confidence and that it’s so reminiscent of many situations I find myself in with Neva and it’s just so fulfilling to meet them in that space and to recognize that…oh someone said to me here recently we were at a business conference and someone said to me, “You know, I just saw this image of you and your daughter…” and it was like, “and I couldn’t tell who was who.” And it was, you know, I called these like Intuitive Drive-bys, you know, where someone just like drops this little nugget and you’re like, “What?” you know. But it was a little clue for me to like take a look and say, wow, you know, it was such an awesome reflection in the sense of knowing that we’re both full entities in and of ourselves. And we’ve chosen to come together and kind of birth and create this experience together that exists between us. And it was just so neat, you know. You reminded me that as you were sharing your story that’s awesome.
Yeah. That’s very powerful, isn’t it?
Mm hmm. So…go ahead.
I was just saying the connection that was made with us during that experience as well as with the rest of the family was just really eye-opening to how we all ended up growing through this. So it was a gift in the end.
Well and it’s so often the case that we, you know, we like to get immersed in our own stuff and think that, you know, it’s really it’s just about what’s right in front of us and the ripple effect is incalculable. And it’s continually having the courage to step up and know that it’s never just about you. It’s not even just about you and your child like it’s about it is never just about you, your child and the family like it’s just this ongoing…
…what becomes a whole community, a whole earth thing…
Ahh very cool. So how are people receiving this? Are you, you know because it is what you know we like to use the word disruptive, you know, it is disruptive on some levels. How is it going?
Well, so far people are opening up and finding actually especially through the Soul Language piece of this. They’re finding that it’s exciting to know themselves better and it’s exciting to begin to be able to tap in and it grows confidence in the experience and life. You know, it’s a new avenue to know yourself. And it allows for curiosity and happiness and really the best part is that you know when they go to bed at night they’re feeling more settled, you know, the parents are, the children are. It’s a great thing.
Well, and it’s so interesting too that the, you know, I think it’s such a testament to the brilliance in Jennifer’s work because there’s you know our minds want something to grasp like we want proof, we want constructs, we want that thing because no matter how much we hear our own guidance, you know, we have all these different pieces and parts within us that question it. You know that have fears and are insecure and operate at lower frequencies and all that good stuff. And so to have something that you can say, “This feels right for me.” and it acts as a roadmap really is a really powerful tool to kind of, you know, what I see client is using it for is it quiets the doubt. Yes.
You know, you’re like for whatever reason it gives people the courage to say yes. But remember what Laura said, remember where this, remember you know.
And for whatever reason it works.
Oh it does and it joins because the mind wants to go into that safety mode and really stretch happens in the place that’s beyond that safety mode. And so the mind likes the, you know, it helps to bring the spirit and the mind together a little bit through the words of our Soul Languages, you know, adds a little clarity.
I love it. So after…so in working with Jennifer, let’s talk about because you said it was this stuff really came…was birthed out of your own process. What was it about that process that helped you get so crystal clear on how you were going to kind of deliver this to the world?
Well the pieces that one day Jennifer asked me she says, “Why did you have a family?” And you know at first I was like, “Really? I thought that’s just what we do.”
Feel like that was an option?
And I did want to have children but asking that question was actually pivotal for me because…
Oh funny.
It was a growing process.
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
Yeah, because what I really wanted to do was experience a family life in a new way and not create the history I came from. It wasn’t, you know, an experience that I would, you know, have anyone go through but it definitely was a lesson experience. You know, it taught me a lot of what we don’t want. And then it also drew from me contemplation on, “OK well how do we do it different?” How do we pick up from a place that is what I didn’t know at the time was more soulful, you know. I didn’t know that word or understand at the time but I just knew that there were other answers to the same situations that come up and I wanted to experience that and I wanted my children to experience that. So it became a journey of tapping in. But I was not so experienced in the beginning. So it was a growing process.
I loved that you just said that, you know. I find so many people paralyzed in you know, really stepping in to doing the work that they came here to do because of exactly what you just said is it…we feel like there’s some magical moment that’s going to occur when we feel perfect, when we feel masterful in something and now it’s time to share and I love that you gave testament to the fact that you do it anyway. You really step into it and do it even when you don’t feel masterful because ironically the only way to feel masterful in it is by doing it.
Exactly. It’s true.
I love that you shared that.
Yeah. And I think that the pivotal point when my daughter with the anorexia was that I began to realize that doing it on my own could take me so far. But then, you know, we are community-oriented as humans and, you know, reaching out to a community to support that was extremely important. And that’s what I what I really gained from that. So it’s a two-fold thing turning within but also gaining the support and the mentorship from others.
That’s so lovely. That’s so wonderful.
So what’s on your trajectory moving forward? Where are you taking this?
Oh this. I’m excited about where this is going because I see my vision is that I see a real movement. I already see it. There are so many people doing work similar to this. But a more awareness in families and allowing this to really affect, you know, the nucleus, basically the nucleus of any community, right, is the family. So once the family is strengthened and not that they are picture perfect, we’re not talking about that but they have the tools and the experience and the real love to move through the different experiences and grow. What a…you know, you do families and you do communities and then you eventually do a whole world of just having a different viewpoint that is more supportive to and respectful of the, and loving towards the people of the entire earth.
And that is so cool because it goes back to that ripple effect, you know, and it’s most of us started with that inner work and then we, you know, work with those closest to and it just moves out from that space. And I can attest to what you’re talking about I talk to, you know, I calculated that I think I talk to between five and 10 new people every day. You know, and the number of people that are talking about relationships and parenting and just really wanting to do it differently and challenging ourselves to meet in those heart spaces is a real testament to the work that you’ve chosen to take on and how pivotal it is to us, kind of, as a collective evolving even further. So, you know, I honor that work that you’re doing in the world.
Yeah, well, you’re doing a beautiful thing too by sharing all these different modalities with the folks out there to have the opportunity to experience and grow in the various ways that are supportive to them.
That sounds really cool. Thank you. I know people are going to want to know more about you, where can we send them?
Very cool.
Yes. I have a contact information there.
Perfect. Well I just love the fact that you joined us on the show today and you know and it’s…you’re such a great model for how this kind of conversation of mastering your own personal power and using your Super Powers out in the world really does encompass so many different aspects. I had someone ask me one time on an interview, you know, are we just conveniently calling everything Super Powers and I said, “Well, yes and no.” like part of it is, yes, because our intrinsic like the question that Jennifer asked you about why did you have a family like it, like you said it’s like well why would you not like this is what we do. And in the heart of that at the base of it, is something really, really powerful and that kernel of truth that exists there blossomed into this amazing piece with any of that that then becomes a movement. And so it’s like you have to start with calling out the most natural things in the world and going, “Well what if this is a Super Power?” you know, because not everyone is called to help people in their parenting. You know, it may be the most natural thing in the world to you. But it’s only in fostering it and honing it and looking at it and embracing it that it starts to become something very magical.
Right. Right. And something I was not. I knew it for myself and for my children grew up and then what, right? Is that where it ends or is that where it begins?
Oh I just got chills. Oh yeah. That’s so cool. I wish you well and like I said we’re just honored to know you and to connect with you and to support the work that you’re doing and please let us know how we can continue to support you on that.
Yes that would be wonderful and I want to thank you so much and all the listeners. And I wish you well and I wish you peace.
Very cool. Awesome. Thank you Laura and to all of you out there as always we appreciate your loyalty. And until next time go out, uncover your Super Powers and change the world. Take care everyone.
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