Speaker 1: Wind Down with Janet Kramer and I'm Heeart Radio podcast.
Speaker 1: This week's Thursday Therapy, We've got Sonya Satra. She is
Speaker 1: an actress turn mindset guru. She's got a new book
Speaker 1: out called what If It Were Easy? Using movement and
Speaker 1: mindset to create success in life, love and business. Let's
Speaker 1: get her on.
Speaker 2: Hey. Hey, I'm Jana Dana.
Speaker 1: Well, happy New Year, Thanks for coming on wind Down.
Speaker 1: You had a book that came out in October. It
Speaker 1: was called what If It Were Easy? Using movement and
Speaker 1: mindset to Create success in life, love and business. And
Speaker 1: I first just want to go back because you're an actress.
Speaker 3: Yeah, how long did you do soaps?
Speaker 2: For? Six seven years?
Speaker 3: Six seven years?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: And then was that world? Because I've acted in the
Speaker 1: wild since I was like nineteen. But it's one of
Speaker 1: those things where sometimes the mental aspect of that world
Speaker 1: can really drive you nuts. I'm curious, did that?
Speaker 2: Is that what drove me out? Are you out?
Speaker 1: Or are you just kind of this is always like
Speaker 1: your passion too, It is kind of what kind of
Speaker 1: went okay, this is the route that you know, but
Speaker 1: it feels most authentic.
Speaker 2: Or yes, definitely, And I think the acting being is
Speaker 2: being in an industry where you're rejected so much. Definitely,
Speaker 2: I got into mindset just to sort of sustain.
Speaker 1: That one thousand percent. I think that's definitely the thing,
Speaker 1: the mindset piece of it, because when I was talking
Speaker 1: to my fiance earlier, I'm like, I don't know if
Speaker 1: you know, you never know if you're going to book
Speaker 1: a movie this year or you're going to book a role.
Speaker 1: It's like you just and then you're like, well, what
Speaker 1: is my purpose? And then what am I doing? And
Speaker 1: then and then how am I making money? And then
Speaker 1: you just start to spiral, right, And that's where the
Speaker 1: mind has to be more powerful than the chaos you're
Speaker 1: creating around it. And so I'm curious, how how do
Speaker 1: you do that to stay grounded? Because I think that's
Speaker 1: my problems. I start to go with one problem and
Speaker 1: then and by the end of that minute, I've got
Speaker 1: thirty problems that are just blowing up around me.
Speaker 2: I think that's when you have to really step backwards
Speaker 2: and really step out and become much more objective and
Speaker 2: look at it from a different perspective, because you're starting
Speaker 2: to go out from you, we are going down the
Speaker 2: rabbit hole at that point, and we're creating a whole
Speaker 2: lot of scenarios that may or may not be real,
Speaker 2: and each thought creates an anxious feeling or any other
Speaker 2: number of probably negative feelings. And so I think it's
Speaker 2: really more important to step back out and be like,
Speaker 2: all right, what's the current perspective? Like, is what's real
Speaker 2: and what's not? And what am I in control of?
Speaker 2: And what am I not? And what can I be
Speaker 2: in control of? What sure? Because I think when you
Speaker 2: start to shift into and what do I really want
Speaker 2: and sort of to revisit And that's actually a lot
Speaker 2: of the process that ended up in the book, a
Speaker 2: lot of that restart kind of thing of getting connected
Speaker 2: to that vision and reconnecting to what it does the
Speaker 2: you have. What is it that you can do sort
Speaker 2: of burning those stuff that's stopping you and then taking action?
Speaker 1: Right what action pieces are more helpful or most helpful
Speaker 1: for you?
Speaker 2: I think it depends a little bit on what it
Speaker 2: is that is the problem, because I think sometimes you
Speaker 2: need to just like get out of your own way.
Speaker 2: Maybe you need some kind of self care. Maybe I
Speaker 2: need to go for a run, or I need to
Speaker 2: get a massage, or I need to just stop, And
Speaker 2: other times I think it's more of productive action. You know,
Speaker 2: who do I need to reach out to? Who do
Speaker 2: I know who might be able to help me with
Speaker 2: a specific thing that I'm after, Or maybe it's I
Speaker 2: need to go delve back into some sort of a
Speaker 2: class that can make me at least feel creative and
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm doing what it is that I
Speaker 2: love or even what could I produce, you know, whether
Speaker 2: it be a film or a movie I mean, or
Speaker 2: some sort of I mean. Now you can do so
Speaker 2: many more things because there's more accessible things for YouTube
Speaker 2: and other mediums, or a play. I used to produce
Speaker 2: plays or do plays whenever I was feeling like I
Speaker 2: was going nowhere.
Speaker 1: FAST's that's an interesting piece to the almost the play
Speaker 1: element of it, because I recently went in I had
Speaker 1: a big audition and I was like, you know what,
Speaker 1: I want to do my best at this, obviously, and
Speaker 1: I want to put my best foot forward. So I
Speaker 1: went to an acting coach in town and I called
Speaker 1: my fiance afterwards. He's like, how to go? And I
Speaker 1: was like, you know what, it went great? And he's like, well,
Speaker 1: what was so different about it? I go because I
Speaker 1: got to play, and normally we just were up here
Speaker 1: and we just self tape from up here, and I
Speaker 1: just I do what I normally do, and that's it,
Speaker 1: send the tape in. And he was like, why don't
Speaker 1: we do it this way and that way? And I'm like,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, this is so much fun. I totally
Speaker 1: forgot yeah, like I forgot to have fun with it
Speaker 1: and I forgot to play. It's just usually all I
Speaker 1: got to get those work done. I had to send
Speaker 1: this tape in and I got to do this, and
Speaker 1: then it's just was that my best work? Probably not,
Speaker 1: but I had to get it done before the baby
Speaker 1: woke up or before I know, the kids got home
Speaker 1: from school. So I just there was a piece of
Speaker 1: that where I was like, I want to bring that
Speaker 1: into this new year, is to go, Okay, yes, get
Speaker 1: my work done, but also have fun with it and
Speaker 1: play with it, and then I'll enjoy it a little
Speaker 1: bit more instead of going, oh, I have to put
Speaker 1: a stupid audition on tape or whatever.
Speaker 2: I think that is so true and I think that
Speaker 2: the beginning of the self tape, well, that was a
Speaker 2: huge transition for me because there is something to having
Speaker 2: to be good on the fly, you know, but that
Speaker 2: in person pressure was a better I think for me
Speaker 2: anyway than it was the self tape for exactly what
Speaker 2: you say, because it starts to feel like I got
Speaker 2: to get this thing done. I just have to like
Speaker 2: squeeze it in. I've got to get it out. I
Speaker 2: got to fit it into my daily schedule. And I
Speaker 2: think when it became more of a thing where you
Speaker 2: were walking in and you were going to have a
Speaker 2: conversation and you might actually get some feedback or direction,
Speaker 2: which again makes it feel a little more like play,
Speaker 2: I thought that was more pressure but more fun.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: No, I agree with you also, like just on that
Speaker 1: one piece too. I don't when it comes to the
Speaker 1: acting side of things, I don't usually win because I'm
Speaker 1: the best actress in the group. I win and because
Speaker 1: i'm you know, I'm chatting with the producers and we're
Speaker 1: laughing and I'd be fun to have on set and
Speaker 1: you know, so it's like I always want in the room.
Speaker 1: I don't win in self tapes because it's like you
Speaker 1: can't really get that across. You know who you are
Speaker 1: and how you are. So I'm like, oh, but it
Speaker 1: just in life in general, I'm like, man, we dropped
Speaker 1: the fun piece in it. We've just now kind of
Speaker 1: put our heads down. And that's where I'm I'm trying
Speaker 1: to change my mindset having it be a new Year,
Speaker 1: going okay, let's just have more fun with it, and
Speaker 1: then I won't be like dragging my feet and with
Speaker 1: it being the new year. Where do you think people
Speaker 1: stop themselves from changing their mindset?
Speaker 2: Well, I think that I think a lot of it
Speaker 2: is in the belief. You know, you come out of
Speaker 2: the gate strong, I'm going to go for it, I'm
Speaker 2: going to do it. I'm gonna, you know, take over
Speaker 2: the world, and then a week later you'll hit a
Speaker 2: hurdle and then all of a sudden you revert back
Speaker 2: to old patterns and old thinking. So I love New
Speaker 2: Year energy. Actually, I am one of those people who
Speaker 2: still believe in New Year's resolutions, and I do love
Speaker 2: that coming out of the gate feeling. But I think
Speaker 2: it's really really important to remember it's not just New
Speaker 2: Year's Day or New Year's Week. It's like it's a year.
Speaker 2: So we're gonna have hurdles, we're gonna have challenges, we're
Speaker 2: gonna fall, and we got to get back up and
Speaker 2: and and find ways to kind of reset and bring
Speaker 2: that sort of new energy in every time.
Speaker 1: Right, What do you think sets you apart and your
Speaker 1: book apart from all the other you know, people out
Speaker 1: there doing the transformations and the mindsets and the and
Speaker 1: the messages that you know that we all need to hear.
Speaker 2: I think motor size, which is what I came up with.
Speaker 1: So I wanted to bring that up, but I didn't
Speaker 1: know how to pronounce it. So I'm glad you did
Speaker 1: because I'm like, I'm I'm a.
Speaker 3: Let her talk.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And it actually is something that I did inadvertently
Speaker 4: back when I was trying to, you know, get myself
Speaker 4: up off the ground from some actings.
Speaker 2: You know, really bad imposter syndrome. It was right after
Speaker 2: I came after Guiding Light, I left the show on
Speaker 2: my own will. I could have stayed, and many times
Speaker 2: I was like why did I do that? But I left,
Speaker 2: and I suddenly have just the worst imposter syndrome. It
Speaker 2: was like, why did you? Why did you do that?
Speaker 2: You know, how could you leave such a great job.
Speaker 2: There were six thousand actors that auditioned for that. It
Speaker 2: was so random. You got it to begin with, you know,
Speaker 2: like you'll like you say, you know why you're not
Speaker 2: the best actor, You're never going to work again, or
Speaker 2: you know any of those things. It was so overwhelming
Speaker 2: and I really fell into it pretty hard, to the
Speaker 2: point where a year and a half later I hadn't worked.
Speaker 2: I really embodied those beliefs. And I was turtle sitting
Speaker 2: some friends and I was up on this book.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry turtle sitting like that's you were actually turtle okay,
Speaker 1: because I was like, oh, that must be a new
Speaker 1: phrase for like, you know, in your shell and not getting.
Speaker 2: Out of that.
Speaker 3: Oh no, it was really literal okay, literal copy that okay, yeah.
Speaker 2: Just for some extra cash. And as I was sort
Speaker 2: of overlooking this the ocean, I was just thinking, wow,
Speaker 2: you know, I used the same mindset schools to create
Speaker 2: success as I was now using to create failure. Because
Speaker 2: I would vision. Initially I was visualizing being on TV
Speaker 2: and making it, and now I was visualizing not making it.
Speaker 2: And before I would use questions like what can I do?
Speaker 2: Who can I reach out to? And now it was
Speaker 2: why won't I ever get a job? Why won't anyone
Speaker 2: hire me? And uh? And even just the self talk,
Speaker 2: you know was I'm never going to work again, versus, hey,
Speaker 2: somebody's made it, why not me? And so even though
Speaker 2: I was taking action, the action was so tainted by
Speaker 2: that mindset, and and so I didn't work and so,
Speaker 2: you know, my results were deaf a reflection of that mindset.
Speaker 2: So in that moment I decided, I was like, I'm
Speaker 2: better turn this around fast. And so I thought I
Speaker 2: was gonna I was gonna run, I was gonna get
Speaker 2: and get shape. I was gonna stop hanging out with
Speaker 2: all my drinking buddies. You were also complaining about not
Speaker 2: working again, and I was. I lived kind of close
Speaker 2: to the Santa Monica Mountains, and so I would go
Speaker 2: there and I would run up this trail and I
Speaker 2: would do all the mindset. I would really visualize being
Speaker 2: back on TV, you know, getting that job. I would,
Speaker 2: you know, ask what kind of what could I do today?
Speaker 2: What's one thing I could do to move forward today?
Speaker 2: And I would do affirmations as I was going. And
Speaker 2: I always joke because at the top of the mountain,
Speaker 2: I realized that it was a canyon. And so whatever
Speaker 2: I yelled out, would I go back? So I would
Speaker 2: yell out, you got the job, and then i'd hear
Speaker 2: it back you got the job, I'd celebrate, And three
Speaker 2: weeks later I was running down that hill and I
Speaker 2: got a call you the job. I actually boked a
Speaker 2: national commercial, and three months later I got the call
Speaker 2: for One Life to Live. So it was such a
Speaker 2: sort of powerful affirmation of how much these mindset tools
Speaker 2: can make a difference. And the movement, I think just
Speaker 2: helped me get into my body in a different way.
Speaker 2: So flash forward many years. I was also you know,
Speaker 2: new mom, and I had my like twenty minute workout
Speaker 2: kind of and I was just thinking, gosh, I'm not
Speaker 2: doing that mindset work that I know is so effective.
Speaker 2: Wouldn't it be great if I could be really efficient
Speaker 2: and do it while I'm working out? And that was
Speaker 2: really a day I was running on a treadmill and
Speaker 2: I thought like, gosh, if I was just guided with questions,
Speaker 2: that would be really helpful because then I could do
Speaker 2: it at the same time. And well, that was the
Speaker 2: day I was like, well, if I did it, you
Speaker 2: know what if I created that? And that was the
Speaker 2: beginning of motor size. So I started to try to
Speaker 2: figure out, well, what are those questions, what is that process?
Speaker 2: What would actually be helpful, how do I do this
Speaker 2: and testing it and whatnot. And yeah, it kind of
Speaker 2: came out of the gate as an aerobic program because
Speaker 2: I also learned at that point that was when the
Speaker 2: brain science was really busting open, and I started to
Speaker 2: find out how powerful exercise really is for your brain
Speaker 2: and the whole neurogenesis and the rewiring of your brain,
Speaker 2: and how it changes your mood and how it makes
Speaker 2: you more creative and more focused, and it actually taps
Speaker 2: the motivation side of your brain. And so it has
Speaker 2: so much power and it has such an impact on
Speaker 2: your life that has nothing to do with just fitting
Speaker 2: into whatever size gene. It's like it's it really is
Speaker 2: a mindset thing. And so I was really just taking
Speaker 2: what was already naturally happening with exercise and then adding
Speaker 2: in very intentional questions towards a goal. So for me,
Speaker 2: it was acting at the time. Well, actually then I
Speaker 2: had shifted because I was starting to coach. But you
Speaker 2: could use it for any goal. And I've had people
Speaker 2: starting businesses, I've had them sell for a lot of money.
Speaker 2: I've had people I had a client lose three hundred pounds.
Speaker 2: I had somebody find a new relationship because they finally
Speaker 2: had the courage to kind of put themselves out there.
Speaker 2: And it's just amazing the ideas. I always ask people,
Speaker 2: do you ever go for a walk and think of
Speaker 2: an idea? And most people say, yeah, I do. Or
Speaker 2: you know, when you get up from your desk and
Speaker 2: go take a shower, that's when you're like, oh, now
Speaker 2: I got it. And it's that movement. It's not a mistake,
Speaker 2: it's actually what's happening chemically in your mind and the
Speaker 2: near body.
Speaker 1: So motor size is basically motivation exercise.
Speaker 2: That's what it stood for. That was what it was,
Speaker 2: motivational exercise. People then started to be like, oh, are
Speaker 2: you going to motivate me to exercise? And I'm like maybe.
Speaker 2: The one sort of unexpected thing was that people who
Speaker 2: don't liked exercise liked it because they weren't thinking about
Speaker 2: the exercise. They were thinking about something else that they
Speaker 2: really wanted, and so it shifted their focus and their energy.
Speaker 2: That wasn't a goal, but hey, it was a great I.
Speaker 1: Love that so much, you know, because I think it's
Speaker 1: I love going for walks around my neighborhood or running
Speaker 1: or I used not clear yet to run post baby,
Speaker 1: but when I do, like, that's that's such a good
Speaker 1: thing to then now bring into the workouts, is you know,
Speaker 1: either saying things out loud like I'm going to get
Speaker 1: this or I you know, I'm or I'll be okay,
Speaker 1: or I'll be fine, or everything's gonna come in abundance
Speaker 1: and all the things, and just saying that out loud.
Speaker 1: I think that's a good, you know, tool and something
Speaker 1: that we could all put into our daily lives to.
Speaker 3: Be to be more positive too.
Speaker 1: And then that affects you and then you're not just
Speaker 1: because all of last year I was just like clinching
Speaker 1: like my you know, my hands, I'm just so tight
Speaker 1: because I'm just so stressed, and you know, I'm like
Speaker 1: for what you know, right, everything was fine. Everything ended
Speaker 1: up being fine.
Speaker 2: And I think that well and we know that also
Speaker 2: that's one of the huge things from exercise whatever it is.
Speaker 2: You know, originally I did I did aerobics, and I
Speaker 2: was matching the mindset with the movement. So you know,
Speaker 2: like if you were pulling something in, what can you
Speaker 2: pull in? Or what are you dumping? And no, and
Speaker 2: so it was very choreographed, if you will but now
Speaker 2: not everybody loves aerobics, so I've also done it to
Speaker 2: a spin, or to running or to walking, And it
Speaker 2: is because you release the when you're moving, so you're
Speaker 2: not clinching, and that in and of itself is part
Speaker 2: of what makes you more creative. So you'll come up
Speaker 2: with great ideas when you're moving, where when you're sitting
Speaker 2: there kind of like caved in. It's just a blank
Speaker 2: for sure.
Speaker 1: In your book too, because I want everyone to go
Speaker 1: get it. What is your favorite chapter in the what
Speaker 1: If It Were Easy?
Speaker 2: Book?
Speaker 1: And which one challenged you the most to write you
Speaker 1: loved and the one that was the most challenging because
Speaker 1: maybe you struggle with it.
Speaker 2: Or yeah, that's such a great question. I'm torn between
Speaker 2: what I love because the question I do love, and
Speaker 2: that does come from a very specific story. But I
Speaker 2: do think there's another question that I love equally as much.
Speaker 2: I think very underestimates and maybe I'll sneak into here
Speaker 2: what if We were Easy? The title did come from
Speaker 2: a real life situation with my husband, who is a
Speaker 2: producer TV producer, and he had why.
Speaker 3: Isn't he putting you in your show? Like in his shows?
Speaker 2: He does? So many men focused shows. It's insane.
Speaker 3: He does, like, come on.
Speaker 2: All of these historical docu dramas, men who built America,
Speaker 2: World Wars the West, like I have done. I've done
Speaker 2: a bunch of little things.
Speaker 4: I have something coming up now actually, but they're all
Speaker 4: pretty small because.
Speaker 2: They're very there's not a lot of them.
Speaker 3: You get it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, So sorry that the title came from
Speaker 1: your husband.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so he he he was had a first
Speaker 2: look deal where you basically get paid for ideas, and
Speaker 2: it was time for his contract to be renewed and
Speaker 2: we lived in New York at the time, just had
Speaker 2: a baby, and we were going out to La so
Speaker 2: he could sign this contract. And he goes and I'm
Speaker 2: sitting in the car and he comes out and he's
Speaker 2: looking white. As it goes, I'm like, what happened? And
Speaker 2: he's like, I was fired exactly. Oh wow, that was unexpected.
Speaker 2: So yeah, we were definitely in a bit of a
Speaker 2: hole literally at that moment. And so he started to
Speaker 2: panic and to like, what are we going to do?
Speaker 2: This is ridiculous. You know, we have a new baby,
Speaker 2: we live in New York, and on and on. It's
Speaker 2: worth I'm trying to brainstorm and be positive and like
Speaker 2: there's lots of possibilities. He's like, this business is impossible.
Speaker 2: I'm like, well, somebody's made it, can't be impossible, and
Speaker 2: he's just he's like, oh, but it is. And uh.
Speaker 2: He for some reason was obsessed with making a million
Speaker 2: dollars and he just because he thought that would somehow
Speaker 2: set us free. And he's like, I don't know, nobody
Speaker 2: can make a million dollars in this business. And I
Speaker 2: was like, well, somebody's made it, so you can too,
Speaker 2: and he's like na, na na. I'm like, well, what
Speaker 2: if it were easy? And he fought back, It's not easy,
Speaker 2: you know, this business. And then I asked again, you know,
Speaker 2: but what if it were easy, what would you do?
Speaker 2: And just in that moment, I think he was frustrated
Speaker 2: and realized I was going to keep asking.
Speaker 3: You were going to stop until you got the answer.
Speaker 2: I got it and he's like, I don't know. If
Speaker 2: it were easy, I might start my own company. And
Speaker 2: that had never been an idea that we talked about ever.
Speaker 2: And I was like, really, well what would that look like?
Speaker 2: And then we started to talk about it. The next day,
Speaker 2: he called a friend they started a company and one
Speaker 2: year later he made a million dollars.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, I love that. That's so great.
Speaker 1: Yes, not just the million, that's like, that's that's just
Speaker 1: the okay cool. But what he did and how he
Speaker 1: you know, something that he didn't even think he could
Speaker 1: do or never even said out loud, became something exactly
Speaker 1: what he wanted to do. That's amazing.
Speaker 2: I love that, and I think and that's the point
Speaker 2: of the question. You know, it's not this Pollyanna whatever
Speaker 2: it were easy, because no, I mean, you know, lots
Speaker 2: of things are going to be challenging along the way,
Speaker 2: but that what if it were easy? What would you do?
Speaker 2: Really opens your heart to what's possible? What would you
Speaker 2: want to do? What's deep inside? Because I really do
Speaker 2: believe we all have the answers, but we overthink and
Speaker 2: we get in our own way. And so when you
Speaker 2: sort of connect into that heart space and make it easy,
Speaker 2: then what would you do? And that's usually the thing
Speaker 2: you should go do.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 2: I do love that.
Speaker 1: What was the hardest one for you to write? Because
Speaker 1: maybe you struggle with it?
Speaker 2: Probably the decisive me you can't even decide which one
Speaker 2: to tell you. So the first half of the book
Speaker 2: is really the process. It goes through the seven steps
Speaker 2: of the motor sized mindset reset process. The second half
Speaker 2: of the book, I like to think of it as
Speaker 2: as you need basis, and it's all the kind of
Speaker 2: extra superpowers that you would need or want at any
Speaker 2: given time to fulfill a goal. So sometimes it's creative,
Speaker 2: sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's patient, sometimes it's decisive. And
Speaker 2: so there's there's twelve of them, and so guides you
Speaker 2: through a whole lot of tips. That's the movement aspect
Speaker 2: with that as well, and I think the decisive one
Speaker 2: that's definitely when I still struggle with, so I have
Speaker 2: to review that.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's a woman thing, you know,
Speaker 1: probably know what we want, but then we're also you know, decive,
Speaker 1: incisive too.
Speaker 2: So for sure my mom was like brilliant at coming
Speaker 2: up with like a million solutions and then we finally
Speaker 2: decided to come up with a million more. So I
Speaker 2: think I've definitely imparted that trade.
Speaker 3: I love that.
Speaker 1: Where can our listeners find you too if you want it?
Speaker 1: Because because you're coaching, right, So I do, yes.
Speaker 2: OK, So I do one on one on one regular
Speaker 2: straight coaching, and then I often I also do motor size,
Speaker 2: and I often integrate the two. But if someone really
Speaker 2: doesn't want to do the movement, I can still coach you,
Speaker 2: and so you can come to Sonia Satra s O
Speaker 2: n I A s A t r A dot com.
Speaker 2: And I'm on all the social media Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
Speaker 2: or x or whatever.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, I still want to call it Twitter
Speaker 1: because it's yeah Twitter, It's fine. Well, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for coming on. Everyone, go get her amazing book,
Speaker 1: What If it were easy using movement and mindset to
Speaker 1: create success in life, love and business. And thank you
Speaker 1: so much for coming on. Appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks so much.
Speaker 3: Hi bye girl,