Speaker 1: Yeah, at the time it was really hard, I guess yeah,
Speaker 1: like being bullied a little bit and just losing all
Speaker 1: self worth going into the depths of depression.
Speaker 2: It was it was like, I'm not going to sugarcoat it.
Speaker 1: It's not it's not a fun place to be and
Speaker 1: it's not something that I would wish on anyone else.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, I'm so grateful for it
Speaker 1: because I know now how important and pivotal that was
Speaker 1: for me to experience to be able to come out
Speaker 1: of it into the person that I am today.
Speaker 3: Then finally making hello and welcome back to the Rise
Speaker 3: and Conquer Podcast. This is the podcast for my girl
Speaker 3: gain who want to take control of their lives, gain
Speaker 3: the confidence to live unapologetically, and for those who are
Speaker 3: ready to make their biggest dreams into their reality. We
Speaker 3: had a little break last week, but I am so
Speaker 3: excited to be back in your ears today. In this EPP,
Speaker 3: I'm joined by Sunshine Lover, photographer, content creator, travel enthusiast,
Speaker 3: author and yogi Sianna Elise Siana Radio so much joy
Speaker 3: and positivity and in today's chat, we dive deep into yoga,
Speaker 3: travel morning routines, overcoming depression, and anxiety, and of course
Speaker 3: we dive into her new book, You Will Rise. I
Speaker 3: felt so full of life after my chat with Sianna,
Speaker 3: and I hope you do too. Let's get straight into
Speaker 3: the show. Hello Sianna and welcome to the Rise and
Speaker 3: Conker Podcast.
Speaker 2: Hello. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 3: I'm so excited for you to be here and to
Speaker 3: chat about your new book. But before we get into that,
Speaker 3: a question that I'm asking all my Season three guests
Speaker 3: is what is a daily, non negotiation, full practice that
Speaker 3: you do to really step into your power and feel yourself.
Speaker 2: Oh.
Speaker 1: There's so many things that I could say here, but
Speaker 1: I feel like the biggest one is probably just gratitude.
Speaker 2: And so it's not even something that you have to
Speaker 2: physically do.
Speaker 1: It's just being open and you're opening up your heart
Speaker 1: in your mind to being in the present moment and
Speaker 1: to give thanks back to the universe for all of
Speaker 1: the beautiful bussings that we're gifted with.
Speaker 3: Ah, that's beautiful. And so do when you kind of
Speaker 3: practice gratitude, do you write it down or do you
Speaker 3: just think it? What is the practice for you?
Speaker 1: It's different all the time, So sometimes I'll write it down.
Speaker 1: I am a list person, and I do love writing
Speaker 1: in my journal, and there's something about putting pen to
Speaker 1: paper that's just divine. But sometimes it's more just in
Speaker 1: the moment, like I will be out in nature and
Speaker 1: you just take a moment to close your eyes and
Speaker 1: take a couple of deep belly breaths and to connect within,
Speaker 1: or when you feel the sunshine on your skin and
Speaker 1: you can't help but lift the corner edges of your mouth, or.
Speaker 2: Before I eat.
Speaker 1: I don't always do this, but I like to whenever
Speaker 1: I can or whenever and I remember to, And it
Speaker 1: works really well when you're making a home cooked meal
Speaker 1: with really fresh produce, just giving thanks and awareness and
Speaker 1: gratitude for the things that you're about to eat and
Speaker 1: knowledge of where it comes from as well, just.
Speaker 2: Giving it some recognition.
Speaker 1: So like all the time that we're spent cultivating it
Speaker 1: and growing it and all of the hands and the
Speaker 1: energy that went into putting it in front of you.
Speaker 3: I love that. That's definitely it's definitely a beautiful way
Speaker 3: of doing that. And I love that it's like really
Speaker 3: just being really intentional.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, exactly perfect.
Speaker 3: So for those who don't know who you are, could
Speaker 3: you give us a quick snapshot of who Ciana is.
Speaker 2: That's that's like a broad question.
Speaker 1: I feel like I just I feel like I just
Speaker 1: want to say I am because we are apt, but
Speaker 1: I guess, for the sake of.
Speaker 2: It, I've I'm Siana.
Speaker 1: I'm from Newcastle, Australia, little beach town, which is amazing
Speaker 1: in summer and it's well everywhere, it's challenging in winter.
Speaker 1: For me, I'm a summer bunny. I've been around the
Speaker 1: sun twenty five times in this lifetime. I am definitely
Speaker 1: a hugger, and I guess I refer to myself often
Speaker 1: as like a sunshine seeking, happy being, yoga doing inventure enthusiast.
Speaker 2: And now I'm also a published author.
Speaker 3: That How amazing does that feel like to say that?
Speaker 1: Honestly, I knew i'd be excited, but I didn't understand
Speaker 1: how excited I would be. It literally feels like a birthday,
Speaker 1: like but so much better.
Speaker 2: Like I don't like birthday. It's like how I imagine
Speaker 2: about they should feel.
Speaker 3: Oh, that is amazing, And so we will get into
Speaker 3: your beautiful, beautiful book. I've got it sitting here right
Speaker 3: beside me, and I cannot wait to get into that,
Speaker 3: But before we do, let's kind of really get into
Speaker 3: your background and basically how this amazing life has come
Speaker 3: to be. So I know that you talk about this
Speaker 3: experience of being in school and suffering from bullying and
Speaker 3: anxiety and depression, and then leaving school at age sixteen
Speaker 3: and going into university quite early and then really having
Speaker 3: to go on a journey from a journey, sorry, to
Speaker 3: recover from that. Can you tell us a little bit
Speaker 3: about what that experience was like and what that recovery
Speaker 3: looked like.
Speaker 1: It was it was heavy and it was dark. I
Speaker 1: think everyone's got a story to tell. And that's the
Speaker 1: beautiful part about our existence is that it does have
Speaker 1: so many ups and downs that in the moment they're
Speaker 1: so hard to get through, but in retrospect they're just
Speaker 1: beautiful curves outlining our entire lifetime. But in the yeah,
Speaker 1: at the time, it was really hard, I guess, yeah,
Speaker 1: like being bullied a little bit and just losing all
Speaker 1: self worth going into the depth of depression. It was
Speaker 1: it was like, I'm not going to sugarcoat it's it's
Speaker 1: not a fun place to be and it's not something
Speaker 1: that I would wish on anyone else, But At the
Speaker 1: same time, I'm so grateful for it because I know
Speaker 1: now how important and pivotal that was for me to
Speaker 1: experience to be able to come out of it into
Speaker 1: the person that I am today.
Speaker 3: I love that and I always talk about on this podcast,
Speaker 3: you know, like using using your mess as your message,
Speaker 3: and I think that's something that you've really done. And
Speaker 3: I love that you're so open about these topics on
Speaker 3: your social media. I think it's really important to sort
Speaker 3: of take the stigma and to boo away from it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, transparency is key, I think because you feel so
Speaker 1: alone when you're going through something like that, and you
Speaker 1: don't you honestly don't think that anyone can understand and
Speaker 1: that no one else has ever been that deep into
Speaker 1: it before, and so you feel so separate and disconnected
Speaker 1: not only from yourself but from everyone and everything around you,
Speaker 1: and these start to become really numb. And so I
Speaker 1: think transparency I've learned from experience help not only me
Speaker 1: to heal myself, but for others not to feel so
Speaker 1: alone and then be able to connect without as well
Speaker 1: as within.
Speaker 3: And I know that you're huge on when you're feeling
Speaker 3: a certain way, and especially you know a feeling of
Speaker 3: anxiety or depression. What you do now is you really
Speaker 3: sit with the emotion and you honor it, and you
Speaker 3: work through it instead of trying to push it away.
Speaker 3: And I absolutely love this and it's definitely a process
Speaker 3: that I have been going through myself in the last
Speaker 3: year of seeing the psychologists and really sort of digging
Speaker 3: into that. And I was wondering if you have any
Speaker 3: tips for the R and C community on what your
Speaker 3: process is when you are in one of those, you know,
Speaker 3: ruts or emotions.
Speaker 1: I think it's probably most important to firstly just be
Speaker 1: self with yourself, be kind and be forgiving, and be
Speaker 1: understanding and compassion of where you are at this point
Speaker 1: in your life, and know that everything comes and goes
Speaker 1: in phases, nothing's permanent, and that everything's temporary, and that
Speaker 1: within that understanding there's actually so much beauty and comfort
Speaker 1: to be found the fact that even when you're at your.
Speaker 4: Highest high, that too also won't last.
Speaker 1: Like, it's so beautiful to be able to come back
Speaker 1: and be like, Okay, I'm just going to enjoy the
Speaker 1: moment for whatever it is, knowing that I'm learning the
Speaker 1: lessons that I need to, and then I can then
Speaker 1: integrate those into my life.
Speaker 3: I love that, and it's kind of like I always
Speaker 3: think about it when I'm going through a bit of
Speaker 3: a rough patch and kind of I call it kind
Speaker 3: of like a growing phase or an evolving phase. Is
Speaker 3: what helps me, is Yeah, like tapping into that this
Speaker 3: is a season and it's okay to be uncomfortable. I
Speaker 3: think a lot of us anytime we get a feeling
Speaker 3: that is quite uncomfortable, we try and shy way for
Speaker 3: it or push it down. So really tapping into it
Speaker 3: and evolving that way, I think is really key to.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you've got to feel it to heal it.
Speaker 1: I think if you like the little quotes like your
Speaker 1: message is your message, I think you'll really like the
Speaker 1: but you've got to feel it to heal it as well.
Speaker 3: I love that. Okay, So I want to switch gears
Speaker 3: and talk about your yoga. So I know that you're
Speaker 3: a huge yogi and I found it quite funny to
Speaker 3: hear that you tried it at age twelve and you
Speaker 3: didn't have the best experience, and then you started again
Speaker 3: at age eighteen. Could you tell us about your journey
Speaker 3: with yoga and how it's helped you to become the
Speaker 3: person you are today.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, I guess. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, I did try yoga when I was twelve. I
Speaker 1: tried it like once, and I think I just tried
Speaker 1: the wrong style, So I think I tried bigram. At
Speaker 1: the time, it was very hot, very intense. It was
Speaker 1: like a carpeted floor, and yeah, it was not as
Speaker 1: warm and glowy as like quote unquote I pictured yoga
Speaker 1: to be.
Speaker 2: But at the time, like I was twelve, I didn't
Speaker 2: really know any better, and so I just didn't really
Speaker 2: go back.
Speaker 1: And then going through depression, I found yoga, or rather
Speaker 1: I like to say that it found me when I
Speaker 1: needed most, and it really was something that pulled me
Speaker 1: back into what was important and what really mattered, and
Speaker 1: it pulled me back into not only my body in
Speaker 1: the senses, but into something much deeper and more important
Speaker 1: as well. And so from there I started to just
Speaker 1: slowly but surely refine myself and rEFInd happiness and love
Speaker 1: and compassion. And I think that's a big part of it,
Speaker 1: is being able to be compassionate for everyone and everything
Speaker 1: and understanding that we all have our own journey. So
Speaker 1: I know some people think that depression is almost selfish,
Speaker 1: and having gone through it myself, you don't have the
Speaker 1: capacity to even comprehend something like that because it is
Speaker 1: an illness, and I think it's probably very misunderstood in
Speaker 1: that way. But at the same time, it does feel like,
Speaker 1: or for me at least, yoga was able to remind
Speaker 1: me of what it felt like to hold space for
Speaker 1: other things, others than your own darkness and grief.
Speaker 3: I've never I've never heard someone speaking about it in
Speaker 3: that way, and it's such an insight an insightful sort
Speaker 3: of looking at it. And so for you, was this
Speaker 3: process of you know, having a practice that gave you
Speaker 3: that capacity and space super key with your mental health.
Speaker 3: And do you still use it now for that sort
Speaker 3: of side of things or has it turned into something
Speaker 3: different now?
Speaker 4: It is.
Speaker 1: I definitely still use it for that, but it's more
Speaker 1: it's just a lifestyle now, so I don't consciously go, Okay,
Speaker 1: when am I going to do my yoga today. It's
Speaker 1: like I need to do it almost and I've found
Speaker 1: a way to integrate and to weave it throughout my
Speaker 1: day to day movements so that I'm not even necessarily
Speaker 1: practicing yoga just when I'm on my mat. Like to me, now,
Speaker 1: yoga is what I learn on my matt and I
Speaker 1: take with me out into the rest of the world.
Speaker 2: So it's the lessons.
Speaker 1: And it's breathing, and it's taking a moment of clarity
Speaker 1: and calm, and it's connecting to my food before I
Speaker 1: eat it, and it's being mindful of what I say
Speaker 1: before I speak, and which doesn't always happen. I'm human,
Speaker 1: but it's just the little things. It's Yeah, it's the
Speaker 1: way that you talk to yourself. It's the subtle language
Speaker 1: and the stories that we're telling ourselves constantly. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: so in that way, yoga is definitely in my day,
Speaker 1: every single day, in every single way as well.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So when I was going through depression, I used it
Speaker 1: to heal and I started just taking photos on the
Speaker 1: beach every morning of poses that I thought I might
Speaker 1: be able to do that I'd seen on Instagram. And
Speaker 1: I was studying photojournalism at UNI at the time. When
Speaker 1: I left school, I went straight to university at sixteen
Speaker 1: and was doing photography, but because it was part of
Speaker 1: an arts degree and I didn't really know what I
Speaker 1: wanted to do, so I just had to rock up
Speaker 1: at UNI. That was my mom's thing. She was like,
Speaker 1: you just have to go to UNI. I don't care
Speaker 1: if you were your pajamas, you just have to go.
Speaker 2: So I did.
Speaker 4: Most days, I wore my pajamas and my ugbits and
Speaker 4: I'd rock up and yes, I'd take photos.
Speaker 2: In the mornings of sunrise beautiful.
Speaker 1: Yoga poses on the beach, or what I thought was yoga.
Speaker 1: Turns out it probably wasn't. It was a pose, but
Speaker 1: it wasn't done correctly or in alignment. And I had
Speaker 1: no idea about the background of yoga or the philosophy
Speaker 1: and what it's true essence was. So my mom suggested
Speaker 1: that I do a yoga teacher training course, and so
Speaker 1: I did. I went to Byron Bay and I did
Speaker 1: it at the Byron Bay Yoga Center, which was beautiful.
Speaker 1: I did an intensive one. So you go there and
Speaker 1: you stay on the premise for I think it was
Speaker 1: like three or four weeks and you just eat, breathe,
Speaker 1: sleep yoga, and it's beautiful. And it's such a way
Speaker 1: to fully grasp and understand exactly what yoga is and
Speaker 1: how can weave so effortlessly into your.
Speaker 2: Day and throughout the rest of your life.
Speaker 1: And how you can share that so authentically and genuinely
Speaker 1: with other people whilst honoring their own path at the
Speaker 1: same time. So yeah, I did that and then started
Speaker 1: teaching retreats around the world. And I guess here we
Speaker 1: are today not teaching retreats around the world because of COVID.
Speaker 3: No, yes, of course, And so talk to us about
Speaker 3: your daily practice with yoga. I know you did mention
Speaker 3: it's not just on the mat, but what does it
Speaker 3: look like for you in regards to when you do
Speaker 3: it and how long and that sort of side of things.
Speaker 1: It honestly just depends on my day and what I
Speaker 1: have scheduled in. But whether it be I like to
Speaker 1: meditate in the morning, so I normally get in a
Speaker 1: twenty minute meditation, sometimes a little bit longer if it
Speaker 1: takes me twenty minutes to actually warm up and quiet
Speaker 1: my mind enough.
Speaker 2: To be able to sit there in stillness.
Speaker 1: And other times if I'm short on time, I won't
Speaker 1: get time to meditate at all sometimes, or maybe it'll
Speaker 1: just be like a five or ten minute one if
Speaker 1: I get a chance. But even if you just like
Speaker 1: add in public, like if I'm on public transport, which
Speaker 1: I haven't been.
Speaker 2: Since COVID, but last year.
Speaker 1: Like if you're on a train or something like that,
Speaker 1: I would take that as an opportunity just to find
Speaker 1: some stillness within. And I think that's a beautiful way
Speaker 1: to do it as well. You don't even have to
Speaker 1: do it with your eyes closed, Like a walking meditation
Speaker 1: can be great sometimes as well. And I think I
Speaker 1: do that most or most not I was gonna say
Speaker 1: most days, but a lot of days I'll go for
Speaker 1: a like a.
Speaker 2: Big long walk around my neighborhood.
Speaker 1: And I love that because I do it alone, and
Speaker 1: for me, it's me time, and it is a it's
Speaker 1: a moving meditation.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And sometimes I just wake up and I'll just sit
Speaker 1: in child's pose on my bed for twenty thirty minutes.
Speaker 1: And other times it's getting on my mat and doing
Speaker 1: a proper flow, or going into the studio and teaching
Speaker 1: and or practicing.
Speaker 3: And so for someone who is a complete beginner, probably
Speaker 3: like myself, who you know loves this idea of yoga
Speaker 3: and slowing down and being mindful and giving their body
Speaker 3: space and time, what would you recommend for a place
Speaker 3: to start you haven't done yoga before, I know, I
Speaker 3: personally like I totally have, but I am such like
Speaker 3: a I've got so much pitter energy. I'm like soone
Speaker 3: to like sweat and like do wag and stuff. But
Speaker 3: in saying that, I have recently been diagnosed with Poshimoto's,
Speaker 3: a thioid disease, and my nature path is like, you
Speaker 3: need to slow down, So I'm like, maybe I should.
Speaker 2: Dry your Definitely give it a go.
Speaker 1: But I would recommend for anyone either like you or
Speaker 1: completely new to it, to know what you're looking for.
Speaker 1: So don't expect your yoga practice to be a handstand
Speaker 1: on a beautiful beach somewhere straight away. Understand that it's
Speaker 1: a process, and that it's a divine process and an
Speaker 1: unfolding and an opportunity to look within and to learn
Speaker 1: so much more about yourself and to me.
Speaker 2: Yoga's connection.
Speaker 1: It's connection to the self, connection to source, connection to others,
Speaker 1: and to Divinity itself. So yeah, know what you're seeking
Speaker 1: out of you yoga practice, whether it be like you
Speaker 1: would originally want to be just hot and sweaty, maybe
Speaker 1: you prefer a Bickram class or a Nushtunger class, because
Speaker 1: there's so many different types of yoga, and I think
Speaker 1: That's one problem that a lot of people encounter when
Speaker 1: trying yoga is that they try one style and they're
Speaker 1: either oblivious or unaware of the other styles out there.
Speaker 1: And then even within each style, you'll resonate differently with
Speaker 1: different teachers and the way that they integrate their own
Speaker 1: lessons throughout the classes. And then on top of that,
Speaker 1: there's also different ways to be taught, so whether you
Speaker 1: go into a studio or you do it online, and
Speaker 1: they're all very different experiences. So I guess just being
Speaker 1: open minded and going into it being like, hey, I'll
Speaker 1: give this a t and I'm aware that it might
Speaker 1: not be for me and that's okay, Or maybe I
Speaker 1: need to try a couple of different classes at different
Speaker 1: studios with different teachers before you can actually understand what
Speaker 1: you're looking for and what resonates most with you. But
Speaker 1: if you're a full beginner, it can be so intimidating
Speaker 1: to start yoga. People say to me all the time, like,
Speaker 1: I really want to try yoga, but I'm not flexible enough,
Speaker 1: And I think to myself, that's so counterintuitive.
Speaker 2: That's the point.
Speaker 1: It's not even flexibility of the body, but flexibility of
Speaker 1: the mind. To go into it with an open mind
Speaker 1: and just to just to see it as play, as
Speaker 1: an opportunity to just connect and have some fun. You
Speaker 1: don't have to be so serious about it. And I
Speaker 1: know that yoga in the way it's originally taught or
Speaker 1: traditionally taught in India is a little bit more serious
Speaker 1: like that, but it makes it so much more accessible
Speaker 1: the way that we've integrated it into Western society.
Speaker 4: And so yeah, just have a go, just play around,
Speaker 4: see what suits you.
Speaker 3: I love that, all right, I'll do it. I'll do it.
Speaker 1: Maybe you do need a y Inn class. Yin's beautiful,
Speaker 1: but maybe if you like I love y in. But
Speaker 1: I find that I need to sweat a little bit first,
Speaker 1: So I'll often do a full vinaca class first and
Speaker 1: then do a y in class after, and then I
Speaker 1: find that my mind's actually quiet enough to be able
Speaker 1: to enjoy sitting in the postures for longer periods of time.
Speaker 3: Interesting. I think it is something like that, Like it's
Speaker 3: just something about your like getting my sweat on and
Speaker 3: like moving my body. It just like it's like a
Speaker 3: bit of a hie for me, if that makes sense. Yeah,
Speaker 3: So okay, I'm totally gonna do it. You've persuaded me.
Speaker 3: I'm taking this as.
Speaker 2: A side we went together.
Speaker 3: Yes we should. We're not actually too far. I'm just
Speaker 3: on the gold co So I guess it is a
Speaker 3: little bit far.
Speaker 2: At the moment with the borders closed.
Speaker 3: Yeah, let's put a pin in that.
Speaker 2: That's amazing.
Speaker 3: So let's talk about you know, COVID and travel, because
Speaker 3: I know, like you said, you know, you've traveled the
Speaker 3: world and you've been doing retreats and oh my god,
Speaker 3: like your photos on Instagram and your experiences must be insane.
Speaker 3: But tell us a little bit you know about those experiences,
Speaker 3: but what it looks like currently at the moment with
Speaker 3: not traveling, and how you're feeling.
Speaker 1: I think, or I feel, that I am so blessed
Speaker 1: to be able to do what I do and to
Speaker 1: make a life of it and call it a job.
Speaker 2: And so the opportunities and the experiences.
Speaker 4: That I've had over the past five six years, I've.
Speaker 2: Just been insane.
Speaker 1: It's it's phenomenal the way that I guess, the way
Speaker 1: that social media has helped to connect so many people
Speaker 1: around the world, and then the opportunities that creates from
Speaker 1: that and through that and I think it's probably overlooked,
Speaker 1: like we wouldn't be able to do retreats as they
Speaker 1: are now or were last year without social media. So
Speaker 1: shout out to social media in general, because it's not
Speaker 1: all bad. I know its it gets a bad rep
Speaker 1: and I think it can be actually used really healthily.
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Speaker 1: So now, being I guess it does feel a little
Speaker 1: bit stuck, don't you think We look around and everyone
Speaker 1: in America is traveling to like Mexico, and everyone in
Speaker 1: Europe still able to travel between countries, and I think
Speaker 1: Australia and New Zealand are probably well. I might be wrong,
Speaker 1: but I think we're two of the only countries that
Speaker 1: are actually still limited majorly by where we can go.
Speaker 1: And so it's kind of been nice and humbling in
Speaker 1: some ways, but very challenging in others.
Speaker 2: Especially through winter.
Speaker 1: I really wanted to travel and get away, but now
Speaker 1: that summer is approaching, I kind.
Speaker 2: Of like it here.
Speaker 1: So people keep asking me, They're like, where are you
Speaker 1: going to go when the border is open? Or you
Speaker 1: can fly wherever you want, and I'm like, to be honest,
Speaker 1: I love Australia in the summer, like I don't know
Speaker 1: where I'd rather be.
Speaker 3: That is so true, and I feel the exact same way.
Speaker 3: Like me and my husband were supposed to go to
Speaker 3: Europe in the winter, so I was like major like
Speaker 3: down off for that, but then now that is summer
Speaker 3: and it's so beautiful, I feel the exact same way.
Speaker 3: And I'm like, honestly, Australia is so beautiful and we
Speaker 3: are obviously so lucky to live so close to the
Speaker 3: beach as well.
Speaker 1: So lucky. And then a couple of my friends have
Speaker 1: decided to do road trips. They're from Queensland, so they've
Speaker 1: just kind of gone up north as far as they
Speaker 1: can and all around Queensland.
Speaker 2: And it's so beautiful here.
Speaker 3: Ah, yes, so true. I've seen a lot of people.
Speaker 3: I actually have a holiday booked in to go to
Speaker 3: the WIT Sundays in a couple of weeks and I'm
Speaker 3: so excited to do that.
Speaker 2: And that's what's pretty envious.
Speaker 3: Oh, that's amazing. And I couldn't agree more in regards
Speaker 3: to it being humbling and it kind of going, look,
Speaker 3: I'm going to make you know the best in you know,
Speaker 3: this sort of situation, if that makes sense, rather than
Speaker 3: looking at it as such a negative.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And I think it was always going to happen exactly
Speaker 1: how it did. And so yeah, just learning from it
Speaker 1: has been. It's been interesting to witness but beautiful at
Speaker 1: the same time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure. All right, let's switch gears and let's
Speaker 3: talk about your book, You Will Rise. So I know
Speaker 3: that I was reading somewhere that you said, I think
Speaker 3: it was on your Instagram, that this book is seven
Speaker 3: years in the making. Can you tell us a little
Speaker 3: bit about that process and why the process has been
Speaker 3: so long.
Speaker 1: Yes, it has been seven years in the making, which
Speaker 1: does sound extensive.
Speaker 2: I'm like, in a very long time, I guess because
Speaker 2: it is.
Speaker 1: But I think at the same time that is why
Speaker 1: the book is so wholesome and so broad in what
Speaker 1: it can convey, because it is just a journey or
Speaker 1: it's a recount. It's a collection of my memories and
Speaker 1: the experiences that I've been through that are just human experiences.
Speaker 1: They are things that we all go through, and so
Speaker 1: there's everything in there, from heartbreak and loss and grief
Speaker 1: and shame and falling back in love and falling back
Speaker 1: out of love again, and everything that you can think
Speaker 1: of what it means to be human is within there.
Speaker 1: So it is just a journey. And to me, writing
Speaker 1: is a form of self therapy. I found it when
Speaker 1: I was healing through depression and I used to just
Speaker 1: find flow mode or like a state of flow where
Speaker 1: I would sit in the car after work or UNI
Speaker 1: and I would just write just in notes on my
Speaker 1: phone sometimes in a journal for hours, hours and hours
Speaker 1: and hours, and I would find that I would get home,
Speaker 1: let's say at like seven pm, and I I would
Speaker 1: be in the car until one am.
Speaker 2: And I would just lose track of time completely.
Speaker 1: And I knew afterwards that I'd expressed everything, and I'd
Speaker 1: vented everything that I needed to, and I felt so
Speaker 1: much calmer and clearer, almost as if I was so
Speaker 1: separate and distant from the things that I'd embodied so
Speaker 1: wholesomely only moments before. And then I realized that it
Speaker 1: was like a hug for my soul to write. And
Speaker 1: when I began sharing these online, just in captions at first,
Speaker 1: that's kind of how it started, and captions on Instagram,
Speaker 1: I began to understand.
Speaker 2: That it had the same effect on the people reading.
Speaker 1: It and consuming it, and I was told by them
Speaker 1: I would get DMS or emails saying like thank you.
Speaker 1: I felt so alone and all this is exactly what
Speaker 1: I've been feeling, but I didn't know how to put
Speaker 1: words to it. And they felt connected and they felt
Speaker 1: seen and heard and understood, and that was so important.
Speaker 1: And so then I kept writing, not because I wanted to,
Speaker 1: but because my soul needed to.
Speaker 2: And after a while.
Speaker 1: It began to feel like I wasn't the writing the
Speaker 1: book necessarily, but the book was writing me.
Speaker 3: And so I just want to explain the book to
Speaker 3: the listeners so they can kind of understand a bit.
Speaker 3: I've got it in front of me, so I love.
Speaker 3: So you've got a beautiful sort of passage and it's
Speaker 3: like some of them are bigger, some of them are smaller.
Speaker 3: So you've got a beautiful passage and then a photo
Speaker 3: and it's almost like you said, like these really beautiful
Speaker 3: short passages of recounts and feelings and just so yeah,
Speaker 3: beautiful to read. And I also love that it kind
Speaker 3: of flows in this almost journey with you, and I
Speaker 3: know from like the contents it's split up into these
Speaker 3: and I'll read it out if that's okay. So the
Speaker 3: first chapter it's like unfold and on Earth, love and lust,
Speaker 3: accept and surrender, growth and gratitude, explore and transcend. Can
Speaker 3: you explain us a little bit about why you have
Speaker 3: kind of split it up in these sections and what
Speaker 3: they mean to you.
Speaker 1: I think it was just the different phases that it
Speaker 1: felt like my soul had gone through, and different parts
Speaker 1: that I'd embodied throughout the years, the most memorable ones
Speaker 1: at least, and all of the poems that are inside
Speaker 1: the book seem to fit really well, really snug.
Speaker 2: Within each one of these and I want it to
Speaker 2: be like.
Speaker 1: A journey, a journey not only of the journey that
Speaker 1: I've been on, but the journey that we will go through.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, life is so chaotic and
Speaker 1: so it works just as well. And I love doing
Speaker 1: this myself. Is just opening up to a random page
Speaker 1: or setting an intention and then opening up to a
Speaker 1: page and just trusting that that is what you need
Speaker 1: to hear that day.
Speaker 3: I love that. I was Actually that was my next
Speaker 3: question of how would you recommend someone sort of you know,
Speaker 3: read through this book and go through this book? Do
Speaker 3: you recommend going from start to finish or is it
Speaker 3: more like an intuitive pick a page.
Speaker 4: I think you can use it however you want.
Speaker 1: In the introduction I said that I hope that the reader, you,
Speaker 1: the reader, can.
Speaker 4: Use it as as I do in the ocean.
Speaker 1: So you can go and you can fully submerge, and
Speaker 1: you can spend hours and hours just enjoying bathing within it,
Speaker 1: or you can just dip your toe in every now
Speaker 1: and then whenever you need to.
Speaker 3: I love that. And do you have a favorite section
Speaker 3: of the book or a favorite passage?
Speaker 1: It honestly changes all the time, literally all the time.
Speaker 1: Because that's that's what I mean, and like we are
Speaker 1: such transient beings and where beings of duality and there's
Speaker 1: so much going on within us that yeah, I think
Speaker 1: that's why now. I mean, I've obviously read it cover
Speaker 1: to cover a couple of times, but that's why now
Speaker 1: I go to it just every day or whenever I
Speaker 1: feel call too, and just open up to a random
Speaker 1: page because I know that it will give me whenever
Speaker 1: I need to hear. And sometimes I'm like, oh, maybe
Speaker 1: that was yesterday's and I'll do it again.
Speaker 3: I love that I would, actually, and I've been. I've
Speaker 3: been doing this the last couple of mornings, which I love.
Speaker 3: I'm a person who, like I love picking like a
Speaker 3: tarot card. I love picking that sort of side of things.
Speaker 3: So I have absolutely been loving doing this with your book.
Speaker 3: And I really wanted to read out the page that
Speaker 3: I picked today, if that's okay, Yes, please do okay.
Speaker 3: So this is on page one fifty nine and it
Speaker 3: says from now on, I'm saying yes yes to the
Speaker 3: things that I was once afraid of, Yes to the
Speaker 3: things beyond my comfort zone, and yes to everything I
Speaker 3: used to say no to. Yes to me yes to you,
Speaker 3: Yes to liberation, yes to healing, yes to expansion, yes
Speaker 3: to love. Yeah. I bloody loved that, and I was like,
Speaker 3: I got yeah, I got all tinkler. I was like, oh,
Speaker 3: that was for me. I'm hoping that some of the
Speaker 3: R and C listeners resonate with that too.
Speaker 2: Oh, I hope so as well. That was so sweet.
Speaker 2: I love hearing you reader.
Speaker 1: Maybe I should get you to do like an audio
Speaker 1: version and then I'll just like say, every day, do.
Speaker 3: You want me to do the audio book?
Speaker 2: Because I a new place. It's hilarious.
Speaker 3: And I would love to ask you. I'm sure you
Speaker 3: know as we're talking. It's probably been one of the
Speaker 3: most amazing experiences writing this book. But has there been
Speaker 3: any challenges along the way?
Speaker 2: Of course?
Speaker 1: I mean, I think that's that was like a part
Speaker 1: of it. I knew that going into it though, because
Speaker 1: I've never done it, so we're so such unfamiliar territory
Speaker 1: and it's such exciting territory at the same time, though,
Speaker 1: because I knew that there was going to be just yeah,
Speaker 1: things that were out of my control or a lot
Speaker 1: of little hiccups and things along the way, but they
Speaker 1: kind of just like lace it really well.
Speaker 4: I suppose kind of like little.
Speaker 2: Gun job buttons.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess that the time that went into it
Speaker 1: was probably something that I had overlooked, so that I
Speaker 1: submitted a lot more poems that are in there. So
Speaker 1: I think there's one hundred and fifty in there, but
Speaker 1: I submitted I think about four hundred. So culling them
Speaker 1: was really hard because going through and choosing it was
Speaker 1: impossible for me because I was like, they're all It's
Speaker 1: like choosing your favorite child, right, I was like, they're
Speaker 1: all my favorites, and because they all mean so much
Speaker 1: to me about different things, and every time I read one,
Speaker 1: I remember exactly where I was, exactly what I was
Speaker 1: feeling when I wrote it, and who it's about and
Speaker 1: what I was going through, and so it's really hard
Speaker 1: to pick.
Speaker 2: And choose between them. So thanks to the publishers for
Speaker 2: helping me do that.
Speaker 1: The editor is and then but the time into actually
Speaker 1: making it as well.
Speaker 2: So I finished writing it end of.
Speaker 1: End of last year, and then there was a couple
Speaker 1: extras that I put in kind of last minute that
Speaker 1: I was like, Hey, there are more recent ones that
Speaker 1: I just love and I really.
Speaker 2: Want them in there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but most of them were finished end of last year,
Speaker 1: and so it's been such a process just over the
Speaker 1: last year of actually creating it into what it is today.
Speaker 4: And I didn't understand that before going through the process.
Speaker 1: I thought it was just like, oh, you write a
Speaker 1: book and then it's published straight away.
Speaker 2: But no, it's not like that at all.
Speaker 3: Because yeah, I could imagine there would be so much
Speaker 3: that went into it. And something also that I absolutely
Speaker 3: love is all the photos that go with it. And
Speaker 3: I was wondering, are these all photos that you have taken?
Speaker 2: Most of them are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so most of them over the last six years
Speaker 1: when I've been traveling, So they've been taken all over
Speaker 1: the world in some of my favorite places. Again, why
Speaker 1: it's such like a collection of memories to me because
Speaker 1: it's so I don't know, I get almost like travel
Speaker 1: sick looking at it because I remember the places so
Speaker 1: vividly and I just want to be transported back there instantly.
Speaker 1: And some of them were taken by my brother. I
Speaker 1: started taking him on trips with me probably about five
Speaker 1: years ago and introduced him to photography and he was like,
Speaker 1: this is amazing. You get paid to do.
Speaker 2: This, And I was like, yeah, like you can.
Speaker 1: Too, And so he was a lifeguard at the time,
Speaker 1: and he started he kept his stage and he stayed
Speaker 1: as lifeguard for a while, but started doing photography and
Speaker 1: videography himself.
Speaker 2: So I think there's probably a.
Speaker 1: Handful in there that are taken by him, and then
Speaker 1: there's another handful that are taken by my ex partner
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 3: Amazing, and I would love as this. We like to
Speaker 3: give a lot of actionable tips to our audience, So
Speaker 3: I would love for you to kind of speak on
Speaker 3: if someone is in the same spot where they you know,
Speaker 3: they really want to pursue their passions and do something
Speaker 3: they love, which in society today, I feel like sometimes
Speaker 3: or most of the time, we're kind of told not
Speaker 3: to do that and to pursue the safe option and
Speaker 3: you know, to do what we should do rather than
Speaker 3: what we want to do. What advice would you have
Speaker 3: for that person?
Speaker 4: Don't listen to the people who are telling you otherwise.
Speaker 1: No, I just I don't know. I feel like it's
Speaker 1: almost like your soul's mission. It's our dama to uncover
Speaker 1: these things that we're intended to do, like that is
Speaker 1: why we're here. And so I think just following your
Speaker 1: curiosities and uncovering your passions and the things that you
Speaker 1: really love doing. And those things will often find you
Speaker 1: so even if you're not intentionally seeking them out, or
Speaker 1: maybe they'll just creep up on you when you're least
Speaker 1: expecting them, or maybe it's something that you've known your
Speaker 1: entire life that you want to do. I think it's
Speaker 1: almost like it's not even a choice. It's almost like
Speaker 1: you need to do those things because if you don't,
Speaker 1: you will fall into them effortlessly or accidentally anyway. And
Speaker 1: I feel like that's kind of what it was like
Speaker 1: for me with the book, is that I knew I
Speaker 1: loved writing, and.
Speaker 4: I thought, yeah, one day I'd make a book of.
Speaker 1: It, but didn't actually know how that would come about.
Speaker 1: And I think that once you know who you are
Speaker 1: and you're firm in that belief and you can stand
Speaker 1: up for yourself and you know your values and your worth,
Speaker 1: the universe recognizes that and starts conspiring for you. Everything
Speaker 1: it does happens for you, not against you.
Speaker 3: Ah, you're literally like reading all my favorite quotes. Oh,
Speaker 3: I love that so much, and I couldn't agree more.
Speaker 3: I'm such a big believer in you know, when you
Speaker 3: have and I say this all the time, it's like
Speaker 3: when you have a desire put on your heart, like
Speaker 3: don't ignore it, Like, don't ignore it. It is there
Speaker 3: for a reason and you're meant to explore it and
Speaker 3: see what happens. And even if it's you know, not
Speaker 3: the end goal or you know, what you do for
Speaker 3: a career, is like, it's put on your heart for
Speaker 3: a reason.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you're always where you're meant to be.
Speaker 1: I think that's a really softening a softening reminder as well.
Speaker 3: It feels like a bit of a relief.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely part of the process. I love that.
Speaker 3: Okay, Sianna, I want to just finish off the interview
Speaker 3: with a couple of like questions, So tell us about
Speaker 3: your morning routine. I'm sure how you know. We already
Speaker 3: spoke about your gratitude and your yoga, but what does
Speaker 3: your morning routine look like?
Speaker 2: I love mornings.
Speaker 1: Mornings are sacred and they just prime you for the
Speaker 1: day and it sets the tone. And so I think
Speaker 1: it's really important to cultivate a really clear morning routine
Speaker 1: and something that you not just rely on, but it
Speaker 1: almost helps to like I don't know, soften you.
Speaker 2: Out or like prep you for the day.
Speaker 1: So there's a couple of things that I like to
Speaker 1: do every morning or most mornings. Again I'm human. Sometimes
Speaker 1: I sleep in past twenty five alarms.
Speaker 2: Don't worry about it.
Speaker 1: But I think connection to self, connection to source, and
Speaker 1: connection to others is really important. And I have a
Speaker 1: couple of things that I do each day or pretty
Speaker 1: much every day if I can. Every day, I'll make
Speaker 1: my bed very first thing before I even like walk
Speaker 1: out of my room, before I even take out my retainer.
Speaker 2: Like literally first thing I.
Speaker 1: Do is make my bed, and so then I've achieved
Speaker 1: something before I've done anything else, which I love.
Speaker 2: And then I'll meditate for twenty minutes.
Speaker 1: I like to move my body, whether it be going
Speaker 1: for a walk outside, taking my shoes off on the sand,
Speaker 1: or going for a swim some how, like just moving,
Speaker 1: connecting to nature, yoga, whatever it is. Mindfulness and gratitude
Speaker 1: I love. I'm huge on that. So again, whether it
Speaker 1: be writing it down or just feeling it and embodying it,
Speaker 1: and then.
Speaker 4: Connection to mother nature as well.
Speaker 1: And so sometimes on most days it'll be I like
Speaker 1: to wake up as early as I can. Sometimes I'm
Speaker 1: exhausted and I sleep in a lot snooth, so many alarms.
Speaker 1: I'm not actually a morning person. I don't find it
Speaker 1: easy to get up, but I don't like missing a
Speaker 1: sunrise if I can. So in winter it's been different
Speaker 1: because I don't like any up with the cold, so
Speaker 1: I have been sleeping in but normally, and I'll get
Speaker 1: a little bit better now that someone's coming back around.
Speaker 1: I like to wake up just before the sun rise
Speaker 1: and either meditate beforehand, or wake up and then go
Speaker 1: down to.
Speaker 2: The beach and meditate on the beach.
Speaker 1: But before I go out, I'll wash my face, I
Speaker 1: brush my teeth, I tongue scrape, do a face soil,
Speaker 1: and I have an elixa, whether it just be caging
Speaker 1: water and lemon, or whether it be some kind of
Speaker 1: water a body bloom and which is like a digestive
Speaker 1: thing and some lemon, or I have a medicinal mushroom
Speaker 1: and cacao and black ginger what I call an adulthole
Speaker 1: chocolate just because it's it's kind of spicy.
Speaker 2: With the ginger.
Speaker 1: And then yeah, gradu, your parodies go out and move,
Speaker 1: do some yoga, and then I like to get into
Speaker 1: my emails and my work after I've been primed the
Speaker 1: right way.
Speaker 3: I love that, and I couldn't agree more. I'm such
Speaker 3: a morning person. I need to do like my little
Speaker 3: morning routine to really feel myself so I can get
Speaker 3: into my day. Do you have like a no phone
Speaker 3: rule in your morning routine?
Speaker 1: I guess I do, but not religiously, as in I
Speaker 1: definitely notice how much better I feel when I don't
Speaker 1: use my phone straight away. And so yeah, I like
Speaker 1: to get through the morning routine first, but not exclusively,
Speaker 1: which I should probably maybe try to do.
Speaker 2: But like I wake up.
Speaker 1: With my alarm on my phone, like I need to
Speaker 1: just get I don't know, a separate alarm, or get
Speaker 1: deeper sleep so that I can just wake up naturally
Speaker 1: a five o'clock.
Speaker 2: I don't know how anyone can do that.
Speaker 1: If anyone is out there and they just naturally wake
Speaker 1: up at five o'clock, I envy you.
Speaker 2: I'm so jealous of you. It's so hard to get
Speaker 2: out of bed.
Speaker 3: That is so funny. I'm someone who's like I'm very
Speaker 3: light sensitive. So if like we have blackout curtains so
Speaker 3: I don't wake up, but if the curtains were to
Speaker 3: be open, I would one hundred percent wake up with
Speaker 3: the sun. It's like, but it's annoying to.
Speaker 2: Me because no, I'm so jealous.
Speaker 1: I sleep with my windows open every single night because
Speaker 1: I'm like, I need to wake up with the sun,
Speaker 1: and if I have them closed, I will not wake
Speaker 1: up until like two pm.
Speaker 2: Wow, it's bad.
Speaker 4: That's such a good sleeper that it's frustrating.
Speaker 3: Oh, that is hilarious. Well, one last question to finish
Speaker 3: off the interview and then I'll let you go. And
Speaker 3: this is another question that I've been asking all my guests,
Speaker 3: and is what advice do you give yourself when you're
Speaker 3: having moments or self doubt or fear around something new.
Speaker 3: What is the pep talk you tell yourself?
Speaker 1: I think just have ten seconds of radical, insane courage
Speaker 1: and vulnerability and just be open to trying something new,
Speaker 1: because we all know that we regret the things that
Speaker 1: we didn't try more than the things that you did. Like,
Speaker 1: I don't even know who wrote that. It's like the
Speaker 1: most quoted quote ever. I'm pretty sure, but it's honestly,
Speaker 1: but it's it's that way for a reason because I've
Speaker 1: never regretted trying something new. Even if I hated it
Speaker 1: or I didn't enjoy doing it, I learned from it.
Speaker 1: And I think that's that's why we're here, just to
Speaker 1: explore an experiment and adventure with curiosity and playful childlike
Speaker 1: curiosity at that.
Speaker 3: I love that so much. Thank you so much, Sianna.
Speaker 3: And could you let the audience know where they can
Speaker 3: find you and where they can find your amazing book.
Speaker 1: Yes, of course you can find me on Instagram, Siana
Speaker 1: release s j A n A E l I s
Speaker 1: on YouTube as well and my website, and then the
Speaker 1: book is available if you want a direct link, just
Speaker 1: from the link in my Instagram bio.
Speaker 3: Amazing and I'll make sure I put that in the
Speaker 3: show notes as well, guys, so you can go check
Speaker 3: that out. Thank you so much, Danna. It has been
Speaker 3: an absolute pleasure. Sorry, I'm commpletely mumbling my words.
Speaker 1: Don't even worry about it.
Speaker 3: It has been an absolute pleasure to have you on
Speaker 3: the show.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me. You're a little
Speaker 2: bubble of sunshine.
Speaker 3: Oh, thank you. And that is it for today's episode.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed
Speaker 3: this chat and guys, if you did love this episode,
Speaker 3: if you love the podcast, please give us a review
Speaker 3: or make sure you're subscribed. It really helps out the
Speaker 3: Rising Conker podcast us. And if you do love the
Speaker 3: podcast and you love the conversations that we have, I
Speaker 3: think that you would love our Facebook group, So come
Speaker 3: and join us. It's just Rise and Conquer podcast community.
Speaker 3: And yeah it's a private group where we chatted all
Speaker 3: things we do on the podcast. But thank you so
Speaker 3: much for listening. I'll chat to you in our next step.
Speaker 2: It was for me, there's no there's all the time
Speaker 2: for dreams and