Trauma, Curiosity, Core Beliefs And Conscious Recovery With TJ Woodward

The Mindset and Self-Mastery Show

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"Curiosity invites us to go deeper." In this episode, Nick speaks with TJ Woodward to explore conscious recovery, healing from trauma, and the importance of self-awareness in personal growth. TJ shares his journey from childhood experiences to addiction and recovery, emphasizing the significance of understanding core beliefs and the role of curiosity in healing. What to listen for: Life is about returning to our true selves, not about attaining something Childhood experiences significantly shape our beliefs and behaviors Unresolved trauma, spiritual disconnection, and toxic shame are root causes of addiction Awareness is crucial for healing, but it can also be painful Curiosity can lead to deeper understanding and growth Making peace with the past is essential for overcoming core false beliefs The lens through which we view the world is shaped by our experiences Healing trauma requires acknowledging and caring for our wounds The unconscious mind often dictates our responses and behaviors “Can I be in that in the midst of it? I wanna honor the pain. I wanna honor the experience. I'm not gonna bypass and pretend like it's not happening. But in the midst of that, it's like, I'm wondering what wants to emerge. What else is possible for me?” Being present with pain is powerful, it’s not weakness, it’s deep self-awareness Honoring what you're going through creates space for real transformation Emotional bypassing might feel easier, but it blocks growth In every struggle, there’s potential for something new to be born Asking “what else is possible?” invites curiosity, healing, and forward movement “We can kind of change the past because the past is the narrative in our head and it's the energy associated with it.” The past isn’t fixed — it lives in the stories we tell ourselves Shifting our perspective can shift how we feel about what happened Healing is about rewriting the emotional charge, not denying the facts Your story is yours to evolve, and that’s real power Changing your relationship with the past changes who you become in the present About TJ Woodward TJ is a Revolutionary Recovery Expert, Inspirational Speaker, Educator, Addictions Treatment Specialist, host of The Element Q Podcast, and Best-Selling Author. TJ Woodward is the Head of Conscious Leadership at Reconstruction Unlimited, the Chief Wellness Officer at Monima Behavioral Health, and is a featured thought leader on WholeHearted.org along with Brené Brown, Marianne Williamson, Dr. Gabor Maté, and Mark Lundholm. https://www.tjwoodward.com/ https://www.instagram.com/tjwoodward_/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/tj-woodward/ Resources: Interested in starting your own podcast or need help with one you already have? Send Nick an email or schedule a time to discuss your podcast today! https://themindsetandselfmasteryshow.com/contact/ Thank you for listening! Please subscribe on iTunes and give us a 5-Star review! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mindset-and-self-mastery-show/id1604262089 Listen to other episodes here: https://themindsetandselfmasteryshow.com/ Watch Clips and highlights: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk1tCM7KTe3hrq_-UAa6GHA Guest Inquiries right here: [email protected] Your Friends at “The Mindset & Self-Mastery Show” Click To View The Episode Transcript Nick McGowan (00:01.051)Hello and welcome to the Mindset and Self-Mastery Show. I'm your host, Nick McGowan McGowan. Today on the show we have TJ Woodward. TJ, how are you doing today? TJ Woodward (00:11.266)Doing well, Nick. I'm so looking forward to this conversation. Nick McGowan (00:14.331)Likewise, I'm excited to get into all the things we're going to talk about. So why don't you just get us started? Tell us what you do for a living and what's one thing most people don't know about you that's maybe a little odd or bizarre. TJ Woodward (00:24.07)my gosh, or bizarre, I'll have to think about that for a moment. So I do a lot of different things. an author have written three books with a bunch of accompanying workbooks. I have the honor of really, I would say a spiritual teacher, but also work a lot in behavioral health. I've created a modality of treatment called conscious recovery that helps people get down to the root causes of their addiction instead of just treating symptoms. And also, not looking at themselves as broken. So if there's any through line with all of my work, it's that we actually come into the world as whole and complete beings and that life is about returning to that, not about attaining something. So whether it's my book, Conscious Being, Conscious Recovery, Conscious Creation, that's the through line. It's really, there is this place within us that's unharmable and unharmed. So that's kind of that. And I love to speak, I do podcasts, do a lot of different things, facilitate trainings, but… Nick McGowan (01:02.682)Hmm. TJ Woodward (01:18.97)My greatest passion is helping people do the deeper healing so they can remember who they really are. That's the bottom line. I don't know this is a bizarre thing, but very rarely do I talk about it. But when I was young, young, like from seven to 17, I sang in a very traditional men and boys choir and went and sang in England for the Archbishop of Canterbury and like sang at Westminster Abbey in St. Paul's. So like I had that experience of Nick McGowan (01:27.994)you TJ Woodward (01:47.01)being in this choir that was this very traditional, was very outside of like life in my family. There's a lot of layers there, but that's something I rarely tell anyone. Nick McGowan (01:53.656)Huh. Nick McGowan (01:56.984)That's interesting. It's always interesting to me to find out how people got into a thing, but also to find out things like that was probably 10 different versions of you ago. You know, like so many different things that just people don't think about or just, yeah, by the way, I forgot this whole thing happened. But how did you get into that if that was different than your family? Because my brain instantly went to, was that part of your family? Were you guys just going to church constantly or what have you? TJ Woodward (02:23.832)Well, it's interesting. My dad did sing in that choir as well. But the reason I say it was different than my family is it was kind of like this really a beautiful experience, honestly. Like a lot of people that I who I know have like some trauma around church or maybe they didn't resonate with it. But for me, like that was the happiest place I was. Like the vibe there was so great and singing really helped me come alive and home life wasn't quite like that. You know, there was a lot going on. So if anything. Nick McGowan (02:39.449)Yeah. Hmm. TJ Woodward (02:50.654)strangely enough, that experience was sort of like my escape from the difficulties at home. And that was the beginning of a long pattern of escaping from things. Nick McGowan (02:59.883)man, yeah. It's interesting because I've played in church bands. I played probably the better part of a decade playing lead guitar for different bands. And I used say to people like the reason why I was still staying at church was not because of like the surface level messaging but TJ Woodward (03:06.992)wow. Nick McGowan (03:18.457)because of the music and then I would feel God through that music and different things that open up and it's interesting how that stuff can pull you in but how there's also the different variations that people feel, the things that you get from it, the systems that you just envelop into. So how did that shape you to where you're at and what you're doing now? TJ Woodward (03:36.994)You know, it's fascinating because I reflect on that often because here I am doing spiritual work, but it's really not connected with religion. But I think it ties back to that because kind of like you, like I don't remember what the message was at that church really, but I do remember the feeling that I had, especially through the music, right? And again, this is very traditional music, like, you know, British music from the 16th century kind of music. So it wasn't exactly like a lot of contemporary music. Nick McGowan (03:44.121)Mm-hmm. TJ Woodward (04:05.08)But I think that was where I first had a passion for music and also realizing that spirituality wasn't really in the mind, it was in the body. It was an experience. And some of my most profound experiences in my early life were connecting through the music and the idea of God or the idea of spirit somehow. That's where I discovered it. So I think it really was in many ways the roots for me of what has made my life have more meaning. Nick McGowan (04:08.473)Hmm. Nick McGowan (04:32.033)Yeah, well the work that you're doing is incredible and I could tell even reading through some of this stuff, seeing some of the clips. You had a PR company that reached out to me. So it's not like you reached out directly. And I do have people reach out directly that I can tell there's like a heartfelt message, something that it's like, you totally just pulled this out of a can and you're blasting out to every other podcast. But one of the things I noticed about you is that there was a through line throughout everything that I saw that had to go back to actual healing, but at a deeper. TJ Woodward (04:49.698)Yeah. Nick McGowan (05:03.929)depth then a lot of people will kind of let themselves go to. There are often times where I talk about the different modalities and people kind of live at one like therapy, talk therapy. Whenever somebody's like well you have a problem go talk about it and at this point it's starting to get easier to open up to say that you talk to a therapist where even 10 years ago or 20 years ago nobody talked like that and certain circles of people

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