Hey, everybody, Terry W here. Just taking a
second before today's interview to say hello.
And talk about a couple things. 1, so
proud of my third and youngest
child who just passed her,
written
exam for her private pilot license at 18.
Very, very cool. Just super proud of her.
So send her lots of good vibes and
prayers as she gets ready to do her
Faa check ride.
And then heads to college to study aviation
science to become a pilot.
So so so so proud. All, proud all
3 of my kids
in just super super proud right now in
this moment of of our kit kiddo Oh,
I've been
utilizing my vibration plate and
to help with inflammation and, oh, gosh. What
a world a difference it's making. So I'm
going to put a
link in
show notes of the 1 I'm utilizing. So
my be sure to go read the reviews,
check it out,
so phenomenal for getting that lymph moving, and
again, helping with inflammation. So you're struggling with
that and just and
just haven't found the thing that clicks for
you,
go check it out. Be sure to talk
to your
medical practitioner,
before starting anything,
I have to say that,
The other thing that I've been utilizing, I
saw movie
on earth, someone had brought up my attention
and said, you need to go out this
movie, so I did.
I forget what string
channel was on, but I found it.
And so I've been going out every day
and putting my hand on we these 2
beautiful big tall. Ginormous enormous pine trees in
our backyard.
So I put my hand on the 1
I can reach while I stand in the
grass in my bare feet, yesterday, I did
some meditation lying. On my back in the
grass,
and again, just helping with inflammation, and,
The third thing I did yesterday was met
with Laura Sc, who's here on Hilton head
Island,
and she had joined me on the Healer
of Hilton series so if you go to
my website, and go to
so go to t dot com and click
on the link that says,
he of Hilton head, you can find that
conversation I had with Laura, but I feel
so blessed that she's here
on the other end of the island for
me, but it's only about a 20 minute
drive. So
that's been really cool to be able to
meet with these beautiful healing souls. I love
this island for its healing.
Energy. Just amazing.
Alright. Well, here's another beautiful conversation with someone
who's joined me once before on the show,
and we talk about.
Healing and so much more. Enjoy.
Welcome everybody to the Healing Place podcast. I
am your host, Here W brought back for
my 2 month Hiatus and very excited to
have another beautiful guest with me who's joined
me once before on the show, Diana Ra,
Phd,
and she is memoir,
poet,
essay a,
thought leader and speaker, and I just drop
my pen. I'm gonna go down and get
it. Hold on 1 second.
Alright. I'm back.
So welcome come Diana.
Thank thank you. Thank you so much for
having me, Terry, and I said it's just
an honor to be part of your the
beginning of your next chapter.
Oh, thank you so much. I said 20
24 is gonna be a great year. And
I know for you, you just had a
a book launch yesterday. Correct?
Correct. Correct. Yeah. That's exciting A memoir,
humming messages from my aunt. Ancestors, and I
told you before I hit record. I was
online reading through the reviews and just... Oh,
my gosh. I I love reading those types
of reviews where it's just, like someone wrote.
I'm not a big memoir reader, and I
was a little hesitant, but I read that
what it. And it was like, wow. And
so I love that that somebody gives a,
you know, a memoir a chance, and then
they're, like, blown away. And so Yeah. So
talk to us about,
really I guess the inspiration me I miss
book.
Sure. Well, this is my fourteenth book.
I'm mainly write memoirs is in poetry, and
this city, I turned 70, so this is
kind of a celebration of my 7 year.
And I... As I was writing their inspiration
behind it. I... I'll start with answering your
questions that rambling here.
Was that it was written during the pandemic
when I'm Humming visited my
flowers was asked by my writings studio every
single day.
And I figured, you know, there's a message
in this that I I... You know, the...
They
pandemic slowed me down. So I got a
chance too. I always had a picture of
my grandmother who died when I was 10
on my desk,
and I came to realize that the Humming
was my grandmother visiting me.
And I would start talking to the Humming
and I'd be getting answers.
And I... At the time, I was fighting
my second cancer diagnosis.
And I... The doctors wanted me to start
treatment, and I,
I... Something inside me intuitively just said no.
No. Just do your... You know,
integrative medicine do follow the path that you
have been following for the past 17 years,
and I asked Grandma. You said, listen to
your intuition. I've told you always we need
to listen to your heart.
And so it became this dialogue that we
had on a regular basis and
then I realized my father started visiting me
in the form of a different bird. And
so
I thought, you know what during this time
of unrest so much... What's happening in the
universe
that I thought we all needed...
Myself in particular, I needed to search for
wisdom that was not present at my fingertips.
And I just thought I would go out
into the ether and and find out what
that it wisdom was. And
after I was really about Humming, I learned
a lot of that humming. My mother was
obsessed with humming burrows. But I've I found
that they are... The native Americans believe that
they are connected to heaven
and that they can drink messages.
As butterflies can, people can visit you who
have passed in different forms. I mean, we
all... So my book is really about paying
attention to those visitors and
and just honoring
honoring their Winston.
So Yes. Oh my gosh. You're going hear
me up a little bit because
I know I we hear a lot about
cardinals if and and I lived in Ohio
and the cardinal was the state bird. So
we always had a lot of more around,
but I lived in Ohio. And soon after
my my dad had passed.
I saw this red cardinal cardinal that would...
Sit in the tree and just sing and
singing and singing and singing and singing. So
I would sometimes do laps around our pool
in our backyard just to get my steps
in and get some movement while I was
working in the day just go out for
10 minutes move. And this Cardinal would just
sings to me. So I started saying, hi,
Dad, and talking to him. And so 1
day, I saw the cardinal and the at
the time we had our our third child,
our youngest had a tram in the backyard,
1 of those with the net around it.
And I saw this cardinal, this Bright ray
cardinal sitting in the middle of the tram.
And I was, like, What behind is like,
Hurdle doing. So after, you know, I did
whatever I was doing from my office, and
I walked outside and was doing my laps.
And I noticed something lying in the middle
of the tram.
Now I find hearts everywhere, like, I I
find hearts in the clock and hearts and
watts of gum on the sidewalk and hearts
and rocks. And I just find hearts. And
I looked closely and Ea have a belts
whole thing on Facebook, I wrote a little
story about it.
There
was
a leaf, I guess or something,
that was a perfectly shaped heart
that this cardinal had left in the middle
of the tram. And so I was like,
Well, thanks Dad So to me. I... As
I totally relate with what you're talking about.
Yes. I agree. Yeah. So I'm I'm happy
that it resonates with you in that way.
And... Because you're paying attention, you know, So
I guess what I'm trying to tell help
you people is pay attention because I think
we've received messages all the time.
You know, We just don't always
attention Then I lost my dog,
a little bit over a year ago. I
had a 17 year old Malt.
Pay And I was just... After he passed,
I was devastated, And, you know, 3 children
that have grown 6 grandchildren.
And so I was...
I was talking to him and saying, you
know,
please come back in whatever way I'm I
miss you. And I got a new puppy,
and I swear he has... He's got the
same birth day. Oh, the old, the dog
that passed, and he has so many of
the same characteristics.
So I think if we pay attention, we
listen
we said intentions magic can happen. So I
think that's what the book is about. And
1 of the things people loved about the
book was that the intermediate chapter. I have
questions with people to reflect on...
To help bring out, you know, to help
reflect on their own life, their own past
and their own ancestors,
now the important thing to remember is that
ancestors are not only relatives they could be
places or they could be mentors that we've,
you know, have really changed our lives.
Because sometimes people think, oh, well, I'm adopted.
I don't know who my ancestors are. And
but that's not necessarily a problem. That's... Just,
you know, it's just a new another dimension.
Yeah. Oh, that's a really great way of
putting it that way because what I think
about when you said that was...
Energy in in like a place can have
some energy to it.
Even though there might not be an ancestral
connection
like, from a person necessarily on like that.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I know when I went to
Hawaii many years ago, because I love Hawaiian.
There was something about it that was, like,
it was pulling me, and I met a
shop there, and she said, oh, were you
were hawaiian in your past life.
I went, oh, what did you passed? She
said you had a many past life. But
then she took me down to the ey.
I think it was called the Ey Mountains
at the time, and she's like,
This is where your ancestors are from you
dear grandfather great grandfather had a herb farm
here, my like.
Okay it. I'd...
As soon as I walked down the hill
to the river with the... In the middle
of the forest, I started a crying, like,
I never cried before.
So there was a connection that my body...
Our body remembers, my body remembered, and didn't
remember the story.
Oh, my body remembered is something in that
spot. So I'm I'm I'm a real big
believer that we are connect... We're all connected.
Oh, yes. Oh my gosh. Everything you... The
things you keep saying are resonate.
We vacation here on Hilton neck. Island. I
live on... Oh, you live on Hailey Head.
You're so lucky. Oh, yes. Thank you Thank
you. Well, we, you know, we we came
to Paradise for 20 years, brought our Kids
down, and we would vacation every year, and
I I loved it. It was so peaceful
and beautiful. But the very first time
we've gotten a postcard in the mail from...
I don't know Marriott 1 of the time
shares. Hey, come down and stay for 3
nights and we'll... Go through this time share
presentation and you can stay for free.
And so
we were like, where the heck is hilton
man? Just before, you know, like, you had
the map on your phone. And so we
did. And I'm not kidding you when we
were coming over the bridge for the first
time.
And I'm here. And we have... At the
time our 2 little boys in the back
seat.
And I looked out the window and as
we hit the island, I turned to my
van husband, and I said,
at I don't know how to tell you
this, but this feels like home.
And
I I just felt like I was coming
home.
And it was so... I'd never been to
the place I hadn't seen really seen pictures
of it anything,
but I knew it. And now here I
am. 20 something odd years later, and I
call it home, and it it's home.
And it was like, it was like my
past my my past self knew my future
self. Yeah. We everybody even remembered something.
Yeah so interesting isn't it. Yeah. So thank
sure. Very fast. Yeah. And that's just something
similar happened to me when I when I
was diagnosed with best cancer in 2001.
Were living in Florida at the time, and,
I I really didn't wanna get in the
surgery treatment there. So I researched the best
doctor he was in Los Angeles.
So we went and I had surgery there,
and we visited a cousin the Barbara north
of South Los Angeles.
And as soon as we drove because it
is a long stretch of ocean before you
actually get to the city of santa barbara.
We drove on the stretch of ocean and
not it felt familiar. I'm like,
I know that and I'd never been there
ever before. I know this place. My body
was just like, my shoulders relaxed. My my
headache went away. And I suddenly felt... And
we ended up moving here few later. It's
very expensive. So we had a couple of
mix of more money. But,
Yeah. So I already remembered. I must have
been here in some other life too. So
it's such a beautiful feeling and Held lucky
we have landed in place that make us
feel so good. Right? Oh, yes. For sure.
And and it is amazing because you're right.
It just kinda... There's something that just comes
alive, a a tingle or or something. I
don't know. That just it's our census are
like, oh, I remember this. So... Oh, this
is where we're supposed to be. Yeah
This is where we're supposed to be exactly
right. Right. Exactly.
So now
do you
work with others? Do you help others in
in writing? And
in creating their own...
Or, I guess getting in touch with their
own truths and sharing their stories
do. I teach a lot of workshop. My
website is diana ra dot com. And I
I teach at the santa barbara ryder conference
and I teach, you know, various workshops where
I'm called to.
I'm teaching for a the Seattle study group
coming up, and I
teach at the local libraries. I've done some
zoom calls with libraries across the country during
Covid.
I do. I love helping people find their
story because I think we all have stories.
It's just which 1 are you gonna write.
That's that's sometimes a challenge for people.
Right. Right. I know I you I think
I told you last time we chatted it.
I've been writing my memoir for 10 years.
So it's like, it's been a work in
progress and I think with my mom passing
in March, on my family my birthday, which
it was such a gift in in a
way,
that
not her death, but she passed on my
birthday. Like, it was just... There's this connection.
This extra connection now, But
she gave that final stamp to approval and
said, you know, it's time. It's time to
put it out there because it's gonna it's
going to contain some of our ugly truths
and
approval So that was, yeah, Just such a
gift from her as she left this world.
Yeah. So it's true. And, again, I'm sorry
to hear about the loss of your mother.
I know a little bit about story.
And so, yeah. I think it... Like you
said, it's very important to get that, and
that's 1 of the things I teach is
get down to your emotional truth. It's very
easy to, sort of readiness as to talk
about stories and
traveling
and, you know, family trips and experiences you've
had together. But it's not so much what
what you did, but how did it affect
you? You know, how did it make you
the person you are? And
why,
you know, how how will you influence? How
did you grow from it? And that's what
I encourage in my writing workshops is to
get down to the truth of the story.
Right? Not just journalist in reporting it.
But all you all can go through the
same experience, but come out the other end
totally different. You know,
they've done so many studies on people going
through a war and some people,
you know, my dad was a holocaust environment.
He was like, so happy to be alive
where his brother was just and he just
said no religion in my life ever because
religion separates people. It makes wars.
But his brother who went through the same
experience became extremely religious. Oh, you know, I
lost my parents. I lost this, and I'm
just gonna be very religious, So they just
went totally different routes, and
that's the beauty of human Nature. We all
react differently.
Right. That's why I went back and got
my degree in psychology because
I have been through 2 horrific bank robber.
1, a gun was held in my head,
my coworker was stabbed 3 times with a
hunting knife. They didn't catch them.
And then 3 months later, they would come
back to our main office where I had
just transferred.
Only this time, the perpetrator who had held
the gun in my head would pull the
trigger and murder my coworker. So I
started experiencing severe panic attacks, horrific panic attacks,
and really my mental health I really struggled
with depression anxiety.
And
my mom
had also been a banker,
Went through 2 horrific bank robber, had a
gun held to her head. So very very
similar,
but she
was just took it as, oh, well, whatever,
you know, life goes on, keep partying with
my friends and having fun and life and
just being, you know, her jokes herself and
I sat there so fascinated like...
Oh, have we have these very similar experiences
and we're both
handling it in such completely different ways. So
I truly went back to school
and got my degree in psychology just to
learn.
Like, what did you... How do... How does
this happen? And so, yeah, to me. It
is fascinating, but now I understand.
Yeah. Trauma impact, you know, the impact of
my early childhood had trauma and the way
my brain
process things as well as how I was
storing that trauma. So, yeah, It is you're
right. It is so very fascinating. How 2
people can go through the same thing and
and come out,
completely different way of handling.
Yeah. Yeah. Now I know in,
your book that released yesterday, My Humming
Do you you have prompts and in the
book that that guide people the journal prompts?
I do. I call them, there's the end
of each chapter, there's 5 of them I
think 13 or 14 chapters.
At the end of each chapter, I have
5 prompts, but I also call them reflection
questions or prompts, because some people
My brother love we just passed. I was
always encouraging him to write his memoir. He
says, oh, Diana, you know, I don't really
write, but I'm... I love talk.
I said, well, then just talking into a
tape recorder, you know, so some people are
better at talking,
and so, unfortunately, he never did it. But
So I, that's why I call them reflection
prompts. If you wanna... They could be discussion
prompts as opposed to writing, but, of course,
as a writer,
I I'd always encourage people rebuild for right.
Yes. Yeah. Well to bring out,
to be a little nostalgic and also, you'd
know as a as a grandmother now up
6. I really feel it's my
role to continue my my legacy, and I
want my grandchildren to know what what their
family's been through and and the importance of
following their passions following their heart. So those
are the messages the Humming brought me, you
know, listen since your heart, following your intuition,
and that was
something that, you know, I... That that has
helping me survive through many, many
physical and mental traumas for sure.
Yeah. I think clarifying that. So looking it's
the light too. You know, It's like, I
gave a... My first reading on the weekend,
and that's 1 thing I talked a lot
about is
So a lot of dark this in the
world right in now, but
you know, there's also a lot of light,
and human in nature somehow goes to the
dark this easier, but think we need to
focus more on the light.
Imagine
and the universe that this magic happening is
just,
oh, we forget it.
If you get to honor it.
Right.
I I truly believe that the pandemic has
brought forth a big shift in people realizing
Oh, wait a minute. There's there's this
beautiful
part of human nature. We... We're just inundated
with the... Negativity in the darkness so much.
But III
personally just started to witness so many people
rising up and starting to connect with that's
that light and that that goodness.
And I hope it I hope it continues
because,
yeah. We we need it.
Yeah. Some people have a hard time, like,
if they're not very special, I have a
hard time just understanding what what do you
mean by the light. And I guess another
way of saying is just being positive thinking.
Don't You think it's kind of like, just
be more positive as supposed to
the negative. I think that's another way of
explaining the why.
Yes. Oh, most definitely. I know,
Well, when I started to shift away, I
don't have panic attacks anymore. I don't experience
anxiety on that. Her severe level. I mean,
obviously, I'm human, so I have moments, but
It it was
shifting my mindset
to 1 of positivity and gratitude
that
I was able to make my way into
what I literally say up and on this
show and to other people is, you know,
finding my way out of the darkness and
into the light. I mean, I I talk
about it because to me, that's what it
felt like
was moving into this place of
joy and peace,
even amidst the chaos. I mean,
life still happens, You know? In my last
year with all the with all the deaths
that occurred, but
still able to stay in this place of
joy and peace.
Sure. Yes. Yeah.
Way to survive, I think.
You know, to. It's a survival mechanism
It's otherwise.
Yes. And, you know, also, I talk a
lot,
about rituals, importance to rituals, whether it's, you
know, going for walk every morning and going
for, you know,
meditation, whatever it is that brings you joy
searching for that.
And that also helps bring out the light.
Oh, yes. Definitely logged down, you know.
Yeah. Yeah. So now
you have gosh, 13 other books beyond the
beat besides this 1.
And are they
all memoir related or
or
are their guy what what what is your...
What is the general?
I guess, I don't wanna say gist.
But guides Yeah. The genre. Maybe the genre.
That's it. Thank you.
That's okay.
Well, you know my background is so diverse
I've had... You know, I just to be
director nursing in Chronic care hospital. I had
a degree in health. I have a degree
psychology. You have an Mfa. But my health
path has all been about healing. So all
my books have some kind of healing for
component,
but they are primarily,
memoir and poetry. Those are my 2 favorite
genres.
So I'd say, about half and half, You
know, my last book writing for Bliss was
all about helping people write their stories, whether
it's a memoir essay.
And that was more of about how to
book. I think that was
the only 1 that was really quote unquote
how to.
There's a little bit of how to and
in the current 1 Humming messages from my
ancestors and that there are writing prompts.
So those are my genres of choice.
I did a couple of ant apologies. I
did 1 called writers on the edge, which
is a compilation of writers who've struggled with
addiction.
And they each wrote essay that I did
another 1 called. Writers in their notebooks,
writers who do, journal, you know, and how
the journal has help them over the years
of their writing practice. So
editing an essay essays is kinda like having
a lot of children... Sorry, editing a ant
journal I don't know not do that again.
It's so hard. Just corral in 15 writers
and bit making deadlines. It was it was
a lot of work. I think with ball
work and writing a book.
Yes. Well, It warning but a lot of
work.
So funny, you should say that because on
the 20 fifth, so in 9 days from
today.
I am part of a collaborative book project
that's launching.
And it was
I was 1 of the writers, but speaking
to the lead author who
you know, was bringing all of this together,
and, yes, talking to her about the process.
And she was, like, I need a really
long map and all of this is done.
Yeah.
I bet she does. Yeah. By the way,
I 1 is how I love the name
of your podcast, the healing places. So suddenly,
I... Whenever I see it or read it
or and your picture on your, you know,
emails. When my show is just relaxes, something
very... Suddenly very special. I love I love
that. No. Thank you. Thank you. Well, and,
it's so... How did you come up with
that?
Yeah. That's funny because I was working in
a mental health agency. Like I said, my
degree psychology, and
a I was... Gosh, I wanna say,
late forties, maybe just turned 50 period somewhere
in that range. And I... 1 of my
therapist friends, someone that just instantly became a
sole sister was in her late twenties.
And so we we hung out all the
time and had such a blast together.
And she had said to me,
to we totally need to start a podcast.
Then I was, like, awesome. What's a podcast?
Because.
I. I have never listened to 1. I
didn't know what a podcast was. And so
she and I started this up together, and
we started it in kind of a really
super funny.
We were talking about angels and aliens, but
also talking about anxiety and depression like we
were just making just this. Whatever we wanted
to talk about it, and we would literally
sit in my backyard around a fire pit.
So it was, like a terrible recordings. I,
like, nothing professional there. We didn't have a
good microphone. So it was was.
It was just fun. And we started it
and just kind of collaborated together. And since
both of us, were working with kids,
you know, in the healing arena,
we came up with the healing place.
It's just a place for people to gather,
for healing tidbits.
I love it. No. It's just... It's so
simple. I love the simplicity and wisdom in
it. You know? It's just it's not not
a lot of words, but it says everything
than it is. Which is not an easy
thing to do. Oh, thank you. Thank you.
Well, as you spoke said, All of your
work is... You, you know, the genre is
really it's healing related and, 0II so speak
to that because my newsletter is called the
hope for healing newsletter. I mean, healing is
just such an integral part of what I
call my soul work and the work that
I do as well. So thank you. Yvette
for That was a heart hug.
So how are we doing our tank? Oh,
my gosh, we 2 minutes left, so I
certainly wanted to give you an opportunity to
talk about or address anything or leave leave
listeners with maybe... Something a prompt or something
they can do along their journey.
Mh. Sure.
Well, the book is... That we've been talking
about Call Han messages from it's a long
title. Humming messages for my ancestors,
like a memoir with reflection and writing prompts.
And so, hopefully, people that read it will
be, helped to get in touch with their
own ancestors.
And, you know, I can tell a lot
about following your past I talk a lot
about, you know, trauma
and into generational trauma, and how we carry
memories in our in our in our cells
and in our bodies and they come forth
in the most unusual ways.
So if I'm to leave the listeners with
a prompt, I would say,
how would you like to honor your ancestors
in the way that you live in your
life?
Yeah. I think that would be a good
1. If that doesn't resonate, how about, you
know,
What ancestor...
Have you ever connected with your ancestors and
in what way do they present themselves?
Yeah. Oh, that's so good. I'm gonna go
journal today. I answer all those.
I love it. Oh, my god, girl. Well,
so how do folks connect with you where
do they guide you?
So I have a website and then... Diana,
DIANARAAB
dot com, and is a lot of
information on the websites, all the articles and
homes that have published.
Also events coming up.
I also have a monthly newsletter, and you
can sign it up for 8 on my
website, and the newsletters is full of all
kinds of tidbits some journal prompts to book
recommendations
and to appearances as is. And so, you
know, just to And they... Know has to
do with healing and making yourself for the
best possible person ever.
Oh, well, I'm a speaker. I've been a
seeker my my wife. So I tried to
you know, share that knowledge with my
my people. My tribe.
They call it. I've not heard secret before,
so it's your a seeker of knowledge, a
seeker of wisdom and answers?
Yeah. Yeah. It'd be better.
Yeah. I like that.
Alright. That's a new word for me. Right
Resonating with that word. Thank you. He gets
you too. I know. I was just gonna
fit. I'm a seat.
I saw saw him. Oh my God. Well,
and I think that's why I would. That
should be the name of my podcast.
Oh, yeah. That would be great. The seekers
place
The sneakers 1 is. The si place meets
the healing place.
I love it. I love it.
Well, it's just... As always, it's been a
joy.
Thank you for, yeah know, just honoring me
with being here on the show and in
sharing with my audience. It's... It's just been
wonderful. Thank you. Thank you so much, Terry.
Lovely. Happy New Year. Oh, you too. Thank
you. Alright. Everyone. Thanks for joining us today
on the Healing Place Pact. Cast. Remember until
next time. Be gentle with yourself. Thanks. Bye
bye. Hey, everybody. Terry well brought here. Cast
just wanted to thank you again for being
a part of this
healing space
and my hashtag hope for healing journey.
Thank you for sharing, liking,
inviting others to join, listening in,
you've really helped the show blossom. It has
now been downloaded in 136
countries and
is in the top 2 percent globally out
of 3200000.0
shows, which is just amazing, and it's all
because of you
and
you're tuning in and inviting others and sharing
and liking and loving, and your reviews on
Apple really helped too.
My goal is to hit 105
star reviews by the end of the year,
and I am closing in on that. So
if you are listening in on Apple
or Apple podcasts,
please go and rate. The show and leave
a review if you absolutely love it,
and
I would be most appreciative.
Also,
If you would like to receive my monthly
hope for healing newsletter, please be sure to
go to terry dot com.
It's TERI.
Just 1RWELLBR0CK
dot com.
And I have a,
a gift to send you for signing up
for that monthly hope for healing newsletter plus...
There are many other resources listed on that
page, including a resource library.
Alright. Thanks. Bye bye.