On this episode of The Karen Kenney Show, I talk about if what you’re doing is worth your time.

Meaning, that it’s important to take the time to evaluate the effectiveness of your “practices” – spiritual and otherwise.

I also discuss and distinguish the difference between theoretical knowledge and practical application.

It’s one thing to try and consume a bunch of information – it’s a totally different thing to actually integrate it into your life.

The bottom line is this… if what you’re doing isn’t creating positive changes in you, your thinking, your behavior, or your life…

Then it just might be time for a new practice!

And hopefully you’re choosing one that cultivate more unity and compassion, and lean more in the direction of Love.

KEY POINTS:

• Evaluate the Effectiveness

• DSP – Daily Spiritual Practice

•​ Theoretical Knowledge

•​ Practical Application

•​ Information vs. Integration

•​ Practices for Challenging Times

• Lean Toward Love

• The Nest - Group Mentoring Program

BIO:

Karen Kenney is a certified Spiritual Mentor, Writer, Integrative Change Worker, Coach and Hypnotist. She’s known for her dynamic storytelling, her sense of humor, her Boston accent, and her no-BS, down-to-earth approach to Spirituality and transformational work. 

KK is a wicked curious human being, a life-long learner, and has been an entrepreneur for over 20 years! She’s also a yoga teacher of 24+ years, a Certified Gateless Writing Instructor, and an author, speaker, retreat leader, and the host of The Karen Kenney Show podcast.

She coaches both the conscious + unconscious mind using practical Neuroscience, Subconscious Reprogramming, Integrative Hypnosis/Change Work, and Spiritual Mentorship. These tools help clients to regulate their nervous systems, remove blocks, rewrite stories, rewire beliefs, and reimagine what’s possible in their lives and business!

Karen encourages people to deepen their connection to Self, Source and Spirit in down-to-earth and actionable ways and wants them to have their own lived experience with spirituality and to not just “take her word for it”.

She helps people to shift their minds from fear to Love - using compassion, storytelling and humor. Her work is effective, efficient, memorable, and fun!

KK’s been a student of A Course in Miracles for close to 30 years, has been vegan for over 20 years, and believes that a little kindness can make a big difference.

KK WEBSITE: www.karenkenney.com

Hey, welcome to the Karen Kenney show. I'm so happy to be here. I keep cracking myself up because I keep restarting this podcast, because I keep making myself

laugh over stupid things, and you guys don't need my nonsense. So okay, and we're back. Okay, I have no idea what I'm going to call this sucker. I'll have to figure it out

later. But I want to share something with you guys that I was talking about or I brought up on one of the bi weekly calls that we have in the nest, my spiritual

mentoring group. It was just a little moment. It was like, this isn't I don't even think this suck is going to be that long, but it's something I want something I want,

I want you to just think about. I just want you to think about this. Because, yes, I was applying it to a spiritual concept, to a DSP, right, a daily spiritual practice, but

I think it's applicable in a lot of other ways. So I was talking about how every once in a while, like, you know, there's this funny thing that happens when you get

around, like the spiritual let's call it like spiritual community, or the spiritual realm, or people who think of themselves as, quote, I'm doing air quotes, quote, unquote,

spiritual, or whatever, you know, what You end up hearing a lot from spiritual people. I know, I know, and I and there's this famous quote, and I want to say it's by Lao

Tzu that says, to know and not yet do is to not yet know. I'm going to say that again, to know and not yet do like do it is to not yet know. So a lot of times people in this

is not what the show is about. But I just need to say this upfront. So a lot of people like to think, like, Oh, I know. Like, oh, I know I do that. Like, oh, I know. I already

have this practice. I already do this fancy thing. I already blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, so here's what I always find fascinating, and I know that the caveat I

always say, there's a nuance to everything. There are exceptions to everything. So this isn't like me picking on anybody. People are allowed to have bad days, okay, but if I see

a pattern in somebody, that's when this really applies. So if I meet somebody and they are always stressed out of their mind, they are always in those words, right? Like,

well, let's say most of the time they're stressed out. They're moving really fast. They're just like, totally in, like, the blame game. They're anxious all the time,

fill in the blank, right? And then they try to convince me that they have a serious DSP, like a serious daily spiritual practice, or a serious like meditation practice, or

whatever I'm always like. But do you though? But do you though, because the whole point of a practice. The whole point of a practice is that you get to practice it so that then

you can apply it to your actual life. You know, and I've met people. I have met people over the years when you would think that, you know, quote, unquote, according to them,

that they're like, really Christian, or they have really deep faith. And then you see the choices that they make and how they talk to people and treat people, and you're like,

Wait, are you sure? And then, you know, you always see these yogis who are like, oh, yeah, I'm totally a yogi. I'm totally into yoga. And I'm like, but then they're doing

certain things out in the world. And I'm like, Yeah, but like, the whole foundation of yoga is Ahimsa, it's non ham, it's non violence, right? It's thought, words and

deeds, right? And so I'm like, Are you sure? Like, are you sure your yoga practice? Are you practicing yoga? Like, are you sure, right? And the same thing, like part of why

we do a DSP again is to train our brain, is to help our mind to slow down, to maybe Calm down, to find that gap between thoughts so that we can actually choose who and how we

want to Be in the world. So here's my whole point if somebody and it might be you, and I guess this is the message I'm trying to say, this might be something for you to share

with somebody else. It might apply to you. It is certainly, at times throughout my life, applied to me. But here's what I want to say, if your practice is not creating

change on some level, in the positive direction, right in the direction that where it's helping you to become, even if it's become more have more clarity, more

awareness, more self responsibility, more um. Um, like, owning your shit more, or understanding where your shit comes from more. So like, you can start to put other

things into practice to help yourself, right? So you're not so you're going out into the world, not inflicting yourself on other human beings. So here's my whole

thing, if your practice isn't creating change on some level, it might be time for a new practice. And while I think that there, I think I think that a DSP, a daily

spiritual practice, can be for everybody, I don't think every kind of practice suits every kind of person. I think it's important that we figure out what actually resonates

with us, what we'll actually do, what actually feels like something that we're connecting to, the Divine Source, God higher power, highest self, divine intelligence,

whatever you want to call it right, going online with big mind, as Eric Schiffman sometimes calls it right. I just feel like if your practice is not helping you to

practice to be in a new way, a way that is more loving, a way that is more compassionate. Now, look, sometimes we need to practice things that help us to find our

voice, to use our voice, to have boundaries. I'm not saying like everything that we practice is to be more kind, because I think sometimes right, or to be more nice, right?

Because I don't think that nice serves us all the time. I'm down for kindness. I'm not down for always just being nice, to be nice, right? But if you're practicing something

and you're being consistent with it, and you're not seeing any change, it might be time for a new practice. So when people say to me, like, oh yeah, like, I sit and

meditate for like an hour every day, or I do my course in miracles every day, and I do X, Y and Z every day, and then I watched them consistently behave in a particular pattern

or way I'm always like, but do you? But do you? Because I'm not seeing a shift in the way that you're showing up, and whether that the way that you're talking to yourself, it

doesn't mean that you're going out and you're being unkind to others all the time. But are you putting this shit into practice? Are you applying it? Because a lot of times,

what happens is people will do things on the level of theory, right, and they'll often end up with an application of the theory problem is what I call it, which is, you can

read all the books. You can tell me, I know, I know, I know, and I'm like but you don't know, because to know and not yet do it is to not yet know. You don't know. Knowledge

comes from knowing meaning firsthand experience, like you've done it right? You know what I'm saying? So, oh my goodness. But if you're so, if you just reading the

books, if you just listening to the podcast, if you're listening to the tapes, if you're watching the videos, and you're just like consuming, consuming, consuming, consuming

information, but you're not implementing it right then that's not actually going to be that helpful. So if your practice of any kind, and literally, you guys, it could be a

yoga practice. It could be it doesn't even have to be spiritual. It could be like you're going to batting practice, and if you're going to batting practice, but your

swing doesn't get any better, your batting average doesn't get any better. It's time to either get a new coach or get a new practice. I hope what I'm saying is making

sense, because I think a lot of people waste time going through the motions. Maybe that's what I'm trying to say. Maybe, maybe I'm figuring it out as I'm talking about it out

loud. It's like, this is not about just going through the motions. And so if your practice isn't changing anything, it's time for a new practice. Might be more about

recognizing right, recognizing that you actually haven't really been practicing. You've been maybe doing it at surface level, or you've been doing it sporadically, or

you're not it. Maybe it's just not the right practice for you. But if you keep pouring into something and nothing is changing. And like I said, it's like, it's like, you

decide, oh, I'm making like, I'm making this up, right? Oh, I want to, quote, unquote, get in shape. I

want to change my body composition. I'm going to start going to the gym and eating this way and that way, where, if something's not changing, if there's no change in how

your clothes fit, in your energy level and how you feel and like any changes are like, if you're not seeing. Any muscular like, you know, hypertrophy, if you're if you're not

growing muscles, right? It's like then you might want to take a look at your macros. You might want to take a look at your movement. You might want to take a look at

your sleep level. Are you drinking enough water? It's not just enough to go through the motions. We have to move it from the theoretical, put it into the applicable. We

have to actually do it. And then we have to notice if change is actually happening. Because when people tell me that, like, again, when people tell me, like, oh yeah, I

read my Bible, oh yeah, I do my rosary, oh yeah, do X, Y and Z, right? Like I do my course in miracles. I do this, I do that, I do my mantra. I'm like, But really though,

because you consistently seem to be incredibly stressed out, incredibly impatient, moving faster than the speed of light, and there's a lack of awareness,

which often tells me either you're not really doing your practice or your practice isn't working. And this is not to be mean. I have seen it in myself, right? I've seen it

in myself. So this is not a judgment. Everything I offer on this show is an invitation for us to get curious and to take a closer look and to see if there's any

place whatever the show topic is about. Is there any place where this applies to me? Is there any place where I can use this in a helpful way? And remember everything that I

say is for my ears first, so this is also for me to look at and to go like, Okay, is there something that I'm consistently doing that I started doing for X, Y and Z, hoping

for maybe this result, and it's not working, and if it's not working, then it's time to ditch this practice. If I have given this practice enough of a shot to actually have

results. Does that make sense? So again, and it just makes me laugh. And now that we're talking about this, you might take this out into your own world and realize that, like,

things start to get a little suspicious. Or, as the teenagers say, it's a little sus, that's a little sus, right? So things get a little suspicious sometimes, when people are

trying to convince me about how quote, unquote spiritual they are. And I take a look around, and I'm like, But really though, it reminds me, oh my god. It reminds

me of the key and peel skit where, when there he's on the flight, and he's trying to get out of his seat. The fasten your seat belt sign is on. As soon as he stands up,

right? He shows up, and he's like, sir, you need to, like, buckle. You need to get your seat. And he keeps going, but is it though? Is it against the law? But is it though, but

is it against law? But is it against law? So sometimes I'm just like, but really, are you really doing it. Oh, guys. So again, I'm not being a big blue meanie. I'm not trying to

judge anybody. I'm not trying to, like, you know, I'm not making fun of anybody. Because look at there have been times in my own life, even at the very beginning of like, my

yoga, my yoga, when I became a yoga teacher, where, you know, we've got the breath, we've got withdrawing of the senses, we've got the asanas right? Help, trying to help my

nervous system, trying to help me to slow the bug down. Slow down, and I would still move. I my brain moved very fast. My body moved very fast. My mouth moved very fast.

My mouth still does move kind of my brain look at they still move fast, but in a way that I'm aware of and that I use to my advantage, not to stress out my nervous

system. And when I look back, what I realize is, is that my nervous system was so hijacked for so long. Right? The amygdala was just like setting off fight and flight

for so long. It took me a little time for those practices to, like, catch up to me. So to be fair, I want you guys to also think about this. Like, get you have to give

practices some time. I'm not talking one, month two, month three. I'm like, some time, some time for us to have an opportunity to clock actual shifts. And sometimes those

shifts are really small. I mean, I've seen it in my work with working with one to one people, one to one, in the quest, right? My spiritual mentoring, one to one. And a lot

of times, people would start to see shifts and changes like right away, like right away, and they're like, Oh my God, if any like, they'll say this was totally worth it,

because I got even this one thing that would have been enough, right? But they get more things than that. Usually, some other people, the change is a little bit slower.

So they get to the end of the three months, or the four months, or whatever, you know, the amount of time we're working together, and you know, they'll be like, Yeah, this

was really powerful. But then they'll write to me, like, a couple of months later, and they'd be like, Oh. Oh, like, now it's all finally starting to catch up and land for

me. And then there have been people that I've worked with where, you know, at the end of the time, I'd be like, Hmm, because look, here's the other thing. Sometimes people

aren't ready. There's a part of them that's not actually ready to do the work and to feel the feelings and to face some things. But I'm telling you, they'll write to me,

they'll write to me a year later, two years later, and they'll say, oh my god, I just have to tell you that the work we did together is still resounding. It's still

resonating now. It's still rippling out and having an effect now. And that's always, that's always such a delight to hear, right? I mean, it just makes you feel like, oh,

okay, so, you know, I made a difference. The work made a difference. Their presence, them, them, investing in themselves, made a difference. It feels so good. It feels so

good. So I feel like I'm a little all over the place with this, because I'm kind of realizing some things as I'm talking but I hope I made sense. So somebody, for the love

of Jesus, Christ, baby Jesus, in a wallet. Shall if you listen to this and it made sense to you, and it landed in particular way, or was helpful in some way, well, at

least one of you will, at least one of you write to me and say, kk, thank you for this. I knew what you were saying, and I guess that's my thing is, I'm not, I'm not picking

on people because, look, I might encounter somebody who's just having a tough day or a tough week or a tough month or a few months or whatever, right? But I think it's

important that we pause every once in a while and take a look at what we are doing in our life and asking ourselves, is this actually worth my time, my effort, my

energy. Am I seeing a result? But you can't base it on half ass attempts, right? One of my meditation teacher swarm, this is him right here. I'll hold up. Have one of his

little journals here. So this is a Swaran. You know, one of the things that he talks about when you're having a daily spiritual practice or something, he likens it to not

like digging shallow holes in the backyard. So let's say you were trying to strike strike oil or strike water, like you're digging for a well. He's like, you know, you

can't go around digging, like, three feet holes everywhere, expecting to find what you're looking for. You have to pick a spot and go deep. And that's what I'm kind of

saying. If you've been going deep on something, and you've been consistent with it, and you've been disciplined with it, and you've done it, and you're still not

changing, and that's what like, it goes right back to it. If your practice doesn't create change, right? It might be time for a new practice. So I hope that's helpful for

you in some way. And just thank you for tuning in, and thanks for listening and for you know, really, I mean, I know this is quote, unquote, my podcast, and I've created

the space. Like, because I hit record, I have the equipment, right, like, I produce it, but if nobody out there was listening, right? So, like, what would be the point I

could just write? I wouldn't have to do a verbal video and post it and do all this shit. So just thank you for being part of my community, part of my audience, part of my

listeners, that I know this is going out into the airwaves that, like, I'm on a particular channel, and you guys are tuning into that channel, right? Like I'm not like

in the Armageddon and nobody's listening. It's like all the radios are off, and I'm just talking to myself. So I appreciate your time, and I appreciate your energy, and I

appreciate all of you who listen to the show and share the show. And I saw somebody today at work and at flexible, and she said, I forwarded your podcast to two people, and

that really means a lot to me. So

if you're listening to this, also as as a final thought, if you're listening to this, then we have survived the election. And I know for a lot of people, you know, it's

just an interesting thing. Like, I know this is like a sidebar, but I've been thinking about this, and I'm like, you know, a lot of, no matter how this thing turns out, a

lot of a lot of people are going to be happy and a lot of people are going to be pissed. And this is when I wish everybody had a practice. I wish everybody had a daily

spiritual practice that helps them to lean in the direction of love, that helps them to lean in the direction of unity and wholeness and kindness and compassion, and to

understand that we are better together and that we can get a lot more done when we're not hating on each other, right? And we're kind of leaning into the places where we

where we can support and help each other, rather tearing tearing each other apart. And so today, me is interested in finding out what me next week has discovered after the

election. It's going to be interesting. But please, please, please, I hope you voted. I know I said in my last episode. Please, please, please go out and vote, and if you

voted, thank you for doing your your civic duty, your civilian duty, and using your right, using your right to have your voice heard through your vote. I appreciate that.

Okay, wherever you go, may you leave yourself in the people, in the place, in the animals and the environment, all the humans, all the animals that you come in contact

with, all the sentient beings, may they be better off for having come across you that day, wherever you go, may you and your love and your energy and your presence be a

blessing. Bye. Bye.