Shownotes
Most of us chase wellness with more routines, more tools, more things to manage. This episode is for anyone tired of that treadmill and quietly wondering if the answer is actually less, not more. Host Navya and Jennifer Halls reimagine wellness as listening rather than performing.
You will walk away with a lighter approach, one built on grace and small acts of self-trust. Jennifer shares how ordinary moments, even a trip to the grocery store, can reconnect you with your own inner wisdom.
About the Guest:
Jennifer Halls is an intuition author and consultant whose work helps people access their own inner guidance. She no longer takes new clients and instead shares her approach through her book, a collection of true stories drawn from roughly two decades of this work.
Key Takeaways:
- Wellness is subtraction, not addition. The shift is from doing more to listening more, and offering yourself grace.
- Practice intuition in the ordinary. At the grocery store, notice what your body is drawn to instead of running the checklist.
- Watch your language. When you hear yourself say should, would, or could, that is a signal you have left your own truth.
- Try the bedtime attunement: rest a hand below your navel, ask your intuition for guidance, and sleep with that intent.
- When the noise gets loud, move. Dance, sing, or make something to get out of your head and back into your body.
Connect With the Guest:
Website: https://youknow.net
Book: You know. How to Invite and Nourish a Relationship with Your Intuition
Episode Chapters:
[00:00] From Chasing to Listening. Rethinking what wellness actually asks of us
[04:00] Subtraction, Not Addition. Why doing more can pull you further from well
[09:00] Intuition at the Grocery Store. Practicing inner listening in ordinary moments
[15:00] Should, Would, Could. Spotting the language that signals disconnection
[20:00] A Hand Below the Navel. An ancient bedtime practice to attune to yourself
[25:00] Dancing It Out. Moving through setbacks without self-judgment
[28:00] The Paradox of Perfect. Letting messiness make room for transformation
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Transcripts
00:00:08 Navya: Most of us think wellness is something we chase, something we achieve through the right routine or the perfect morning ritual. But what if the real transformation begins when we stop trying to fit ourselves into someone else's definition of well, and start listening to what our own bodies and minds are actually asking for. That shift from following to listening changes everything.
00:00:36 Navya: Welcome to Wellness reimagined. I am Nadia, and this is where we explore the deeper layers of health. The parts that don't fit neatly into trends or quick fixes. We are here to ask better questions, to rethink what it means to feel whole, and to honor the messy, non-linear journey towards real well-being. Today I am joined by Jennifer Holtz. Jennifer, thank you so much for being here with us today.
00:01:10 Jennifer Halls: Thank you for having me.
00:01:12 Navya: Okay. So, uh, Jennifer, when people hear the phrase wellness reimagined, they often think that it's about adding more to their lives, like more practices, more tools, or more things to manage. But I suspect you see it differently. What is the biggest misconception people have about reimagining their approach to wellness?
00:01:40 Jennifer Halls: Um, my answer to that would be, uh, when, when people approach wellness, like you said, they want to do, do, do. And really it is more about listening, um, uh, taking a pause, lingering in something and trying to give yourself grace. Grace is a big thing because people are so hard on themselves. They're so challenged in their own minds that, that it's, they're somehow failing or they're somehow not doing it right. Or maybe if I did ten more, you know, push ups or more yoga or more meditation, it'll be better as opposed to just taking a moment and listening to what you really need from a bigger part of you.
00:02:33 Navya: So, you know, if it is not about adding more, what, what does it actually mean to strip things back and to find what is really underneath all of that noise that we experience.
00:02:49 Jennifer Halls: Um, it can be as simple as I try to do things around intuition where people are already going to the grocery store. They're already going to be picking up whatever vegetables or fruits. So what I do is I say, okay, let's play with your intuition here. When you get to the store, see what your body is craving. You know, as opposed to just like, okay, I need five strawberries and I need this and I need this. It's like even just taking a moment to see if your body is drawn to a particular thing. It doesn't add any more time to, to the practice. It's, it's just sort of what, what feels right. And why would my body be drawn towards blueberries as opposed to strawberries. And maybe sometimes I will get to. I mean, and I'm doing this mundane thing because the more we can just make this come together in our lives. So it's just one movement as opposed to, okay, now I have to do these five things. It's sort of okay, going to the blueberries and saying, okay, I don't know why you're drawing me here. And what I'll say sometimes to play with it is these blueberries are so they're going to be so sweet. And then I'll feel in my body and my body constricts. I'm like, um, they might be a little sour. So sometimes I'll buy them anyway just to see if I'm right. You know, if my body was registering the right thing. And so that I know it sounds really simple, but that kind of interaction with yourself over just blueberries or over just something. There's nothing added, but it's. Except that you're more in tune with yourself in general when you do things like that.
00:04:46 Navya: So would you say is it about being vulnerable to oneself and allowing our own selves to, uh, probably, you know, navigate that entire path?
00:04:59 Jennifer Halls: Yes, yes. Um, being vulnerable to this bigger part, soul self, you know, that, that we get all hooked on that word, you know, oh, your soul, but your intuition is really that bigger part of you that isn't temporary, you know, like this body is. But when we're in this body, we sure want to be well and feel good and feel like we're in line with our life and our purpose. So even buying blueberries can put you in line with your purpose in that moment. And then the more of those that accumulate, the more you're just drawn into that. Just those little practices, um, wherever you are, whatever you're getting.
00:05:41 Navya: Okay. So, you know, there is such a good point because that idea of, uh, subtraction instead of addition. It, it really shifts that pressure. You know, it suggests that maybe we are not broken or we are not missing something, which is very essential. We're just carrying too much, which was, you know, not even ours to begin with.
00:06:06 Jennifer Halls: Yes. Yes. Including the nonsense chatter in our heads that that we aren't good enough or something that's not ours to begin with. You know, that's silly, silly nonsense. Um, tuning in and feeling just the interaction here. You know it. If we're aligned in a particular purpose, it it flows and it's fun and people can feel our hearts.
00:06:33 Navya: Yeah. So.
00:06:35 Jennifer Halls: So that.
00:06:37 Navya: Yeah. Okay. So let's just dig into where we, you know, kind of need to reimagine where it comes from. So why do so many people feel disconnected from their own sense of wellness in the first place? Like what are the root patterns or beliefs probably that pull us away from?
00:07:04 Jennifer Halls: Um, I feel like our society, our world in general is told somebody else knows better. And certainly if you're going to go have surgery, you're probably not going to do that on yourself. You know, somebody else might know better, but tuning into yourself to see which is the right person to go to. And I think we get caught up because we're told we're not taught how to how to listen to our own inner voice. You know, we're we're taught more to be in our heads and more to think and more to. Which is not a bad thing, except we're out of balance with it. It needs to be more balanced. And just having the mind recognize that bigger part of our self that has wisdom, little children have it, you know, and um, it will come out and we say, oh no, no, you couldn't know that, you know, so we get pushed down. Um, I think it starts right from the beginning. Nobody tells you that, that you, you can tap into some of the answers that you need and that might look like, um, nobody, nobody trains you to, to hear your inner voice and take that inner your, everybody sat down at a desk or sat down on the floor. And here's what you read. And, and all of that is fine, except we tend to go into life with being told that we don't have our own wisdom, that there's somebody else out there. There's some book out there, there's some, you know, that we we don't know what it is we need. You faded out again. Can you hear me? There you are.
00:09:14 Navya: Is it clear? I don't know what is the problem. Probably with my network.
00:09:22 Jennifer Halls: I get a clear signal for my network. But you do fade in and out.
00:10:27 Navya: Can you see me? Yes.
00:10:29 Jennifer Halls: Now I can see you.
00:10:31 Navya: Sorry.
00:10:33 Jennifer Halls: It's okay. Don't worry about it. I'm just sorry. You have to edit this.
00:10:38 Navya: It's okay. It's fine. Uh, okay. So we'll start with another question then. So, uh, I think one of the hardest parts is recognizing how this, um, disconnection shows up in everyday life. I mean, it's not always dramatic. So what do you think are the subtle signs that someone might be living? You know, someone else's version of wellness rather than their own?
00:11:13 Jennifer Halls: Um, a lot of times when people say, oh, I should do that, or I guess it would be better if I did this. So they're, they're, they're second guessing, you know, by saying, oh, I should be doing this because so and so said so, as opposed to checking in with themselves and saying, yeah, that would feel really good if I did that. Um, so there's that should, would, could, how could I do that better? I'm not enough. We have all those voices, um, that come in
00:11:42 Navya: Okay. So, Jennifer, when someone's ready to start building their own approach, their own relationship with well-being, what is a practice or a mindset shift that you've, you know, really seen people help anchor into their own truth?
00:11:59 Jennifer Halls: Okay. So there's a mind, there's a mental shift so you can listen to your words. If I'm saying should, would, could, if I hear myself saying that, I know there's a problem as opposed to, yeah, this feels good to do. Um, the thing that people can do, there's a, there's an ancient practice, um, where if you go to bed with your right hand just situated right under your belly button and you ask, you know, help, help, guide me, help, help my intuition. And you go to sleep like that. I thought this was too easy. You know, a friend taught me this and she said, no, no, this is ancient and this is what I do every day. And it there's something about it that all of a sudden things start to make more sense. Things start to just with the hand right under your belly button, just just to like where our wounds are for women. Men, I believe it happens the same way. Um, but if you go to bed with your hand there, oftentimes you'll wake up with it there. Oftentimes you won't, but something starts to happen when you have just this intent to attune yourself to the bigger part of yourself. That's an easy thing people can do right before bed.
00:13:26 Navya: You know, I feel we, we, a lot of times we just don't realize how important these small little things are and how important our intuition and our gut feeling. All of these play a very important role in guiding us through. And we just sometimes there are a lot of times we just tend to forget that part. Yes.
00:13:48 Jennifer Halls: I agree and we get confused, you know, because oftentimes intuition, if you get a nice feeling of openness, expansiveness in your body, when you're, when you're deciding to do something, it feels right, almost like you're being moved to do it. Whereas other times it feels like, oh, it's tight. Now that in those times I have to figure out, is it just my fear that's making me tight? Or is it is it just I, this is not the right way to go. And so there are ways to kind of come into your body a little bit differently. I mean, even putting your hand on your belly, you know, and breathing there, there's so many different ways to come to presence that, um, and that's really the key. We can't be present all the time. We just can't. We're humans. Maybe some people can that are very advanced. But for everybody else, it's like, okay, what are these small things I can do? Like put my hand on my belly, put my hand on my heart because you're directing where, where I want the information to come from. Not my head. My head is very opinionated and not very bright sometimes. Or the ego.
00:15:05 Navya: So, um, you know, how does that practice evolve as someone, uh, gets more comfortable of trusting their own gut or their own signals?
00:15:18 Jennifer Halls: How does it evolve? It evolves slowly, like some of the time. Some things I have people do is when you do have something that is an intuitive thing, like, oh, I think I'm going to go this way to work instead of that way to work. I have them check with people that maybe came the other direction. Was there a backup? Where were they avoiding something? Sometimes there's evidence like that. Other times it's sort of like, um, you'll just get a feeling about something. Like I was just talking to a client and she said she was with her daughter and she said, oh, you need to stop by your mailbox because there's a package in there. And her daughter was like, how do you know there's a package? And she said, I just can feel it. And so trusting that and trusting that you might be wrong and it's okay. But what I have have people do is write down when they have an intuitive moment like, oh, I'm going to see a friend today I haven't seen in a while. And then a lot of times you're like, why am I listening to that stupid part in my head? But then when it happens, write it down and put it in a place and you start to accumulate all of these things that are and it's not hard. You know, you can write it on a napkin. It doesn't have to be in a special, but I just threw it all in a box. And when the box started to get full pretty quickly. You you start to trust it more because it is a building into trust. And it's good if you have those examples where you had an intuitive moment and it, um, it worked. I have a, a, a relative that she was getting married and the night before she got married, she had a dream of the chapel. And the only thing in it was a skunk, right where they were supposed to get married. And she said she knew she wasn't supposed to marry that man, but she did it anyway. And she learned, you know, as we all do, like, oh, I should have done this. You know, I knew it. Why didn't I do it?
00:17:18 Navya: And there are a lot of times where we just neglect it. I mean, even, uh, these gut feelings, they manifest into our dreams as well. And you get up in the morning in the hustle bustle, you tend to forget. And then when once something like that has happened, then you realize, okay, I've seen that before. This has happened to me before.
00:17:40 Jennifer Halls: Exactly. Exactly. And if you forget, then you have a little box with all these little sticky notes that say, oh, that's right, that did happen.
00:17:50 Navya: Yeah. So, you know, of course this kind of shift wouldn't be linear. There are days when the old patterns come back, you know, when the noise starts feeling a lot louder than our inner voice. How do you recommend people handling those kind of setbacks without, you know, losing momentum or without falling into that self-judgment?
00:18:15 Jennifer Halls: Mhm. It's so hard to not have self-judgment. I mean, that that's one of those things that people are up there saying, you shouldn't have self-judgment. It's like, it's just there. It's not like everybody's trying to have it. So when we get to those places where it's self-judgment and where it's it's hard to come back. You have to to realize that sometimes we can push too hard and we're not supposed to always have momentum. Like there are breaks. If you look in nature, you know, we have different seasons. And remembering those kinds of seasons are in our life as well. And I'm not saying to ignore a problem at all, but maybe come to a creative place. So oftentimes if I lose it, I, I start to dance, I'll turn on music and dance in my kitchen, you know, just to shake out and get in your body more as opposed to being so stuck in your mind. Because I think when we're mostly stuck, we're in our heads or in our egos.
00:19:19 Navya: So, you know, once they start, um, probably like over time when someone has sustained that reimagined relationship with wellness. So it doesn't just become another thing that they're trying to perfect, you know? Doesn't that happen?
00:19:39 Jennifer Halls: Oh, yes. And then, you know, if you're going into trying to perfect something on this realm in a more spiritual aligned realm, um, if you're trying to go to perfect, that's your ego right off the bat. Like the ego is the only thing interested in what you think is perfect as opposed to what might be happening. And, and to, um, a friend of mine will say, she says to herself every day, even if she's had a disappointment, she'll say, well, something about this is in my best and highest interest and that works for her. And it can work for other people. But some people it doesn't work for. So you just have to find the way. Like, are you going to go and paint? You know, are you going to dance? Are you going to a lot of the arts, if you sing it, it gets you back aligned with yourself so you can move forward.
00:20:33 Navya: Okay. So, I mean, are you trying to say that, you know, when something of that sort happens, we have to probe, like, uh, channel that energy somewhere else in some hobby or some other activity like that.
00:20:47 Jennifer Halls: Well, I always think of the, um, if you can do any kind of creative. So sing, dance, make art. The creativity comes from the word creator. So if we're tapping into like our own soul or God or whatever you want to think of as bigger than you, one of the things to do is to tap into that, like, what does my body want to make? What does my body want to do? And then you connect back in with where you were created from. That's my, that's, I think everybody has different beliefs, but that's what works for me. And it's easy. You know, you turn on the music in your I mean, everybody has earbuds. Put on your music and listen or or tune into a lovely podcast that gets you back to where you are.
00:21:36 Navya: I, you know, I think that is the, the paradox. I mean, you know, the more we try to perfect wellness, the further we just drift away from actually being, well, it's like the acceptance of messiness that, you know, lets that transformation follow.
00:21:55 Jennifer Halls: I agree completely, I agree because it is a paradox. And I mean, I think the truth is in the paradox. So if you know, you're trying to perfect and you know you're too messy, it's like, okay, both of them are true. And now here's the pathway in to wherever you're going. Because when you recognize that it's, um, it usually is, there's usually a paradox to anything important.
00:22:25 Navya: So let's say if someone had only probably fifteen minutes a day to invest in their health. What would you suggest that they prioritize?
00:22:38 Jennifer Halls: If they had fifteen minutes a day? I would prioritize splitting that up. That's me. I, I would say, okay, I might spend a minute finding something that makes me feel happy, you know, whether it's a quote that I like or reading poems or listening to music or something that that I enjoy, it could be a TV program for fifteen minutes. It could be anything like that. But to find, to take that and not be so rigid with it, to be flexible, like sometimes you can, a bird outside the window, you know, just watching a bird outside the window is a way to come back to yourself because you're just with the bird and the song and the music, and it opens up your senses. So anything you can do to open up your senses. So, I mean, I don't think you need fifteen minutes to put aside really. I think you can, you know, when you're eating a meal to, to smell it and taste it and, and really feel the texture of it and, and the sounds of what, what's going on? These open up all of our senses when our senses are engaged. That's how we get our intuition to come in and speak to us.
00:24:04 Navya: Okay. So Jennifer, you know, thank you. Thank you so much for having this conversation with us. If, if people want to continue learning about your work and they want to connect with you, how can they connect?
00:24:18 Jennifer Halls: They can go to my website, which is, you know, dot net, Y o u k n o w and I, I don't take new clients, but I wrote a book so that it. It's the. It's all. It took me twenty years to write it. It's all true stories and I. When people read my book, this is the feedback that I've gotten. Their intuition just automatically starts to open up and they start to understand because everybody's intuition works a little differently and they start to understand with all of the different examples, which is just story. It's not like, okay, do this exercise, you know, it's reading and, and, and seeing yourself like, oh, that might work for me or that's not going to work for me. So I would say, yes, find me and find my book. And I hope you enjoy it. I've enjoyed you so much. You're so lovely, Nadia.
00:25:12 Navya: Thank you. Thank you so much, Jennifer. It has been great to be here with you. Thank you so much for this conversation and for the listeners as you move through your week, carry this with you. Wellness isn't something that you achieve and check off. It is something that you return to again and again in all the small, quiet moments that you choose to listen instead of perform. You know, trust your body that it knows more than any program that ever could. This is wellness reimagined. Thank you for being here.
