Contrast is something Lisa Schneider knows plenty about. This courageous warrior shares her journey from divorce to her recent unexpected battle with Interstitial Lung Disease and discloses her secret to finding inner strength.

About the Guest:

Lisa Schneider lives in Dunedin, Florida with her very rambunctious black lab mix Willah.

Lisa has worked in customer and sales support roles for 20+ years in the medical industry. In her free time, she explores her love for the creative arts with a focus on writing and photography.

Lisa is currently writing her first book based on her life experiences and the powerful force she felt to push her way through them. When not working on that project she is blogging about her personal journey with interstitial lung disease. http://www.solderingup-myunexpectedjourneywithinterstitiallungdisease.com

Through this these blog entries Lisa’s purpose is to help others battling this or any kind of chronic illness, as well as provide education to their caretakers, friends and family.

About the Host:

Jani Roberts is the Owner of Alignment Essentials, a health and wellness company spanning the fitness, self-improvement, and mindfulness spaces. She is the creator of the Warrior® Workout, Moving Meditations™, Inspirational Conversations™ and all of the Alignment Essentials programming content. In addition, Jani is an International best-selling author of the book, Navigating the Clickety-Clack, How to Live a Peace-Filled Life in a Seemingly Toxic World.

Jani has over 40 years of experience in the health and wellness field. She owned and operated a large gym franchise in Florida, as well as a boutique studio for several years where she specialized in health and wellness related services, products, preventative health education, personal training, small group fitness classes, private nutrition and health coaching.

She has literally trained hundreds of thousands of instructors around the world, and she was the featured choreographer and performer on numerous training DVDs. She has presented for dozens of large Health and Wellness brands such Nike, and Adidas. She holds several certifications through ACE, AFAA and NASM.

Jani travels extensively as a speaker and presenter sharing her Alignment Essentials wellness tools and helping people find more joy in their lives and is currently training at the Shamanic Institute of Healing. 

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What? Life isn't supposed to suck. Get out of here. Life is supposed to be good for me? I don't think so. Truth? Did you know that you have the power to create your own reality? True? Did you know that you can live the life that you've always desired? Holy?That's right. And that's why we're here. Are you ready? Unless you're on Joy overload, you've come to the right place, it's time to get out of your own way and start creating more of what you want, and less of what you don't end up with the excuses. I'm your host Jani Roberts. Let's do this.

Welcome back, everyone, I am excited. Today we are introducing our first guest to the living in alignment podcast. Yes, we have someone here today that is going to share a story that will blow your mind. Now this is all about soldiering up as a warrior. It's about digging deep. And understanding that nothing is more important than that you feel good, even when your life is kind of in the middle of a shit show. So without further delay, let me introduce Lisa Schneider. Lisa is a very good friend of mine, we actually met in the dog park, where all the cool people meet. And she works in sales support, you know, go figure, she supports people all day long. But I want to share with you that I believe her real gift is that she is an amazing writer. And she's going to tell you a little bit about her blog later. But right now, I want to welcome you, Lisa, and thank you so much for being here and for being our first guest. Hey, Jenny, I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for having me. Absolutely, this is going to be a blast, you have such an amazing story. And I know that our listeners are going to be able to relate to this. You know, we talk about the journey all the time. In AAA, we talked about something called contrast, but you have certainly had your sheriff on of it.

And then some and we'll get into that. But you you know you're a warrior, you know, you understand the work, you understand why you do the work. And so I was really excited to have you on particularly as a first guest. Because we're here to serve, we want people to understand that they're not alone on their journey. And we really are all in this together. So maybe we could just start at the beginning, you know, how this this part of your journey, you know, unfolded with your move to, you know, when you move from state to state and, and, you know, the party that started after that.

Quite a party it was. So I relocated from Massachusetts down to sunny Dunedin, Florida. A few years back after my divorce, I just took myself and my furbaby Willa, and we were just going to start a new life together.

I got here and pretty much everything fell to shit. Yeah, basically, I went into a serious depression, I went down a really dark rabbit hole and didn't come out for a couple of months. And I knew I had to do something really quick to pull my life back together and live the life that I had been dreaming about for months beforehand.

So I got online and I was looking for something pleased to go work out something maybe I was looking actually for Tai Chi yoga at the time. And I came across your studio, which happens to be right behind my apartment complex. And the name of the studio blew me away. And I knew that I had to go check it out studio mind shift. And that is what I was looking to do is shift my mind and my thoughts.

You know, I went over there, I checked out a class and I was basically brought to tears by the end of it. Everything just talked to me the moves.

You know whether we were punching or kicking every the words in the song, I'm not quite sure how to explain it. But at the end of everything you asked what our word was. And that was the first time anyone ever asked me, you know, a question like that. And I knew immediately my word was blessed. I knew that I was at the very beginning of a brand new journey and that I was just going to have an amazing time are so cool, right? Because

I get so excited when I hear because I remember all of this and it. It really wasn't that long ago, but it feels like a really long time ago. It really does. Right? Things always take so much longer than we think they're going to. And some things just happen very quickly and out of kind of it appears to be out of nowhere. But I think it's important to point out that that you had been on this transitional journey for a long

Time Like, you knew that you were going to leave that marriage for a long time. It was the timing of when you weren't ready until you were ready. And then when you were, I was still blown away. When we met by the fact that you were brave enough to do it, you know, you didn't have children right at the time. So it was you and your furbaby. Right, Willa, she's such a sweetheart. And but it's a big move, you know, you're moving a really a long way away. And I remember when I got divorced, I moved from California to Florida. Like I did the same thing I needed to create distance between myself. And that the space that I was in, like, geographically, right, you know, some people can move across town, and they know that their ex is across town, and they can do it. But that's not how I'm wired. either. I needed like, I can't bump into you kind of, like, I don't know, there's people say you can't heal where you've been hurt. And I believe that 200% Yeah, you just have to step out of it. And distraction is good, right? So when you describe what you were looking for, you know, one, one moment you're talking about, you're going down this rabbit hole that you know, is not it's it's scary, right? A depression can be very scary. You, you start to contemplate things, and you don't know how far you'll go, you start to feel like you're losing control. I think we can all relate to that. And so that what I would, what I would love to acknowledge is your inner beam, and that your inner being was like, oh, no, you don't. And all of a sudden, the universe starts lining things up. Like, it wasn't a coincidence that the studio was in your backyard, it wasn't a coincidence that it was called studio mind shift. It wasn't a coincidence that the class was called warrior. It wasn't a coincidence that we saw each other in the dog park like this was all and, and to the listeners, this might sound a little strange or not, you might completely resonate, but just putting it out there. It was all in alignment, like you created it, whether you knew it in the moment or not. But that feeling of like, this just resonates with me, I know, I'm in the right place. It wasn't like, all your questions were answered. And everything was, you know, 100% better. But you just had that feeling. Right? Right. I knew it was where I needed to be. I knew I found, quote unquote, home. Yeah.

I mean, you know, I found myself at that studio twice a week. And you know, I was starting to do the work myself through your streaming services on days that I couldn't be there. It just really started to bring everything together and start a healing process for me. Huge, really huge. And I, I do want to share with the listeners the value of a practice because, you know, workouts are great. I mean, I've been in the fitness industry, my whole life. You know, we we most of us do exercise in some way, whether it's like, oh, I'm a runner, doesn't mean we have to go to a gym, right? But we do something that we love, we ride our bike, we walk our dog, whatever, we have our own rituals. But when you when you do the practices, that that we share their practices, meaning that the movement doesn't change, what under changes is your understanding of the movement. So it's very much like yoga, where you go in and you're like, Oh, we're probably going to do a downward dog, we're probably going to do a tree, we might do some willow, we're probably going to do or your 123, you know, you know, you're going to repeat different poses. But the whole idea is that you are having different experiences based on where you are in that moment in time. And our practices are very much like that, because we incorporate yoga, we incorporate martial arts, which very much promote that.

And I think that is what I feel like you resonated with, you know that that connection to thought. So you start connecting your mind and your body. Yes. And I felt that connection, I felt the transformation, I physically felt myself going from anger to joy every day a little bit more. Yeah. And, and, you know, notice self, because it always, it's always healing to me to hear that because it's a reminder, for me, you know, to, to understand that we're never going to get this work done. So we're always in a healing place because we're in a human experience. And we're always taking on things that require healing, which mostly come from our thoughts. But you know, there's a lot going on around us, that leaves us in a not good feeling place. And what we're trying to do through this work is pay more attention to what is working in our lives, and less attention to what is not but your situation is a perfect example of, Hey, I can't pretend that what is happening to me is not happening because we're not suggesting that we're actually suggesting the opposite. Learn from what is happening. That's the contrast. Right?

So You were in a certain experience, prior to coming to Florida, when you were in Massachusetts, now you're in a completely different environment is the same person, it's a short time later, during a completely different experience, right? You feel more at home, in a place that you just moved to, then you had felt at home, in a place that you would live for a long period of time, mostly because you were coming home to yourself. So this is the inner home. This is the home that we all live within. I mean, you can buy a bigger house or buy, downsize your house or whatever, but you, you're the constant, right? You're the one that's still there. So you can change your surroundings. But until you change your thoughts, or at least crack your heart open to a new perspective. Not much changes, right? You just kind of keep an eye out to do the work. Yeah. There's, you know, I talked to a lot of people that ask, you know, how do I do this? How do I make my life better, but they're not quite ready to make those changes themselves. And I can't make the changes for them. I can only tell them how to do it. But people have to want to do this themselves. Yeah, it's a huge job. It's scary. It's tiring, it can be depressing.

But when you come out the other side, it's just, it's magical. Yeah. And there are so many magical moments along the journey, as well. I don't know about for you. But I know for me, there were many times when I just wanted to throw the towel in, you know, and then something really powerful would happen.

You know, there's something I would create something, you know, something I wanted would manifest and I'd go, Oh, great. I'm gonna hang on for another for another round, you know, and just stick with it. And gradually, you start realizing that you are very much in control of your experience. Yes, absolutely. That's a game changer. I would say when you I mean. Yep. Feel, I mean, that time where you feel like so in limbo, like you have no control. And then, yeah, we have absolute control. We might not feel it all the time. You know, shit happens, but sorry.

We do have control over everything. We just have to decide what, what we're going to attract to us. Yeah.

Sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead. Oh, I was just gonna say and realize that if we are stuck in, you know, in a pattern where we're angry and upset and depressed, and you know, not we think nothing's going right, then that's exactly what the universe is going to hand us is crap. Yeah. So it's like, what can you learn from what isn't working, instead of pushing against it and resisting it and just trying to, like wrestle it to the ground with Sure. You know, with just sheer willpower and determination, you actually kind of you just breathe and sit back. I mean, one of my masters in Qigong was saying to me, how he used to when he became angry, you know, like, feel that energy from his gut, just like her like this rage coming up. And he, like, his body would get warm, and he would just feel it. And now, from this practice through chi gong, what he noticed is when anger comes in, he recognizes it right away. And then he feels himself just kind of, if he was sitting down, just kind of melt into the chair, like, it's the opposite reaction. He just chills out goes, oh, you know, that's interesting. Yeah, how can I use this, to learn myself? Because that's what I'm doing. It's interesting that you tell that story, because that's something that I do. I mean, not that you gong. But, you know, daily a few times a day, I check in with myself, if something's bothering me, if something has angered me, I'll sit myself down and dissect what is going on what is bothering me about this until I can figure out what needs to change or what I need to do to fix that, to get back to the other side of the contrast and be happy again. Because if there's one thing I've learned, you know, I've, I've spent most of my childhood life in anger and pain. And I don't want that anymore for the rest of the life that I have now. So I will do whatever I have to do, whatever work that is, whatever kind of pain that brings, I'm going to sit and I'm going to figure it out. And that you are so courageous, because that's, and I know, you know, we know each other and so I know that, you know, that it's, it's more courageous to do that. But it's like it's not an option, right? Because once you know what you know, in this work, you can't unknown it. So once you know that you can control that. You can't just not want to control it. You have to do that. Now, for the listeners. I just want to say this is a process you know, it's a step by step right? And, and that's what we're here for is to help you with that. So certainly like the episodes on thoughts, beliefs and patterns of behavior will really help you to

Uh, you know, find your way to the foundation of what what Lisa is referring to. But you can hear the emotion in your voice when you when you say this, and you can feel the determination, the dedication that you have, not to force something, but you, you're like, No, I'm worthy. To be happy I deserve absolutely to be a happy, joyful, blessed person. Even though throughout my childhood, I was told the opposite, right. And it was kind of like, pounded into me, literally. And I now understand it not to be true. So this is a perfect example of what beliefs can do, and how they affect our experience. And once we understand that, how we can actually flip it. But this is this is what we're talking about. When we say contrast, right? You got to know the hot to no cold. So as hard as as hard as that was as ugly as that was in your childhood, it has blessed you in a way that now in your life, I don't want to say it forced you but it gave it created an opportunity for you to discover your worthiness on a whole different level, then, then you may have, you know, never experienced, right, you'll never know. But I think you have the peace of mind to feel the truth in that. Well, you know, you always say life's supposed to be good for you. And I never thought that that was the case. I didn't think it was supposed to be I thought that life was just a shit show. Yeah, you know, and as I got older, I did start to realize there's so much out there, and there's so much we can do for ourselves to make to bring that joy to us and make life good. It's almost like you're watching a movie, and you're like, oh, yeah, all those people, they get to be happy. I'm not in that club. Yes, like watching the Brady Bunch.

I was so jealous of them. That'll mess you up for for decades to come, you know?

Truly, you know, I mean, it was it was poorly intended. But, you know, when you're comparing everything, you know, it's just like we create our own reality. Right? Yeah. So So now tell me a little bit share with the listeners a little bit, because I think this is so important about your blog, and about how you well, actually, it just started with some writing, right, maybe journaling and then expanding on that maybe share a little bit, because I think that, from what you've shared with me, this was very therapeutic for you the journaling, and then that progressed into the blogging.

You know, I've always enjoyed writing, and I just never really did anything with it until I started taking this living in alignment course through alignment essentials. The course came with journals, and it was part of a daily routine to you know, write in it. And I found myself with not enough room to write and kind of transferred myself over to my laptop.

The words that were coming through my fingers under the keys, were just, it was almost as if I was checking out and like, I wish I could find a way to really explain it just me, it's me that's coming out in these words, if that makes any sense. You could articulate yourself, you know, I feel like there's there's something about burying experiences that happened to us and never speaking of them. And then understanding that we must work with them, we can't, they're going to surface, you know, so we might as well just deal with it. Because they're going to come out, they're going to come out in our relationships with ourselves, with our relationships with other people, they're not just going to go away, or they'll come out in our health, but they're going to manifest right if we don't address them because they are valuable tools that we can learn through. So there was an intention there, which which can sound really, really screwed up. But it's as you do this work, you gain that clarity. So to me, I feel like typing something or writing something is easier than saying it at first.

Because saying it is like, Oh God, it really happened. Right. And once it's on paper, there it is, you know, and that's something I've been working on to I want to make sure that when I talk to people I know whether it be my friends or family members that I'm being completely honest with my feelings now. And not really, you know, being worried about what they're gonna think anymore. Because it's about me and my happiness and that I feel good. Right. And you're always coming from a place of love. Sure. Absolutely. Absolutely. So, yeah, so I started writing and I'm actually starting to write a little book but that has been kind of tabled while I work on my blog.

The blog came about because I have been diagnosed with a serious lung disease, it is called interstitial lung tissue disease has a few different parts to it, pulmonary fibrosis, which is scarring of my lungs, and it impacts how I breathe. So I am on oxygen 24/7. Now, and that has been a huge shift for my life,

I feel as if it's, you know, has started to take away the life that I worked hard to have down here. So I'm working to make sure that I am able to keep that life as much as possible.

Through my blog, I'm hoping to be able to help others as well who are dealing with any kind of chronic illness, you know, and help them understand that this isn't the end of the story, we can still be happy, you know, I might write something that might make me or someone else cry one day, make them laugh another day.

I'm not editing myself, you know, if I wake up at 11 o'clock in the middle of the night, and I've got something to say I'm blogging it because it's going through my mind, it's certainly going through someone else's mind, we are much more alike than different. Yes, we are much more alike than different. And I think this is the power of any type of challenge that we have in our lives is using it as a healing tool. Because when we're serving others, we're serving ourselves. So it's a win win. If we allow it to be, right, if we feel that we're worthy of healing that we're worthy of being well, then we can take something that would appear to be a sickness, or an illness or a dis ease of the body. And we can really see the blessing in it like this is completely changing my perspective, we can go from loathing our our bodies, our physical bodies, loathing our bodies, to going, Oh my God, my body was amazing. Now I have to deal with this. Right? In an instant, right, our perspective can be changed. So why not just step into the worthiness and get out in front of it? Exactly. And then we're already in love with ourselves. So when we come in, when we come up against contrast, or we come into a challenging situation, we already have self love. And I know for the listeners, you know, that's, that can be a slippery slope for a lot of people. But that's why we're here is to help people on that journey. Now how can they find your blog?

So I'll give you the the address, I didn't quite think it out very well, when I put it together. It's kind of long. But it is www.myunexpectedjourneywithinterstitiallungdisease.com. That's okay. A mouthful. Yeah, that's okay. It'll be in the show notes as well for everybody. And we'll remind them in the wrap as well. But I think it's just really important for people to go there and learn more about it, and certainly share it with people. And here's the thing, guys, whether or not you're dealing with this particular disease of the body, the work is the same, it doesn't matter. It could be something mental, that you're dealing with something physical, something emotional, a combination of all of the above, the work is the same. It's all about appreciation, compassion, and love. For yourself. Yep, first, understanding that nothing is more important than that you feel good. Right?

And, and always, listening to our little Furbabies teach us what pure joy really is all about. And to just chill the eff out right? And be in the moment by living your now because that's the only reality the rest of it mostly is just shit we're making up in our heads. And, you know, we get to create our own reality. And certainly, Lisa, you have done just that. It's been a journey thing. I was just gonna say the same thing. It has been an incredible journey. And, you know, I'm excited to see what's down the road. This is a non curable disease. But that's, you know, not the final answer for me. I could give a shit last I've got stuff to do so. Exactly, exactly. So just get out of my way. And I and you're not in your own way, right now out of your own way. So that's half the healing process. And, you know, when I work with healers, whether they're traditional or not, they always want to know where somebody's head is at. Where's their head at? That they know is like 90% of the game. Right? Where's their head out in this? Like, what are they believed? Because a person's beliefs will dictate everything in an experience. So you certainly have done the work. You are an inspiration. I am so grateful that you've been here with us today to share. I hope listeners that you will share at least his blog with everyone check out the show notes, you know, because at the end of the day, guys, we're all going to experience the contrast. So here at AE and I'm sure at least you would agree. All we have to say about that is bring it on.

Right that's our episode for today guys, we appreciate you thank you again Lisa so much for being here. Yeah. Until next time guys be well. Peace. Peace out