E13 S1| Honoring Emotion as the Sacred Informer - Erin Pace Shares How Unstructured Movement Can Help Escort Emotion Out Of Our Bodies (Pt. 2)

In this episode of the Sick and Seeking Podcast, I reconnect with Erin Pace, a somatic therapist, embodiment guide, and intuitive body reader. If you haven’t yet listened to our previous conversation titled “The Body is a Realm of Wild Discovery,” I encourage you to check it out after this episode.

My passion for unstructured, organic movement practices has deepened, and I hold profound respect for the healing work Erin offers. Embodied and sensual movement has been transformative for me, and I’m eager to spread awareness about its positive effects, particularly for women seeking to rediscover trust and connection with their bodies.

Join us for this enlightening conversation on the power of movement and emotional connection!

Conversation Highlights:

• Embodying Emotion: We discuss honoring the deep emotions women carry in their bodies and the importance of feeling these emotions.
• Sensory Awareness: Erin emphasizes that emotions are housed in the body until we release them.
• Desensitization: We explore how desensitization occurs as a survival mechanism, recognizing sensitivity as a strength.
• Inviting Ease: Discover how introducing ease can generate more energy within the body.
• Intelligence of the Body: We reflect on what arises when we check in with our bodies and connect with the divine.
• A.L.I.V.E. Practice: Erin shares her A.L.I.V.E. acronym for a daily affirmation practice, helping foster awareness and intentionality.

Quotes:

“Emotion can feel like a scary foe, and I invite that is should be a sacred informer” - Erin Pace

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Transcript

leslie_field (00:00.118)
Welcome everyone. I'm so excited to introduce Erin Pace today. Erin, thank you so much for being here with me on the Sick and Seeking podcast.

erin_pace (00:20.24)
Thank you so much for having me. I'm thrilled to be here with you. Thank you, Leslie. Can we read you that? Because I actually, it was all like I poured my water right as you were saying welcome.

leslie_field (00:24.234)
Uh, well, of course! Yeah. Yes, we'll redo it. It's fine. We're good. Take two.

erin_pace (00:32.742)
Okay, take two, we're good.

leslie_field (00:39.778)
Where did I start? There we go. Hi everyone. I'm so excited to be back here today with Erin Pace. Erin, thank you so much for being here with me on the Sick and Seeking podcast.

erin_pace (00:50.661)
Thank you so much for having me, Lesley. I'm thrilled to be here with you.

leslie_field (00:54.922)
Well, it's difficult to even know where to start with Erin. So I think the best way is to talk about some of the words that I know. I've called her and others have called her. She is a body whisperer, an intuitive guide, a teacher of whole body presence, and she supports people to find safety in their body. And she helps whisper the permission for feminine bodies to become fully felt, known, owned, and expressed. And that is just the tip of the iceberg, really.

erin_pace (01:25.904)
Thank you. I'm humbled. Yeah.

leslie_field (01:30.695)
I invited Erin to come today and it's really because of the work that we've been doing together for about seven years now. And this episode will be a little bit more about me. I've been a little hesitant to make it about me. However, this today is really going to be highlight my experience because I want to share my experience with others and how my healing journey, one of the key pieces has been this.

beautiful human Erin, and I'm so thankful for all the work we've done together. So that's, that's the still the preamble as we get into it.

erin_pace (02:04.121)
I'm so thankful for your privilege of witnessing you on your extraordinary journey.

leslie_field (02:10.07)
Oh, thank you, Erin. So I think the best way to start is to talk about some of the ways that Erin has supported me. And now this list could go really long. So we'll take a few nibbles and then, you know, hear from Erin and maybe jump back and forth. But one of the first ways or things I think about the work that we've done together is she's helped create a sense of safety where I'm able to visit with harder emotions.

this lovely human being that I keep calling the lovely human being has seen me cry so many tears, and she is the woman who has helped me express the tears, have a space to express it, and to really move through the emotions and have less sort of shame, embarrassment around it. And so I'm always very indebted and grateful that you've helped me go to those places and to release this emotion. And I guess...

Talk to me about, you know, I don't know, what would you say to me when I'm talking about like this emotional release or these big emotions that we hold because I know this is a lot of what you see and what you witness in your work.

erin_pace (03:19.74)
Oh wow, well, yeah, just honoring the depth of emotion that women hold in their bodies. And I think in order to make it through their days, whether they're navigating a chronic disease of some kind or

Anything just the day to day right the day to day experience of life that we hold in our bodies so many things so something about working with emotion is about embracing the experience of emotion so you can keep the vessel clear of it of the keeping the energy moving and open so that the body can keep. It's a liveness it source energy moving so the way being with emotion.

Mmm, allows us...

Okay, scrap that.

erin_pace (04:18.922)
What I would say is

feeling, feeling emotion.

requires commitment to connecting with yourself, right? So there's a commitment required to yourself to embrace what's happening within you, rather than brace against it and stay kind of apart from yourself to get through your day. So maybe that would be a way of describing it.

erin_pace (04:58.5)
particularly for the women I've, for many of the women that I've had the privilege of crossing paths with and working with and experiencing on their journeys.

erin_pace (05:12.32)
Emotion can feel like a scary foe, and I would invite that it should be a sacred informer.

Like it is an informant for how you're doing and if you're able to allow yourself to move and be with and embrace what's happening within you and allow it to flow through you. You keep yourself open and in a sense of spaciousness inner spaciousness to be able to have deeper awareness in the world with yourself day to day and in the experience of your world right.

erin_pace (05:51.08)
that gets stuck or is braced in the body or is shoved down in the body or shushed or shamed or criticized any of those things, it's being held somewhere. It doesn't go away unless we escort it away. So that might be something I would share about emotions and flowing emotions.

leslie_field (06:09.923)
Mm-hmm, absolutely.

leslie_field (06:16.346)
I know, I really threw you in the deep end right away, didn't I? Hahaha!

erin_pace (06:19.08)
You did. Yeah, I love the deep end. I had to really like root in there for a second.

leslie_field (06:24.394)
I know. I mean, I guess also what the practices helped me is not only to recognize, and we talk about practice. This is an organic movement practice. It's, it's, Erin has created a space that I come to and I let me talk about first and she knows this, you know, I don't know if you know this, many times when I'm about to show up into a session with you, I think, oh, I don't have time for this. It's my favorite thing.

Yet I know the benefits I get out of quieting my mind down, having a dedicated space where I get to tune into the sensitivity, the emotions, the inner world of my body. Even I fight against it every week, pretty much. And I still show up. So that's always my first battle, is just showing up for myself. But I guess what I wanna get to, and we'll continue to go there, is there is so much there. Now, there's a lot of heaviness.

erin_pace (07:08.181)
Ha ha ha!

leslie_field (07:21.91)
There's a lot of maybe scarier feeling heavy darker emotions and that is not an easy place to go to. But it's finding someone like Aaron Pace who can sit with you and to witness you and to hold you. I know where do I even go with this? I guess the next thing I want to say is that I think our work together has really helped show me I have a deeply sensitive body.

Now, we all are sensitive. We all, you know, we all have sensitive to our body, but I have this sort of like dial that's turned up. And yes, you've really helped me unlock the shame and embarrassment around that and just sort of the acceptance and like the self-love. So I'm very, very grateful for you. I feel like this is just a love note to Erin right now, and I'm okay with that.

erin_pace (08:11.662)
I'm feeling so grateful for the privilege of having been able to witness it in you. And it is so true for women that we...

We might even arrive in the world as babies, really highly sensitive, and it's allowed as a child. And yet, as we grow into ourselves, because of the experiences we have and the environments we're privy to, we start to desensitize as a way of survival.

erin_pace (08:51.42)
Women are deeply feeling beings. In fact, it's life force moving through us. It actually gives the masculine a respite, the masculine within ourselves and actually the masculine around in partnership, in relationship. When a woman can feel things that helps them feel the flow of life.

erin_pace (09:21.22)
emotional essence and flow and permission and acceptance are really necessary, particularly for sensitive beings because our sensitivity is actually

erin_pace (09:39.42)
a genius, it's a viable dial to understand humanity, like remember humanity, and remember that we all, men, women, everywhere, have at our core sensitive hearts, you know, and we're sensitive beings who really do want to just be seen, heard, validated, allowed,

You know, expressed, welcomed, loved.

leslie_field (10:15.787)
Absolutely.

I think that's what you're getting at, that like you said, our programming, how we're raised, our society, it just sort of shuts down. We're sort of applauded for being a certain way, being productive, getting things done, being ambitious, going really quickly, achieving all the things. Those were all the things that I was always applauded for my whole life and sort of like encouraged in very subtle and very direct ways. So there's been a really big sort of...

I don't know, unfolding of that story. And you've helped me blossom into new ways of being. So for example, this week I've been really exhausted. Now I kind of know why, kind of don't know why. And I know that a lot of the work with you has helped me just sort of even just embrace the sensitivity just to acknowledge and say, it's there. Am I just gonna run right over it? Am I just going to just pretend like it's not happening to me and just keep going full speed ahead? And I know you do tend to work with women.

who have a lot of this sort of high achieving sort of autopilot. Is that right?

erin_pace (11:23.4)
Yes, I do. Extraordinarily well-achieved, high-performing women who have a lot going on, a lot to navigate, and a lot of output. And so the input eventually becomes radically necessary.

erin_pace (11:52.54)
fuel for me to be able to serve that output and be fully present in that output and honoring, honoring and forgiving our bodies when it's saying rest, you know, one just needs rest and allowing that, allowing permission to stop and pause and breathe. So, so part of it, you know, we're speaking about a few different things, but like, at least I am in my mind.

And there, you know, there's the track of a high achieving woman who doesn't necessarily take the time to feel so she's adding a practice in to really allow that emotional flow and allow to herself to be in in full deep whole bodied connection and reverence, right? So there's that practice, there's the practice of someone who might be navigating a particular

erin_pace (12:52.5)
deep grief or a chronic illness or a diagnosis that's instigating or inspiring some level of fear or some level of disconnect in the body. So that's a different track. And so I think you fall into that when you're navigating this fatigue that shows up occasionally where you're in this space of do I forgive myself and accept what's happening and just be, you

erin_pace (13:22.58)
Or, you know, wait a minute, where we put our energy, attention, energy flows and brain changes, pain changes, right? Like, that's all true too. So understanding how to be with it and allow it to run its course, but also have tools to support you having enough of productive energy that you're feeling fulfilled and alive still.

drowning you or anchoring you to a story that's going to bring you or send you reeling into a place that's filled with fear or something like that. And so that's, you're really great at that. You know, to be able to allow it to run its course, have reverence for it and not let it stop you. Here you are recording a podcast and doing, you know, showing up in and not not over pushing or

leslie_field (14:15.022)
I'm going to go to bed. Bye.

erin_pace (14:22.8)
overdo because it feels like you're not succeeding if you're somewhere in the middle, like right, of that output. So there's that track and then you know there are other tracks as well but I think that might, does that answer the question a little bit?

leslie_field (14:29.056)
Mm-hmm.

leslie_field (14:39.354)
Yeah, we were, I just was leading you into the high performing achieving women because I have some of that. I have some of the chronic illness and obviously every sort of woman has their own personal story and their journey that they're on that I know that you support and work with them as they navigate that. And I guess the next thing that I wanted to talk about was connected this idea of fatigue because it happened yesterday. So I was moving in front of Erin. She was witnessing as I was moving, which by the way, this woman has

intuitive gift you wouldn't believe. She's able to tell you your life story at some time, not every time, but you know as you work with her and the depths of it it's incredible. The things that you can tell me that I'm like okay she just reflected back my whole week so thank you Erin. But also it's also amazing because there is these surprising moments. So we've been talking about me being fatigued so I did show up yesterday and when I was moving with you I told you words that were coming forward were ease, I want to move slowly.

erin_pace (15:14.726)
No.

leslie_field (15:38.174)
I want to take it very easy. Now this was really fascinating to me in the movement class I was with you yesterday, was there was just a certain moment and a certain song was played and I had to feel my sort of muscular exertion. It was very important to me that I was pushing and sort of doing almost these acrobatic movements that I would never do on a normal occasion, you know? And my body was like, this is what I want right now.

erin_pace (16:03.382)
Hehehe.

leslie_field (16:08.05)
And I will say it was shocking. I was so surprised. And I think that's what's also really beautiful about the movement practice that we do is there's lots of surprises and there's so many stories that can unfold. There's so many layers to go. And you told me what that was. Tell me what, like, what is that moment? Like, what happened?

erin_pace (16:22.987)
Yeah

erin_pace (16:28.3)
Oh my gosh, I can't even remember what happened yesterday. Isn't that terrible?

leslie_field (16:31.17)
But like, I know, no, no, but like, you were saying that when we can find, I know, sorry, but plus you're in like a different state, I know when you're working with us for sure. You're not in the everyday state. So what is it about like when I could find that ease? What is it that all of a sudden I'm like, I have the, if someone had said you're gonna wanna do this like five minutes of basically like pushups and whatever, I'd be like, you're a crazy person, no way.

erin_pace (16:35.504)
Aging is real.

erin_pace (16:42.385)
Yeah, yeah, that's true. Yeah.

erin_pace (16:59.104)
Hehehehehe

leslie_field (16:59.978)
But then here my body was like, this is what I want. Let's do this. And it felt so good.

erin_pace (17:05.22)
Yeah, and I'm remembering now it's the invitation for ease in the body, let it be easy, let it be, and we went through, for most of the warm-up, the focus was on allowing just everything to become a little bit easier. And what happens when you invite that in the body is the muscles soften and the pulsation

erin_pace (17:34.059)
of the physical being. So like you actually get energized when you soften. And another way of maybe speaking to that is in a in different than when what you were experiencing last night, but is understanding the nature of soft strength, where we don't have to exert

erin_pace (18:04.999)
And use breath to, which is the ease, like softening into ease is another way I would say that, right? Into a state of moving, being easy, because in order to move a muscle must engage, right? So like engagement can happen, and then it actually can fire up and be like ready for more.

erin_pace (18:34.019)
and learned about over the years different scientific ways of describing that, but they never stay with me. I can't explain the science of it, but what I witness is that the body then finds more energy. You actually receive more energy from yourself by offering your body a respite.

leslie_field (18:40.16)
Hahaha

erin_pace (18:54.04)
And that energy all of a sudden it's like a reclamation of energy in the body and it's like okay I'm back I'm here I'm present I actually feel more robust in my aliveness and available to myself to be able to engage in this moment. So just the practice of softening back and letting go and it's another form another form of it is surrender. Right and when we speak to surrender you must actually let it go.

Sometimes the practice of surrender for people is they're not really fully letting go of the thought or the energy of the thought. They're still attaching to some kind of outcome or story around it. Or if you're talking in the physical body, they're still bracing like you can even sometimes feel in a body that they're holding when they think they're relaxed. Right? Sometimes you have to visit a body part a few times to realize like for me, it might

leslie_field (19:31.264)
Mm-hmm.

erin_pace (19:53.78)
relaxed my belly, but it's actually engaged and I'm actually still holding. If I bring my mind and my attention, my consciousness into that part of my body, I'm like, oh, wow, I'm actually expending energy to hold a little bit there. And if I can breathe and relax that all of a sudden I actually get more energy back. Does that make sense?

leslie_field (20:15.514)
It was the wildest thing. It makes sense because I lived it. But yes, it's so incredible to hear you say that. And I like that you're talking about the surrender and what that really means and the literally letting go. And I think it's, I wanted to stop here and sort of pause on this whole sensitivity of the body because so many people who listen to this podcast have so much going on in their bodies. A lot of things they were not expecting, a lot of long-term issues. And we have this sort of,

erin_pace (20:18.763)
Yeah

leslie_field (20:43.05)
It's interesting, I suspect a lot of our sensitivity has gone up because we just do the nature of, I have endometriosis, I'm in extreme pain and I can decipher when it's like this level or this level or if it's here or if it's there. And we kind of like get this like fine tuning and it's also fascinating because at the same time, and this might not be for everybody, we also disconnect from it because it's like too much. And I guess what I'm trying to get at and why I invited Erin here is that

erin_pace (21:06.505)
Mm-hmm

leslie_field (21:12.562)
There is so much there. It can be tougher emotions. It could be actual physical pain in the body, but there's also other places and spaces to explore if you have the right person and the right place and the right circumstances that you can go there. And there's so much subtlety that's happening. And I like what you also said because I was at a massage just two weeks ago and the woman was telling me to let me have her head.

my head, like to put it in her hands. And I kept thinking, release your neck, release your neck. And I thought, oh, I'm good now, I'm good. And then finally she kept shouting again, she's like, try again, try to release your neck. So it's this really fascinating, this, you know, I don't know, the sensitivities, the subtleness in our bodies and how, I don't know where I'm going here. There's a lot of tangents and ways we can go, but I guess there's a richness there.

erin_pace (21:52.865)
Mm-hmm.

erin_pace (22:04.267)
Hehehe

leslie_field (22:12.683)
And I'm just grateful because you've helped me to find a space where I can go there and I can experience. So even if I'm in fatigue, even if I feel like I'm flat out, I can barely make it to this class today. Like you said, we just talked about it, but there's a lot to discover. There's so much more there than maybe just your pain or just your fatigue or just I'm too busy, I'm so stressed. And those things are all present.

I guess why I like this work with you and why I need it is there's so much more depth there.

erin_pace (22:45.64)
That's beautiful and I think that it's the practice of being with you, of being with you and then actually having setting yourself up with a space that offer that where you create and co-create a sense of safety to be with your body when your body includes your mind, your mind, body, spirit, energetics

erin_pace (23:15.44)
you like receive the intelligence from within you, what's going, what's moving inside of you or stuck and not moving inside of you. What is that telling you? And so you're inviting the presence, the curiosity, the, um, the listening, you're just inviting that presence of listening to yourself and honoring what shows up, allowing emotional flow, if that's what's coming up without any

noticing if story is there in the cognitive space of busyness and how can you practice just letting that fall away so you don't attach to it and notice any noticing any escapism of the body where the body wants to go into flight like because it knows that if you drop down if you bring your consciousness fully into the whole body the whole being that some

erin_pace (24:15.52)
tiring place in your mind's eye to go, whereas actually it's quite in service of your highest good, you know, to visit there. And you can practice, you get become in the practice, you become more efficient in your ability and your agility to dive in real deep and come

erin_pace (24:45.58)
depleting because people who haven't nourished themselves with emotional release, if they go into an emotional release, then it can feel really depleting cathartic but depleting. So the practice is also to understand your own body is

limitations or capacity really, I don't like to use the word limitation, but capacity for flowing and feeling and knowing, okay, it's time to come back. And this can bring us into a whole different conversation around the nervous system and safety in the body and, you know, emotions being part of that or of story. That's a whole other conversation. But, um,

Yeah, the practice is truly about

being with the intelligence of the body, the whole being and revering what shows up. And so you never know, there's so many layers, you might think you're coming in with one thing and show up with something else, something else shows up as you like, let that layer fall away. Just like you're saying the onion, you know, just like a layer falls away. Oh, wow, I'm feeling some deep grief today. Okay, that's got to flow. And then it flows and you're like, onto the next thing. Oh, wow, my hands really feel like a certain, you know, you start to presence

leslie_field (25:34.651)
Absolutely. No.

erin_pace (26:01.502)
in the body.

leslie_field (26:02.526)
Mm-hmm. I like what you said too though. It's not maybe something that right away, because you have to get into the flow and the feeling and so I have to cough. So this is a work that we've done together for years and years and years. So it ebbs, it flows, it changes. And like Erin just said, I can show up.

and this is something I do on a weekly basis. I can show up and think, oh, I've been, I tune into myself, I come to this every week or so, I work with Erin, and even I show up and I am still surprised, like I was just saying, I'll have emotion that flows through me, I'll have feelings that flow through me, and you're also the one person who reminded me that I might not know what it's connected to, like I might not have an answer.

I might feel frustration and maybe I will know where the frustration came from or maybe I won't. And so I also think about the things we carry with us, you know, it's something that maybe you don't even realize you've been carrying this around with you for a while. And I think that's some of the magic of what happens when I move and have you witness my movement. I feel also sometimes I can feel my divinity. That is some of the most awe inspiring moments.

where I, through movement, movement has always been a very, I don't know, powerful, potent tool that I've always used. I've always liked to exercise. I've always liked to move my body. And I always say this, that people are artists. They like to paint and use their hands. People are singers. They like to use their voice. I've always liked to move my body. So I already knew this was kind of like the area I wanted to move into. I didn't know that this sort of practice existed, but it's, there have been these moments too, where I'm so deeply

tapped into myself, that honestly I feel like I can, I feel like I'm in almost like a heavenly space and place. And that's also been a beautiful gift that I was never expecting, ever.

erin_pace (28:03.74)
Yeah, that's my favorite part of this work is to witness people access their timidity and flow it through their whole being and then practice staying in that experience because it's actually a frequency. It's an energetic frequency coursing through your bones, your blood, your cells, everything is sort of experiencing a download or you know a transmission of

leslie_field (28:06.807)
Hahahaha

erin_pace (28:33.42)
like there's just a remembrance of...

erin_pace (28:40.22)
of your sovereignty in relation to whatever you connect with in the space of the divine. But it is alive within you as a human. It's not...

erin_pace (28:56.94)
just like one of the other practices where you're where you're In reverence of your religion or you know, it's really truly a an alive vibration in the body That's coursing through your veins and that you feel The sacredness of All honestly you feel the sacredness of all and if that's connected to eroticism

leslie_field (29:17.303)
Mm-hmm.

erin_pace (29:26.66)
we work with that because it's life charge, it's life force, it's majesty, humble majesty combined with just this awe of all, awe of all, but as an essence coursing in your body.

erin_pace (29:57.12)
is so powerful because it actually changes, in my opinion, it's going into another whole realm. It changes the DNA and you're changing the course of the lineage before and maybe we don't go there, but yeah, you're sourcing.

leslie_field (30:04.727)
Hahaha!

leslie_field (30:10.71)
Yes.

leslie_field (30:14.978)
I understand. I believe in epigenetics and that trauma and all those things pass through. So we're a little woo and spiritual here on Sick and Seeking. Not everybody who listens, but I 100% personally, I very much agree with what you're saying here. You're changing timelines, you're changing dimensions, you're changing ancestors and the line and what have you. But yes, there's a whole other conversation. And you brought up the term eroticism. So we did meet in a sort of a place where that was sort of

One of the pieces that was sort of brought us together was this erotic piece and it's something that speaks to my body personally I know it doesn't speak to every female body, but Talk to me a little bit about that piece

erin_pace (30:58.98)
Yeah, so I know in the space that we met in people were coming into those spaces for a dance class that was specifically geared toward getting your sexy back and having having that for yourself, right? And they the space was beautifully set up with dark lighting no mirrors and entryway into the feminine

erin_pace (31:28.72)
power, right? And that gave so much confidence back to women. And it has those spaces are still out there. And we're talking, let's say, more explicit, it was a pole dance space. But pole was only one of the many tools used in the sensual activation and erotic activation.

erin_pace (31:58.8)
that you're served there, right? But the space for me felt somewhat void of the spiritual piece, the divinity piece, the sacredness. And then also as it grew, the women grew, and the need to understand what was happening in that permissive space around emotions and flow

didn't exist quite there. So,

erin_pace (32:34.22)
For me, the practice has gone in a whole different direction of wholeness and reverence and all because you being with what is a showing up or presenting in bodies when you access emotional flow, there's you need to be equipped to provide the safety and help them regulate to a place of

erin_pace (33:04.02)
we can honor what that is for each person, right? On their own journey. And then the ownership is true, and the pleasure that you're activating is truly for yourself as well, and not for the presentational means of serving another. And that kind of being a practice that doesn't really like truly revere all women,

Right, like because women of different shapes and sizes, if you're going into space, that's meant to be open for all shapes and sizes. And yet there's still a connotation of well, presenting this way, like there's still a level and a layer where body image really isn't being considered sacred. I don't know. I've gone off. So I think this is a piece.

because I'm hesitating going to a place and I feel it in myself so I think you cut that part out.

leslie_field (34:04.326)
Yeah. Yeah.

leslie_field (34:10.198)
Yeah, I think you actually felt really strongly though about how you talked about the space and where we met and how women evolved to an emotional place where there was more there. And then I think then it sort of went, but when you talked about that, it's very potent that how our work and how your work came about because women were finding themselves in a place where they had been on this journey into one space and there was more to explore.

erin_pace (34:24.947)
Yeah.

Okay.

leslie_field (34:41.07)
and Eve come in and provided more and helped us access and to go to a different place and to know that there's more there. I always say, for instance, that there's layers. I keep saying it over and over. There's so many layers here. And like you said, women came to that space to find their sexy and to do certain things and what have you. And that really resonated for me and I needed that. That was very important to me. However,

erin_pace (34:51.846)
Yeah

leslie_field (35:10.522)
I see that there's so, there was so much there, more there. And I was sort of being almost like stifled and cut off. I'm like, I can't, I just don't want to keep washing and repeating here in this space. I know there's more depth there. So I think we'll figure it out. We'll figure this part out.

erin_pace (35:26.98)
Yeah, and I think that that rinse and repeat became the new habit, right in the bodies. There were a lot of bodies that habituated to expressing a certain way because they had figured out their erotic expression. And I believe that is always evolving and that every body is always evolving. And so, yeah, so our arrows is source energy.

erin_pace (35:56.76)
can go and like you say layers that reveal themselves when working with feminine bodies that keep allowing that reclamation to happen of your own pleasure being allowed and understanding what you actually like or desire in terms of anything with pleasure, right?

erin_pace (36:30.94)
Just taking a moment to like feel what I would feel is relevant around eroticism. And you can obviously cut this out until we...

erin_pace (36:52.1)
So there's coming in from this, from the space of sexual confidence and taking a part of that back for yourself. And then there's the deeper dive of at my very core, how does my own erotic connection want to breathe and be in the world?

erin_pace (37:21.8)
partner. And that's how I would speak to eroticism and that it is life source. It's a robust, energetic life force that's available to us as women and many are terrified to go there. There's a repression in how they were brought up or in their religion or whatever their beliefs are or whatever their influences were growing up that might influence, you know,

erin_pace (37:51.8)
So once they start to awaken to wholeness and aliveness in the whole body, there might be another quest in there that's related to the eroticism. And in that quest, more is available, like you're saying. It's a really incredulous, beautiful, powerful and mighty gift for women to find that again for themselves.

leslie_field (37:59.943)
Mmm.

leslie_field (38:16.898)
Hmm, absolutely. I think you've spoken to eroticism so beautifully. And I don't know why I feel compelled to talk about this. I guess because there are people who, um, not, they're at a different place in their journey. And so there is quite a famous woman who I follow who has been in different sort of spaces that we've been in the past and where we met. And I watch her social media.

and she loves showing herself on the pole and her movements and her little dances. And I applaud her and I think it's incredible what she's doing. However, in my mind, I always have this little whisper that goes, there's so much more. Ha!

erin_pace (39:01.8)
Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

leslie_field (39:06.478)
I'm like, you are just scratching the surface. And yes, her entry point is through an erotic entry point in how she's dancing, she's moving. But I always just think, you haven't, you have seen the tip of the little, not little, the giant iceberg. You are just at the tip of it. There is so much more there to explore and to investigate. And I love how you said that. There's quest, a new quest in your body, a new place. It's an ever...

erin_pace (39:09.005)
Yeah, yes.

erin_pace (39:14.187)
Yeah

leslie_field (39:32.994)
flowing just abundance of information and as we've been speaking about.

erin_pace (39:41.02)
it is it is and to end and yeah and then it becomes your your a processor you know progressing to being able to express it and ask for what you need like one thing that women are constantly navigating is their inability to receive.

erin_pace (40:11.02)
How are you in practicing that for yourself? And we can't even know until we've received ourselves, like received the intelligence within ourselves that says, this is, this is pleasurable. This feels good. This doesn't, you know, a lot of people might work with the wheel of consent to identify those things in relationship with a partner. But I think finding it within yourself is the first step.

erin_pace (40:40.922)
explorations with partnership.

leslie_field (40:42.85)
Hmm, yes, yes. I think I wanna go in a different direction here. So you call your practice the responsive body practice and you talk about it's creating conscious responsiveness, right, versus reactionary. Now I know we've talked about this, but I'm just hoping we can dig a little bit deeper into this.

erin_pace (41:07.22)
Yeah, I think it kind of actually speaks to what we were just touching on, which is when you can practice day to day consistently, allowing yourself to

Understand the sensations in your body and know when you have emotional emotions that want to move through your body. Or understand when there's too much going on and activity or noise or distraction in the brain. How do you temper? How do you regulate? How do you soften? How do you open? And how do you forgive?

for that. It's different for everybody as we touched on. And we go, we can go and in that practice day to day to day, in small ways, we're nourishing a relationship with ourself that is tuned into healthy responsiveness, conscious responsiveness, because you're

erin_pace (42:25.42)
And then when something is a trigger to the system or to an emotion, you'll have that ability to know where you're homing yourself to have rather than slip into subconscious reactivity, which is that instinctual like defensiveness or flight or whatever it might be in relation to that trigger that triggering situation.

responsiveness within yourself and you can use those tools, access those tools, access that state of calm more easily to be able to respond, caringly, kindly. And so that practice of responsiveness has to begin with ourselves. How am I responding to the thoughts that I'm having while I first have to have an

erin_pace (43:24.82)
And so how do we start that? So I use an acronym. I think I may have shared it with you once before, called ALIVE. In a way, you can use this either as an affirmation practice, just to check in on your own aliveness, or as an inquiry process of, sorry, did I say that right?

erin_pace (43:54.8)
practice to just kind of choose the bring your awareness into each of these and how they're serving your aliveness every day, or you can use it as an inquiry process where you're checking in and asking how you know, am I so it either be an I am statement or an am

erin_pace (44:24.8)
am I breathing into my full being? Do I consciously feel like just, can I check in and feel sensation in my whole body, breath coming in and out, awareness of where I am here now, what's around me and how I'm presenting in this space? Like, right? So am I aware or I am aware? L is, am I listening? Am I listening?

actually listening to the pings, you know, the body can ping you with, oh, got an ache in my back. Is it the way I've been sitting for the past hour? Oh yeah, I've been curled to my right side. I did that for like years at a job where I realized I was sitting like this and I had this chronic pain happening in my right side and I didn't even realize it, right? And you just like, whoa, you know, and I forgot all my body work during that

erin_pace (45:24.94)
everything. So like the body pings you. Am I listening to the words I'm actually speaking to myself? I'm aware that I have a busy brain, but am I actually listening to the words, right? Am I listening to all of the information and intelligence that's available? The I is, am I intentional? Or you can also say inspired. But intentional is such a big thing, intentionality,

intentionally choosing to do the work inspired into action around what it is that this intelligence is informing me about. Am I taking that information and making the changes, making the choices that support moving me in the direction of that I may be a better version of me in this space, right?

erin_pace (46:24.98)
Um, and you know what? In that step, you can actually be conscious that, you know what? I'm not, I'm intentional in my desire, but I'm not quite making those changes, but be forgiving about that, or you can be deeply in the intention setting and commitment to that. They're both okay. It's just, is there intentionality and is there an active ingredient? Right? So that's the I V is, am I valid?

Do I realize my own belonging? Do I realize my worthiness? So much of what happens is particularly in the experiences I have with women is there's shame, such an abundance of shame. And I think you even spoke to that earlier. It's just like ingrained in our experience, in our human experience. And plus there are layers of shame that can be brought on from traumatic experience, which we won't even get into. But do I realize that I am valid? I'm worthy.

leslie_field (47:11.053)
Mm-hmm.

erin_pace (47:25.02)
agency in my authority and I am just I belong here right so what I what I'm offering matters so that's part of a liveness too I think in a really big way and and the last is E which is am I evolving am I staying curious am I inquiring and am I seeing the gifts here am I allowing evolution because the

leave that growth mindset or growth experience, you know, I'm not really alive. I think I know every right. So there's this beautiful space of evolution and constantly evolving, constantly growing. Am I stoking that and allowing that that those represent for me, the foundation of aliveness. And so it's a great, like, um, touchstone, I think, to be able to use that acronym in that way, if that's of service at all.

leslie_field (48:22.098)
Absolutely, no it is. When you shared it with me, I was like, oh, it's so beautiful. It's a very great tool, a great acronym. So that's ALIVE, A-L-I-V-E. Thank you for sharing that. And I do want to circle back to that shame for a second. Yeah, it's really powerful, the stories or, I don't know, the programming, whatever you want to call it, that's sort of been put into our minds and flows down into our bodies.

erin_pace (48:24.227)
Yeah.

leslie_field (48:49.706)
Yeah, I had so much shame around the emotionality that comes out. I know we've been talking emotions, emotions, emotions, but the emotions which I was referencing earlier were tears. I mean, we're talking, Erin, like I said, has seen me cry more tears than I ever even thought another human would ever watch me witness, the tears. And it was so beautiful because when you find the right people to support you and be in your life, when we go through these hard times, we go through things in our bodies.

we need those people around us. You know, we have the resources and we try to fortify ourselves, but it's when you have those people around you that can help you. And she was one of the people who said, you know, let it out and talk to you about the shame. Like, what is that? And trying to get behind that. And a lot of it was just programming. And some of it was, oh, I'm female. And you know, females are looked down upon because we're always so emotional. You know, we're always crying.

And I would see it in such a negative. And this work has really helped me, I don't know if you could say reclaim or rewrite my story to say, yes, my sensitivity is, it's there. Why am I gonna pretend it's not? I'm having major tears, major epic flowing of emotion. And it is, you said this earlier, it's a beautiful, it's sort of like a superpower. And you would tell me this, you're like, it's such a gift. It's a beautiful gift. And I remember you would tell me this so many times, like, I don't know what she's talking about. How could this be a gift?

erin_pace (50:15.422)
Ha ha ha!

leslie_field (50:17.922)
How could all these emotions and all this crying be a gift? And it's hard to explain, but I understand it now. I've come into so much more reverence and acceptance. And at the end of the day, what we're talking about, and I'm sure we've said this words along the line somewhere, is the wisdom of our body. I mean, our body, you hear it, but it's there, it's real. There's so much wisdom.

erin_pace (50:35.328)
Yeah.

erin_pace (50:39.186)
Yeah.

it really is, it really is so true. I mean, the information available in a simple pause, if you tune in, and you hear, and then in terms of the flowing of emotion, which I know we've been on a roll about that today, I think, you know, there's a catharsis in release, and that is one thing. And there's also, I think that there's an endless,

erin_pace (51:12.52)
or versions of grief, and so we almost channel the grief of our fellow humans and ancestors, and it's why the sacredness, rather than the fear of what that, how big those emotions can feel when they're flowing, honoring the sacred embrace of them as if they are visiting

through is such a powerful practice because

When you realize you've released and you're okay like because there really is an okay okayness on the other side of it and if you're if you're doing handling it with care if you're handling it in the in the presence of grace, right? Then you realize that it's not gonna drown you that those tears are not going to overtake and that

The reclamation piece and the shame piece is...

erin_pace (52:25.141)
is connected to the worthiness and

erin_pace (52:32.002)
You know, there's so much to say about shame.

erin_pace (52:36.76)
You know in my experience There was a big a big period of time with body shame that I went through and it's when I Stepped particularly two different parts of phases of my life one was when my sister died and another was when I Went through an intense IVF journey and

A piece that's like resolved itself for me on that journey is I get, I get to be me, right? Like, and

erin_pace (53:19.74)
All that stuff that represents shame that feels like it's coming from others that's shame relate like a judgment of criticism or I'll be seen as this or identified as that.

erin_pace (53:37.46)
The resolution for me lived in the well, how lucky am I that I that I get to be here now? Like, it really can be that basic, but on such a deeply profound like such a profoundly deep level within me of self acceptance of accepting me as I am right now.

erin_pace (54:07.2)
crying and oh, it's so much or just be so dramatic. You know, if you're in theater, some people might express about, I was in theater for a long time and they went to, oh, but they're just so dramatic, you know, a lot of the people that are dear friends of mine. And I would not describe them that way. I would say, you know, they're bold, big, bright personalities who are just like living as they are.

get to do that and they get to be in a world where that's acceptable and allowed. Like, do we all have to small ourselves down? You know, do I have to small my body down to make you more comfortable? If I'm overweight, like that's what it came down to for me is, you know, you step into a world where you can see a person's eyes scan you up and down and

erin_pace (55:07.76)
of self love who brings into that field judgments and criticisms about women's bodies. That's not safety. That's not compassion. That's not love. That's not grace. That's something else. And so my reclamation around shame is about unconditional love as my pure essence.

leslie_field (55:25.39)
Thank you.

erin_pace (55:38.08)
As a gift that I get to choose, we choose whether we're going to experience unconditional love. And I think it has to happen with ourselves first in order for the healing piece. And that's the like receiving yourself and responding to yourself and noticing those responses and nourishing responsiveness that's healthy.

erin_pace (56:07.38)
alignment, like it's all of it, in togetherness.

leslie_field (56:14.462)
I'm getting chills.

what you just said had such a depth and potency and power. And I'm definitely personally, just to be very vulnerable, I am still on that self-acceptance, self-love journey. Actually, I work with a woman and she gives you a yearly like card poll, like what's your theme for the year? And mine this year was self-love. And actually I was really annoyed. I was like, ugh, that's the one I have to work on this year.

But it's one of those things that you say it, it sounds so easy, it sounds so simple, but there's a lot there. And I'm so glad you shared that, especially for someone like me that has a body that has a lot of things going on in it that I would prefer to change. And sometimes there's some new things that crop up, yes, that's the word, or pop up. And having the love for myself is a big...

It's a big piece for me and I'm so glad that you shared that about overcoming the shame, about who we are and just, yeah, it's a big piece for everybody and I am, I'm so glad we went there. And before we close, I'd say the last thing I want to mention, which I didn't tell you Erin, I wanted to mention it, was you released these beautiful Oracle cards. And to me, this is like the first easiest way to like get to know Erin and her wisdom.

Obviously you've heard just like a snid bit of her wisdom here, but in case you know, you're like oh, I don't know if I'd want to work with her or that seems too much or you know all the reasons there is still a way to access the wisdom of Erin Pace and that's through her beautiful oracle cards. Can you tell me about your oracle cards? The name? What? I love them. By the way, I always get the same one I was telling Erin. I don't even, so when I get a deck I never look at the deck. I'm just like I have these cards. I want to be surprised.

leslie_field (58:06.814)
So the card that I keep getting over and over again was Be The Messenger, and I have to keep laughing because here I am on a podcast trying to share the messages of just, not just myself, but of many others. So thank you for your cards, they're spot on. Tell me about your cards, your beautiful Oracle.

erin_pace (58:21.37)
I love that.

Oh, thank you, Leslie, and thank you for supporting them. They're called the Renew Oracle Deck and Guidebook. And my beautiful niece contributed by doing the artwork. I would describe an image to her, and she would just make it happen. It was so fun. The process was really fun. It was just downloading messages. I kept, you know, in the work, there's a lot of re-words that come through,

erin_pace (58:54.74)
just a lot of rewords that are very potent in this particular kind of movement therapy or whatever you want to call accessing wholeness in the body and moving with the body. So these words were really just so powerfully coming and downloaded and there's so many more that could have been a

erin_pace (59:24.36)
22 cards, it's 22 words. It's just like, it was very clear and it was just a beautiful way tool for people. It's Oracle Dex or a great tool for anyone just looking for support or something to support an intention that they've set for themselves or if they're asking, looking for guidance around a particular thing that's happening in their life,

and feel into that question or inquiry or and just feel into a pull, a card pull that serves and offers a message that may or may not align with whatever that is. And it's just whatever level of support it serves you, it's there for you. And so some people do it every day and some people do it once a month and some people do it in groups for fun. Some people really dig deep

erin_pace (01:00:23.6)
And it's just a beautiful deck offerings of these words and how some of them play out or might support. And I included affirmations with each one that might be applicable, an inquiry question with each one that's all in the guidebook, and also different practices for each one that might serve and support whatever that is that's coming through for you.

It has a lot of fun tips and tools in there. So if you're willing to try it out, they're really, it's special, it was so fun. And I'm looking forward to creating more and I've been writing a book, so thrilled to share that. Yeah, and actually any new subscribers will receive a code to get a 15% discount off that, by the way.

leslie_field (01:01:09.888)
More to come. Yeah, I- I'm-

leslie_field (01:01:20.486)
for subscribing to.

erin_pace (01:01:23.901)
Oh, sorry. Any new subscribers to my website will receive a special discount code for the Oracle Deck for 15% off.

leslie_field (01:01:33.354)
Oh, oh, that's very kind. Okay, great. Well, we're going to link all that good stuff in there. You know what, I have a lot of Oracle decks, but yours definitely stands out. And that's not just because I love Aaron, which is basically you've all heard that for the past hour. It's because you actually include a lot of great tips, ideas, things to work with, consider inside your guidebook. If I'm honest, sometimes I'm like, gosh, there's so much here. So what I do, I'm like, okay, this is the part I needed.

So I've kind of learned that sort of like, I don't know, intuition or discernment, or I'm like, maybe I don't need the rest of this, but this is the part I could tell that I want to do, or I want to chew on, or I want to take this away from the card pull. So they're really beautiful and they're very unique, definitely, and I have a few Oracle decks myself, so I can say that. Well.

erin_pace (01:02:20.72)
Thank you for that Leslie, yeah. And that's I think how they serve best is you taking whatever piece speaks to you in the moment. I wrote them in a way that can serve a really lighthearted approach or a deep dive. So it's just whatever speaks to you. And yeah, thank you so much for the support and for trying them out and using them. Yeah.

leslie_field (01:02:38.184)
Yes.

leslie_field (01:02:42.782)
Of course, and I'm obviously very excited to hear more about the book and all the things. It's just one of the greatest gifts to know you, Erin. So thank you so much for coming on the Sick and Seeking podcast today.

erin_pace (01:02:58.24)
It's one of my greatest gifts to know you, Leslie. And thank you for having me. I'm so thrilled for the voice you're offering in support to women who navigate things like you and so brilliantly and just to create that space for them is such a gift. And yeah. I feel bad we didn't talk about Sally at all.

leslie_field (01:03:19.671)
Thank you.

leslie_field (01:03:23.398)
Oh. I don't think so. No, we're good. Cut.

erin_pace (01:03:25.0)
I'm sorry.

erin_pace (01:03:28.521)
Just because hers included so much about it, I feel so proud.