In this episode, I talk with the artist, guide, hypnotherapist, and coach Francesca Elisia about how we can understand the inner struggles we face. Francesca also shares the tools she uses with her coaching clients for self-discovery. We also talk about mindsets, impostor syndrome, the benefits of working with a coach, and how the practice of hypnotherapy can help us connect with our essence.   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lowfidelity.io

Episode Transcript

Episode 11 - Francesca Elisia - 8:20:22, 10.46 PM

Francesca Elisia: Sometimes it's about an exploration of self. That's always important, really no matter where someone is on their creative journey. Um, and that especially can be important when someone is early on in their journey. So sometimes I work with clients who may not identify as an artist or creative, but they know that they have something within them that wants to be expressed.

And so it's about supporting them in discovering what that is and then working through the re. So they can kind of begin, begin their journey in a way.

Rizwan Javaid: Hi, Fidelity. I'm. On this podcast, I have conversations with creatives to learn techniques to help us overcome our inner struggles so we can cultivate our inner game and achieve our creative potential. Together we can break free and achieve greatness. My guest today is Francesca Alicia. Francesca is a coach for artists and creatives.

She supports and guides her clients in exploring their inner world of beliefs, assumptions and expectations, so they may create greater possibilities for themselves. Francesca is also a hypnotherapist, and in her practice she supports our clients in creating more loving and joyful relationships.

Francesca shares a lot of great content around courage, creativity, and regularly runs courses on incorporating techniques from the artist's way into our own creative practice. In our conversation, we talk about mindsets, imposter syndrome. Benefits of working with a coach and how the practice of hypnotherapy can help us connect with our essence.

I'm excited to share our conversation today, so let's get to it. Hello everybody. Welcome to the Low Fidelity Podcast. I'm your host, Raan Jve, and today my guest is Francesca Alicia. Welcome to the show, Francesca. Welcome. It's great to be here. It's great to have you, uh, on the show. And I've been on your newsletter.

I've been, uh, following each other on social media, and I thought you would be a great guest on the show to talk about, you know, some of the challenges we face, um, with our mindsets and, and I, and. Creativity as those two topics are really, uh, important. And so I'm, I'm really glad that, uh, we got to connect and finally able to, to have this conversation.

Yeah, same. Um, so before we started, just want to know a little bit about your career and how you arrived to where you are today. Yeah,

Francesca Elisia: yeah. So I am an artist and a hypnotherapist, and. . And so those are, those are the, the main areas that I work in as an artist. I am a painter mostly. Mm-hmm. , I occasionally do experiential art, uh, doing installations, using sound and visuals, and as a coach and a hypnotherapist, I work with clients around kind of two main areas.

One is creativity and supporting people. Awakening their creativity, working against, uh, resistance. And, um, and then the other area would be around relationships. And so that is relationship with self as well as the relationships that we have with other people. Romantic relationships, family relationships, work

Rizwan Javaid: and friendships.

Yeah. You're, you're a therapist and a coach. Uh, can you talk a little bit about what your approach to. Therapy and coaching is, yeah,

Francesca Elisia: I am always interested in supporting my clients in achieving what they want to achieve. And so my coaching is very person-centered. It, it very much focuses on meeting people where they're at.

Um, and so when I'm coaching people around creativity, It's often helpful for me to get a sense as to where they are on their creative journey. Sometimes I work with people who identify as artists. They might already have a creative career that would be perceived as having a certain level of success, um, but they might not feel driven or they might not feel rewarded.

They might not feel excited about the work that they're doing, and so then it's about going into really helping them understand why that might be the case. and supporting them in finding tools and finding approaches to change the energy, shift the energy. Sometimes it's about an exploration of self.

That's always important, really no matter where someone is on their creative journey. Um, and that especially can be important when someone is early on in their journey. So sometimes I work with clients who may not identify as an artist or creative, but they know that they have something within them that wants to be.

And so it's about supporting them in discovering what that is and then working through the resistance so they can kind of begin, begin their journey in a way. And sometimes that impulse, that creative impulse that we have within us. Uh, sometimes it's very clear, you know, someone might feel as though, Okay, I'm a writer.

They might know what the discipline is. They might wanna write a song, You might wanna write a poem or, or take a photograph or, um, build a body of work around a specific discipl. . And then other times we might move towards a discipline, but realize actually it's much more about just being creative, allowing ourselves to express ourselves in the world.

And sometimes the creative medium is just the, just the matter that we use to do that.

Rizwan Javaid: Yeah. I'm, I'm a big believer in coaching and, uh, I also recently started working with a coach, and so I understand exactly what you're talking about is those. Things that hold us back, you know, just the, the thoughts that come to mind and the, you know, over the years we've collected and uh, that just kind of keep us imprisoned in where we are and we don't know there's a, there's a way out there.

Can you talk a little bit more about how, how that comes in to be like, how well, how do we get into that state?

Francesca Elisia: Yeah. Yeah. It's so, it's, it's so significant. It's so, it's such an important area, our mindset. Is really malleable. And so, um, I like, I like one definition of mindset, which is the place where our unconscious and conscious minds meet.

And so it's a, it's a way of understanding our approach to life, kind of a framework or a lens that we could use to perceive the world.

Once we, once we look at it that way, it becomes something that we we're in relationship to. And so we might grow up in an environment or go to school in a certain place or work in an environment that has a set of a set of rules or a set of lenses that we might adopt and then we moved through our life.

Just reusing this framework. Just accept. and sometimes it's helpful to step away and really look within ourselves to figure out what's important to us and realize that we can choose different frameworks that, frameworks that align with our sense of self, with our kind of, our sense of truth, and also realize we can, we can change as we move through life.

And so we might adopt a framework that works for us for a while, a mindset that works for us and realize, okay, well maybe I need to let this go and pick up something. And part of it is it, you know, sometimes people call it programming and this idea of, of reprogramming or deprogramming. kind of stripping back.

Stripping back and really, um, understanding that it's a system that we could choose, not something that that needs to be set in stone.

Rizwan Javaid: Yeah. I guess coming to that awareness that. There is a way out of there that we need to deprogram ourselves and remove those layers that have, we've collected over the years.

But it's getting to that point. Where of realization, is that something that, um, you've seen like people come to that realization on, on their own? Or is that something that, uh, needs to be, uh, brought to their attention?

Francesca Elisia: Yeah, I think, I think if someone is seeking coaching, they might be seeking. Change. I mean that's, that's usually a common, a common desire with coaching, right?

And so how do you get to that change? This is one way to get to the change. And we're talking how of abstractly about this, but it's okay, what are these messages that, that someone might be holding onto that, that they might want to deconstruct and let go of or think about? And, and, um, you know, sometimes people might say, Well, I'm not creative or I'm not talent.

My talents aren't worth anything. You know, these are some of the common things that, that people might believe about themselves. And where did they get these ideas? . Yeah. You know, was it something that a, that a teacher offhandedly mentioned when they were a kid, Was it a belief that their parent had about themselves that now the child has just adopted?

Is it something that kind of floats around within society in order to keep society? Functioning in a way that that actually might be dysfunctional if you actually look at it. Um, but part of it is, part of the work requires identifying these beliefs that you might have about yourself. These beliefs we might hold, and being brave enough to admit that they're being held.

Cause sometimes it's a little, you know, sometimes people will say things and there's a lot of awareness around. If someone feels like a, like a shame or, or a sense of, Okay, well I'm not talented. I'm not talented like other people. And sometimes it's, it's, it's almost like a private shame, you know, Even embarrassing to admit cuz you don't want people to know, cuz maybe, maybe if you don't say it, no one's gonna notice.

You just kind of get by . And so it actually takes an immense amount of courage to, to really, really own these. . But once you've, once you've owned it, once you've stated it, once you've put it out into the world, it becomes so much it, it almost loses its power because on one hand you can see how silly it is and on the other hand you can, you can look at the pain of it cuz it's gonna be really painful.

To be carrying that around. Yeah. Well,

Rizwan Javaid: what you said about hiding our shame, and that's one thing I've experienced is hiding things from myself, hiding things from others, because I didn't want to come across as you know, Being good enough or not knowing what I'm doing. And so all this hiding, I, I realize that it's, it's adding to that, um, those, those layers that have, you know, like that I've had for a long time.

I think that's, that may be a common theme for people is to just. Keep things to themselves hide and not share and not, you know, trust yourself. You have to start un hiding and start sharing to be able to kind of, you know, get over some of this shame that we've, we've held on for a long time.

Francesca Elisia: Absolutely.

Yeah. And you've said some important things I think that can be really universal. So this idea of not being good enough is, is a big. and this idea of, I don't know what I'm doing. Almost as though, you know, someone's gonna show up and, and realize that I'll, you know, like, Oh, you know, you're kind of a fraud or an imposter.

Imposter syndrome is something that you've, that you've looked at in your discussions. Yeah. And so yeah, it's like being Yeah. Kind of being exposed, but in being brave enough to, to start talking about it. It loses, Yeah. It loses that power. And we realize how universal these things.

Rizwan Javaid: What I've experienced is, you know, sharing something, one thing, it's such a big relief that like I don't have to hold that in me anymore.

I can just share it and move on instead of hiding it and hiding, you know, every opportunity I get. It definitely lightens you cuz you, you don't have that weighing you down and you can focus on the things that you want to. Focus on the, the creativity and, um, working towards your goals. So I, I think that's a, I guess it's a great way to lighten yourself so that you can focus on things you want to focus on.

Yeah. You talked about how people say, you know, I can't do this or I shouldn't, um, Are those some of the words that we can look out for? Like if we're thinking about, okay, how, what are some things that are holding me back? Uh, or what are some thought patterns that are affecting me negatively? Are those some of the key words that we can look fors like when, whenever I say I can't do that, or I shouldn't do this?

Or is that

Francesca Elisia: something? Yeah. Yeah, those are good. Um, looking out, looking out for those negative statements can be really helpful. Sometimes I'll work with clients both individually or in groups, looking at what I might call unhelpful beliefs versus helpful beliefs, and the unhelpful beliefs are the ones that limit us.

These also could be called, um, negative self-beliefs or positive self-beliefs. But the, yeah, the ones that that keep us small are the ones to really look out for and. Words, like, I can't do it. I shouldn't do it. I can't just do what I want. Things that kind of promote suffering would be things to look out for.

And also a, a sense of just feeling bad about oneself, you know, wanting to do something but not allowing ourselves to do it. You know, if we're, if we're, somebody will have an idea in the back of our mind, but we just won't let ourselves go near. If we're kind of afraid of an idea, other things to look out for are kind of strong emotions.

So anger can be a guide, jealousy can be a guide. And of course, these more powerful emotions. Sometimes we, we might hesitate to go near, but they could really show us a lot. You know, sometimes we might go to a performance or hear a song, hear a song played, see someone play an instrument, see someone out taking photographs.

We might be jealous or maybe wondering, okay, why do they get to do that when I have to do something else? And so it could be a good, it could just be a good sign for us to watch out for that. It

Rizwan Javaid: seems like you're in my head, you know, with , these are all the experiences that I've had recently and that I'm working to uncover and get past.

But it is, uh, takes, um, help. So I, my coach is helping me get through this and challenge when they kind of come up. So I'm a big believer in having somebody outside of yourself to check your thoughts, check your thinking, cuz these are so strong, these emotions that, I mean, maybe some people can do it on their own, but sometimes you just.

An outside party that, that can check you when you have those thoughts and emotions.

Francesca Elisia: Yeah, absolutely. It could be, it could be super helpful to have that space held. Yeah. Um, yeah, so that it, so that for the reasons that, Yeah, very much for the reasons you've described. Cause all of these emotions we feel sometimes in working with clients, I'll use the Wheel of emotions also called a feelings wheel.

And it's a tool that was developed by a psychologist, I believe in the 19 seven. and if you, if you search for the feelings wheel wheel or the wheel of emotions, you'll find lots of different versions, but essentially is what it sounds like. It's a, it's a visual that just shows all of the different emotions that a human could feel.

So, happiness, joy, frustration, anger, sadness, they're all there. The, the main emotions are kind of at the core and then more specific emotions radiate out from there. And. My approach is, is that having all of these emotions is, is a normal part of being a human. And so it's not so much that we don't want to feel the emotions, but it can be really helpful to understand what the emotion is communicating.

Mm-hmm. . And so it's not so much about running away from it or hiding it, it's about building the strength to be able to notice it and then process it and let it.

Rizwan Javaid: So our previous guest talked about how, you know, when we feel fear instead of connecting to the emotion, how, you know, looking at the message that fear is telling us.

So it kind of changes our perspective. So if we're trying to do something that pushes us out of our comfort zone, instead of looking at being the emotions that we feel, look. You know, what your goal is and what you're trying to do and what the fear is telling you. You know, push past that to, to achieve your goal.

Francesca Elisia: Yeah. And then also I would say on that, to potentially imagine your life without the fear. Mm-hmm. , because sometimes we, we can imagine this, this life on the other side, you know, once we've stepped through the fear, what. Life look like? What does it feel like? So that we could use that as an indicator as to where we should be moving towards.

So if we want more joy in our life, if we want less fear, you know, once we break through it to the other side, what are we doing? And so then it gives us permission. Permission is a very big thing. , you know, can we give ourselves permission to really enjoy the creative process, to really have fun with.

Sometimes when we're doing this hard work of changing our mindset and working through creative resistance and overcoming fears, we could forget to just have fun . And so it's nice to tap into the more playful and creative side of things too, and remember to weave that in to both the long term change as well as say the daily.

Rizwan Javaid: Think we talked a little bit about, you know, the imposter syndrome that happens, uh, these days. I've been focused on that and trying to, um, uncover it from my own life and how to help other others identify it and overcome it. Is imposter syndrome, like, is it, is it something that you see a lot in your, in your coaching?

Francesca Elisia: It's something that I do see absolutely. . Yeah. I think it's not unusual for people to experience some flavor of imposter syndrome as they really step into their power and identity is something that comes to mind. Iden, having an identity shift can be a really big achievement if we're, if we're becoming an artist.

Developing an arts practice or even getting in touch with our creative side, and so we can form our identity kind of sitting off to the side, but then at some point we need to enter back into the world and you share what we've been making and there's so much joy in sharing. There are so many good things that could come up, but one of the dangers is imposter syndrome being triggered because who you know.

Then the questions come up like, Okay, well who am I to be doing this? What makes me so special? Do I really know? Do I really know what I'm doing? People might ask questions cuz they're curious and interested, but what if? What if the answers so come so easily? . And then also we could be really excited by the work that other people are doing.

But then it also can feel very intimidating to think the, you know, when we imagine the amount of work we might want to do or need to do in order to really master a scale , it can become quite overwhelming. You know, if we think about that, I believe it's, you know, the 10,000 hours that people talk about, um, based on Malcolm Gladwell's.

you know, if we, if we start to add that up, it's like, oh, you know, you've kind of spent a weekend doing some fun stuff, but then it's like, wow, it's a long, it can feel like a long road. Mm-hmm. . And when we're on the road, we, we accept that it's a long road and we're so happy to be there. I mean, for me, I, I am so ex, I'm so excited to be on my artist's journey and to feel like I'm a beginner sometimes and really enjoy.

Um, and then look back on my years of practice as a painter and appreciate that too. It's almost as though the imposter syndrome kind of fades away because there's an acceptance of it being a lifelong journey. But in between the moment of the identity shift and claiming it and the acceptance of the journey, it, there's, there's a lot of, um, vulnerability and imposter syndrome is one of the like vulnerable points.

I think part of it with the imposter syndrome is thinking about where it takes place, like the context of that experience. And so if I am feeling a sense of imposter syndrome, usually there's a judgment by another person that's required, otherwise I wouldn't be an imposter. It's like me in the world. I'm an imposter because I'm being called out by something or someone, and so.

Part of it for me is looking at the relationship between me and that thing. So if it's an individual who I'm afraid of being judged by and called out by then, it's looking at the character or the, the statement that's gonna be calling me out. Like, maybe it's if we, if we go back to being not good enough, you know, maybe this person is gonna call me out and say she's just not good enough.

You. Maybe it's a talent thing or a skill thing. We could say, you know, her skills just aren't good enough, . And then I'll be called out. You know, everyone will know I'm an imposter, you know, my, my skills aren't good enough. Part of it is, is really coming to terms with judgment, other people's judgment in that situation.

So, and also being kind to myself, you know, is it, is this person's opinion important? Why would it be important? You know, is this person acting in a way that is in my best, uh, you know, has good intentions for me? Is this a safe person? Does this person actually want me to, to grow? And, and are they giving me helpful critique or are they just being mean?

You know? So sometimes it's about really getting into the nitty gritty of the moment that I'm feeling the imposter syndrome, or the moment my client is feeling this, having this experie. And sometimes that specificity can be really good cuz it gets to the heart of it. Imposter syndrome is kind of, and some of these things are like universal experiences we might have.

Yeah. But your unique version of it is kind of where the heal, you know, where the real healing will happen. It's like where is your pain? Like what are you most afraid of being judged? That's you. Once you, once you do the do the digging and find that, then you can do the very specific healing around it.

Mm-hmm. , for some people it would be skilled. For some people it would be even being seen that could be quite scary. Just being seen in and of itself for whatever it is that they might be doing. You know, just. Someone looking at something they've made, it doesn't even matter what it is that they've made.

You know, it could even be, you know, bringing a, bringing a dish to a, to a a, a potluck dinner. Yeah. You know, that could trigger imposter and doesn't, it doesn't have to be our life's great work, but really finding this specific pain. And that's why it's often good to work with a coach or therapist because they'll create a safe space for you to go into that.

And again, courage, you know, it takes courage to.

Rizwan Javaid: That's a good point is looking at your specific pain and how it's showing up, how dressing or looking at it, understanding it and becoming more aware of it. I know like writing can help, uh, help us understand this with writing.

Francesca Elisia: Writing is a great way to explore this stuff for sure.

Sometimes even just doing some journaling around the situation, so just doing some, some open journal. , um, just stream of consciousness doing something called the morning pages, which is something that you and I have chatted a little bit about before. Yeah. So that's a practice from the artist's way. Um, but with the morning pages, the, the way to write the morning pages is to write three pages long hand in stream of consciousness as early in the morning as possible after you wake.

And so that can help uncover some things that are blocking you. Just naturally, you can start to explore some of those challenges.

Rizwan Javaid: Yeah, I think I, I think I've been doing them wrong. . So , I, I, I usually, uh, have coffee and get, you know, situated and then it's like, set a timer and, you know, but it feels like, like the three pages is more of.

Challenging you to get everything that's out in your head instead of sticking to some, some, some set timeframe. Is that the reason for the three? Three

Francesca Elisia: pages? Yeah. So there's no wrong, so in terms of my approach to it, there's no kind of wrong way to do the morning pages. If you are a purist with the practice, then you can kind of set some rules around it and figure out the way it's best for you to.

One could write stream of consciousness at any time of the day. Yeah, sure. So morning, afternoon, evening, and three pages tends to be good because by the time you get to say the end of the second page, things start to really open up. And when I'm doing stream of consciousness writing, sometimes I'll just keep going.

So I'll, I might just connect with something that I wanna explore. Maybe even, I'll start generating some good ideas and I'll just want to keep writing on those ideas. Um, and then other times I'll just do, you know, maybe a page or two if I'm feeling a little frustrated or a little triggered or I just wanna chill out a little bit, I might just take a single page outta my notebook and just write some things that are coming to mind or scribble or even open up notes on my laptop.

You, it doesn't have to be by. Might just type out a few notes and it could be really helpful to get, get things out on paper.

Rizwan Javaid: Uh, sometimes I have those evenings where I know the next morning is gonna be pretty interesting as I write . You know, like, its like, it's, it, I've become full of ideas of things to write about, explore and the challenges to write about

So it, yeah, I think it's a great way. I'm glad to know there's, you know, there's no right way. I mean, there, there's a preferred way, but there's, there's not a set way to do things. I think it's, as long as you are exploring your, your thoughts and your understanding and you're, you know, becoming more aware of yourself, I guess that's, um, at the end of the day, that's the main, uh, takeaway is to better understand yourself.

And be more in touch with, uh, your feelings, your thoughts, emotions. So you don't run away with, you, don't let them control you. Um, and, uh, yeah, very much. Do you do, um, um, do you do anything with meditation, um, in along those lines to, to help out?

Francesca Elisia: Yeah. I have a daily meditation practice. I started that around 15 or 16 years ago.

I have I should say. I have not done meditation every day, over those years, but I've had an on and off daily meditation practice for, for that long, and, um, I have found it to be so helpful. It was so essential for me to, to learn how to meditate. And build a practice around it and know that it's a tool that I could always return to.

Rizwan Javaid: Did you try before and then it just, you didn't, it didn't stick? Or did you just, right off the bat, did you start meditating?

Francesca Elisia: Well, when I first learned to meditate, it was quite a struggle. It was very difficult. I, at the time, was experiencing so much stress. I was, I was so anxious. A boyfriend I had at the time, knew that I was really stressed out and he bought me a book on meditation.

It was like how to meditate because this was before YouTube. This was before, you know, all the meditation apps and all of that. It was before meditation was as popular as it is now. Yeah. And so I, I would read the book and I would, you know, read the instruction. And then I would, I would close the book and I, I would sit on the, you know, sit on the ground and, um, close my eyes and try to quiet the thoughts in my head, like it said in, in the book.

And it was just not working. It was just not even close to working. My mind was like spinning, spinning, spitting so many thoughts everywhere. And I was just like, I can't do this. I'm never gonna be able to do this. I'm always gonna be stressed out. I'm always gonna be anxious. It's just who I am. I don't even know what they mean.

What does it mean when you quiet your thoughts? Like, it just felt so abstract and I liked my thoughts, you know, I, I, I didn't wanna let go of them. I, they were protecting me. And of course, now with some distance, I can even say that with more confidence. You know, it was like, I felt like I needed to keep the plate spinning for my own good.

And so, I did kind of, I guess I probably gave up, but I knew, I knew I needed to do something. And then a few short years later, I was living at an artist community in Umbria in Italy, and there were a few people there who had experience with meditation and had longstanding meditation practice practices.

And one guy in particular would. For two hours a day. He would sit for an hour in the morning and then an hour in the evening. And I just started sitting with him. And so we would, we would go into one of the rooms. There were beautiful spaces and, you know, light a fire, sit by the fireplace, um, wrap ourself up in blankets and then sit and meditate.

And really, that's how I learned to do it. It was just sitting, because at some point I just sat for long enough, I relaxed into a. Of meditation. Um, and I did retreats. I did other courses, and then of course, you know, other things became more, more available around meditation. But really in the end it was, it was just, it was just sitting and getting comfortable with myself and my own thoughts and realizing that it is safe to let go.

It is safe to, to relax and, and quiet. All that craziness that goes on .

Rizwan Javaid: Yeah. Nice. What's, uh, what was the biggest, uh, takeaway from meditation or where do you see the biggest benefit in your life? It was

Francesca Elisia: essential for me along my journey to feeling like myself. There were moments in my life previously where I really, I just didn't feel like myself.

I felt like I was living someone else's. You know, wearing someone else's clothes, doing someone else's job, dating someone else's, you know, life partner kind of thing. I was just, it was like the wrong thing and I, I'm so grateful for meditation because it helped me to quiet all these ideas of who I should be and just really become comfortable with who I.

Rizwan Javaid: I think that's a big benefit of just pausing and getting in touch with yourself, your thoughts, and you can see the patterns, and you can see the, the emotions and you can understand them better because you are quiet and you have that space to explore these different things that come up on the other side when you're not, If you're just going by your day, you.

Getting, being controlled by their emotions as they come. And you know, who knows? You know what happens cuz you let those stories control us. For me, the biggest thing that I, I've learned is that the thoughts are not who I am. Like come and go. I, I don't need to stay with the thought. I don't need to hold onto it and believe it.

Which goes to the imposter syndrome too, is just because I, I'm having this thought doesn't mean that is real. And so knowing that difference in knowing that separation, I think that's for me that that's been the biggest benefit. Although, yeah, uh, I started meditating when the pandemic hit, and so it was a good way to just manage all the chaos that was happening.

And like you, I also tried many times before, but it just never, never connected. You have to get on the path to, to it, to be able to get to this. Instead of overthinking or thinking and not not doing it, it's getting on that path. And then you, you'll, you know, like that quote is, uh, once you're on the path, the path will show itself.

I think that's a great way to look at anything that we're doing is to start, and then we'll start seeing the fruits of it.

Francesca Elisia: Yeah, that's, yeah. Beautifully sad for sure. And when I look back, To those first moments of, of trying to meditate. I realize now that I was, I was doing it in a sense. I wasn't achieving what I thought I was supposed to be achieving, but it was really, it was, it was really essential.

And, and I even learned, cuz now sometimes I'll sit and I, my mind will still go all over the place and it's really, it's my younger self that is showing me that it is possible actually to, to sit with it and move through that. And so, yeah. So. We're on the path without even realizing sometimes .

Rizwan Javaid: Yeah. Yeah.

And I guess, yeah, like we, we think the struggles we're having means that we're not good enough, or it's not for us, but you, we have to go through that, those struggles to get to where we are, to get to a place where we're comfortable. So you also do, uh, um, a lot of work with the hypnotherapy. I know that's a, an area that I, I, I've practiced a little bit from your, from your course and one of your sessions.

Can you share a little bit more about hypnotherapy and how it can help us get in touch with ourselves or understand who we are? Sure.

Francesca Elisia: Absolutely. Um, so hypnotherapy uses a combination of hypnosis and talk therapy to work through c. And when I, when I say hypnosis, it's very much about moving into a relaxed state of mind so that we can get in touch with our unconscious mind.

Our conscious mind is the one that we're very aware of, . So right now as we're having this conversation, or if you're reading or working through a problem, you're very much in your conscious mind, the unconscious mind. Kind of the unseen mind. Sometimes you might see a diagram of an iceberg to describe the conscious mind versus the unconscious.

The unconscious being what's below the surface of the water, what's unseen, and the conscious mind being just the little piece of the iceberg that peaks out above the surface of the water. And so there's a lot going on behind the scenes in a. , which I think we know, I think we know there's a lot happening underneath.

And, um, hypnosis is great in that we can become relaxed and then be guided into exploring that space and then either stay in that relaxed state to continue to explore or even, you know, bring things to the surface. So get in touch with things that are happen. in our unconscious mind and bring them into the conscious space to explore and, and deconstruct them with the support of a support of

Rizwan Javaid: a therapist.

I tried the, the exercise that you had, and for me it was pretty amazing to go into, you know, I believe it was, uh, uncovering your essence and so the, the, you know, the visuals that I had and the, the, like what I was experiencing. Pretty amazing. And then, you know, then your suggestion was to, you know, to write about it afterwards or even start, um, uh, you know, painting it or drawing it.

And so, uh, like I had this clear vision of what I saw, and then I brought that into, uh, drew it as Guy stood out. And it was pretty amazing. Like that vision has been with me for, for a long time now, and I. That essence that I, that I noticed, it kind of now permeates my art and the creative work that I do.

Um, can you talk about how that, um, how that's connected, um, and how it can kind of bring you closer to yourself? Yeah.

Francesca Elisia: Yeah. Well, the, the recording that you mentioned is, um, is the, the essence guided visualization. And it's available on my website as part of a Creative Awakening toolkit that's free to download.

And so you're welcome to listen to it again. I think you, you already have it . Um, but if anyone is interested in hearing it, um, they can, they can find it on my website. It's that recording is very much focused on supporting people and connecting with their sense of self. And so this idea that within each of.

Is a unique essence. So something that makes something that makes you special, something that that is only within you. And I believe that we're each born with a unique essence, so something that lives within us and as we move through life, we'll grow and change. And how we realize that sense of self may change as well, but it's always something we could return to.

You know, for me, I, you know, I can remember back to, to being quite young and having a sense of self, you know, kind of knowing, knowing who I was, . But then of course, as we move through life, it gets questioned. You know, it's like we're asking what do you wanna be when you grow up? And, you know, these are the things you're good at, you're kind of told, and, um, you might like to do something, maybe get to do it, and we don't, you know, be good at some things, not so great at others.

And we kind of, we figure out who we are and then we get to be an. And I think sometimes there's this idea that we arrive at adulthood and we're kind of a finished product. I think this concept might be dissolving a bit and maybe public consciousness, or maybe it's just, I perceive it as dissolving because , for me, it's dissolving.

But certainly we continue to grow and change throughout our entire lives, , and we're never really done. Um, even, even when we're grown up, even, even when we're. But this idea of being able to reconnect with that sense of unique essence can be really powerful because it brings us back to ourself and so and so we can go out into the world and grow and change and investigate and, and experiment with all the great things out there.

But then we can come back and say, Okay, how does, how does this connect with me? Or, you know, what, what do I want to give to the world? What is, what is my unique gift? What is my unique way of being? What's my viewpoint? What are my values? . And so being able to kind of quiet our mind and relax and take that time out and do, you know, do, do a hypnosis, audios, and exercise can be a great way

Rizwan Javaid: to do that.

Nice. Is this something that we can do at any time or is there a certain timeframe or schedule that we should, we should follow? Yeah,

Francesca Elisia: I like to listen to hypnosis audios in the morning. Not too long after I wake up, I find that I am really receptive. I feel relaxed already, so it's easy to move into a relaxed state.

I also find it really energizing often, so when I move into my day, I feel like I've had a little bit more rest. nice. And it's, it's nice to kind of work through whether it. Something, Um, something around getting connected to the sense of self or working through other challenges or connecting with my sense of, uh, my sense of power determination.

It'd just be nice to do that early on. Um, I find the evening could be a nice time too if I want to listen to something to relax. Sometimes audios are more focused on just relaxation. Sometimes even you can listen to hypnosis audios to help you fall asleep if you're having challenges. Restlessness or insomnia be really helpful.

Um, sometimes I do fall asleep if I listen to h noticed this audios in the evening, and so I, you know, I, I make sure, you know, the alarms are set and all of that. Sure. in advance. Um, the afternoon is okay too. There's really no, I'll, I'll say this, there's really no wrong time Yeah. To do it, but there are times where it might suit you best, you know, where it might be.

Best either. Um, yeah, for time. Yeah.

I

Rizwan Javaid: guess it's kind of like when, if you are transitioning, it's a good point to Oh, good, good to do it when you're transitioning from one, uh, frame of mind to another frame of mind. So, you know, before work into work from work to, you know, your evening. And so I think it's a good way to, to use it to just prepare for the transition.

Um, so something I will try. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Um, now we are at the point where we have a listener challenge where it's an opportunity to share challenge with the listeners to take action. Because it's great to hear about these things, but unless you actually take some action, uh, you know, it could be, um, you, you don't get the most value out of it.

So I'm curious what to learn, what your challenge is for our listeners.

Francesca Elisia: Yeah. The challenge I might suggest is to start to deconstruct one of the limiting or unhelpful beliefs that you. And so it might, it might be just writing that belief down and thinking about ways into exploring it. And so that, that might be, that might be just one challenge, and it's just, it just can be one, it can just be one belief, you know, you might have more and that's okay.

But I would say just begin. Begin with. . Yeah,

Rizwan Javaid: I think that's a great way to start, get on the path and get on the journey of, uh, understanding what's holding you back. So, uh, how can, uh, listeners learn more about you and learn about your therapy and coaching? Yeah,

Francesca Elisia: they could go online. Um, I have a website dedicated to my creative practice and coaching.

For creativity. That's one resource. And then I have another site that focuses on my hypnotherapy and coaching. And so those are two places where they could find,

Rizwan Javaid: I think, I believe the website is francesca alicia therapy.com. Yeah, so they

Francesca Elisia: could either go to francesca alicia.com or francesca alicia therapy.com.

Okay. And also you can follow me on Instagram. At Francesca, Alicia, and all of the, all of the links would be there.

Rizwan Javaid: I'll add all the links in the show notes as well. Great. So, well this has been an amazing talk. I think if I felt like a therapy session, but for me, , you know, just to see that, you know, I'm not alone and you know, a lot of people.

Have similar challenges, and that's what this podcast is about too, is to realize that we're not alone with the, the challenges that we face. A lot of people experience this and there is help that you can get through coaching and therapy to help you overcome some, some of the challenges that you face. So I really appreciate you coming on the show and sharing your.

Expertise and your experience, uh, to help us, you know, be better, show up, um, more in our lives and to be better in touch with ourselves. So thank you so much. Oh, well, thank you so

Francesca Elisia: much for having me. I really enjoyed our

Rizwan Javaid: conversation. So that's it for today's episode. I hope you enjoyed our conversation, and please take a moment.

Check out Francesca's website and her coaching program. I think you'll really like how supportive she is in helping creatives go through their creative journey and develop their creative practice and while overcoming some of the challenges that we face. So please check it out. Before we go, I wanted to ask you if you're enjoying the Low Fidelity podcast, please rate and review it on Apple Podcast.

As it helps other listeners find the show. That's it for today's episode. Hope you have a wonderful day. Wonderful rest of your week. Until next time, stay strong.