Monica Tschuggnall, a rapid transformational life coach and therapist, shares her journey of self-discovery and healing through yoga and hypnotherapy. She explains her methodology of using a multi-dimensional and holistic approach, including life coaching, hypnotherapy, breathwork, yoga, and meditation, to help her clients overcome limiting beliefs and create positive change. She also discusses the importance of self-care practices and daily rituals in maintaining a balanced and fulfilling life.
Monika teaches us:
🔹Self-sabotage often stems from subconscious fears and beliefs, and addressing these underlying issues is crucial for personal growth and success.
🔹A multi-dimensional and holistic approach can help us overcome limiting beliefs and create lasting transformation.
🔹Incorporating self-care practices and daily rituals, such as meditation and yoga, can support our overall well-being and help us stay connected to our true selves.
💖 Grab my Yoga For Self Mastery course now before live calls begin. Start your yogic makeover today => https://www.brettlarkin.com/yoga-for-self-mastery/
GUEST EXPERT: Monika Tschuggnall | https://lifelift.coach/
Monika is a Rapid Transformational Life Coach and Therapist, a Hypnotherapist, and Yoga Teacher. She works with people who want to share their gifts and talents with the world. With her holistic approach, she helps people discover, see, and remove what’s holding them back subconsciously from revealing their wholeness and sharing their passion so that they can live their purpose and fulfill their mission.
Monika’s YouTube: @LifeLiftcoach
RTT method mentioned: https://marisapeer.com/
Find Us: @larkinyogatv and @monikatschuggnall
FREE Practice: The Healing Power of Divine Love | VINYASA FLOW HEART OPENING
Relevant Blog: How To Fall In Love With Yourself: 7 Daily Practices
Relevant to Today’s Episode:
📖 Yoga Life Book
🐍 Yoga for Self Mastery
💖 Uplifted Membership
💞 Somatic Yoga Life Coaching
🎧 Also Listen to:
#329 – Heal Your Subconscious with Allison Roman
#324 – The Importance of Emotional Processing and Regulation: DENT Model Trauma
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Transcript:
Brett:
Hello everyone, welcome back to the show. I’m very excited to be here today with one of my former students, Monica. She is a rapid transformational life coach and therapist, a hypnotherapist, of course, a yoga teacher. And she’s going to tell us today about how we are ruled by our subconscious patterns. They’re actually governing everything that we do. 95 % of what we say and think is unconscious, but we can actually use this knowledge to our benefit. So she’s going to tell us about that today.
As well as how she got started on her journey, discovering yoga, discovering the uplifted community, and then launching this incredible business, LifeLift, which she’s gonna tell us all about. So Monica, welcome. I’m so glad to be connecting with you and seeing all your success. So welcome to the show.
Monika:
Hi Brett, thank you for having me. I’m very excited.
Brett:
Tell listeners where you’re from and how you came to discover uplifted yoga and become part of the community as the first step.
Monika:
Yeah, I mean, I’m originally from Austria and I’ve traveled the last years all over the world and the same my journey towards my passion, which is also my healing journey, is also a very exciting journey. And so when I started, I was in a very dark place of my life. I was
I knew I had something to share, I wanted to do something meaningful, but I was very lost. I didn’t know what to do. I was looking for my passion. I suppressed my feelings and all my needs and had tons of subconscious beliefs and fears, which I wasn’t aware of, and suppressed. And that expressed itself in an autoimmune disease. And also, of course,
relationship problems, anxiety, stress, all of that. And then my first step towards my healing journey, my journey towards my passion started and that was yoga. I started yoga and at the first time only the physical part of it. So I used my body and of course I forced myself into the poses, but just moving my body helped me so much.
of becoming aware a little bit and also like moving in certain poses helped my thyroid gland which was not working properly to get activated and balanced. And that was my first step towards this journey where I was like, wow, I can do something with my body. I mean, everyone has to know that I want to share that. And there it started. I got inspired to share.
everyone what you can do with yoga.
Brett:
It’s so interesting because as yoga teachers, I don’t think we often realize how much we really are someone’s first mentor or person on such a huge, deeper healing journey that they’re going to go on. And it’s part of the reason that I love this work. And I think so many students identify with kind of this, this archetype of the healer that we talk about, because even if you don’t think of yourself necessarily in those terms, you really are that first
healing presence for so many of the people that are walking into your public classes or experiencing your privates or doing your videos. So what did the decision look like to then say, okay, I’m going to train in this? Were you already feeling much better or were you already are still kind of struggling with the autoimmune disease? Cause I think that’s something else that I hear a lot from folks is they say, well, I’m not healed yet. So I can’t enroll in training or I can’t help others.
But I think from what I remember, you were still navigating everything with your autoimmune disease when you started. So do you want to just tell us a little bit about that before we go into everything that then happened? Because it’s such an incredible story.
Monika:
Yeah. So I started to work with the body and then we moved country. I had another yoga teacher and she opened me a whole other world like meditation, breathwork, everything which is beyond. And then I also came to uplift it, the yoga teacher trainings 200, 300. And yes, you’re right. I was…
Working towards my healing, towards my passion, every step I took brought me closer. But no, I was at the very beginning. But it opened me so many doors and so many new perspectives and peeled away so many harmful layers that were covering my true self. So that was very important.
Brett:
So we go on this healing journey and then we’re healing ourselves and we know we want to heal other people. But then I think the next big roadblock people come up against is, well, the business piece, right? How am I actually going to make a living doing this? How does it all come together? And that’s a place where I really want to acknowledge you because beyond taking the trainings, I know you sought me out for private coaching. We did some business coaching together and it took a number of years.
for everything to seem like it sort of synergized and clicked for what your practice looks like today. So I’m curious if you just want to talk a little bit to, you know, other yoga teachers who may be listening, because it is, it’s a long journey and it takes a while to figure out. I know there was a point, correct me if I’m wrong, but you were kind of doing retreats or half -day retreats for other moms in your neighborhood, I think in Spain, but tell me if I’m correct. And like it was all these different things that you were trying and that evolved to what you’re doing now. And…
It’s a multiple year journey. It was for me as well. You know, I think a lot of people just want this instant overnight success, but it is this longer process. So do you want to speak to that a little bit?
Monika:
Yes, I mean, you’re so right. This is, it’s a process. It’s a process when we want to heal. It’s a process, self -development. It’s a process to find your passion and build a business and everything. It’s a process. And you played a big role in bringing me where I am now. So I did the coaching with you also, and I did these day retreats and I had one -on -one yoga coaching. That’s how I called it.
And that was great and it was my next step. But I was still holding back subconsciously. I had limitations and even if I didn’t see them, recognize them, but they were holding me back. So I would go and self sabotage. Go self sabotage. So I was running in loops basically, but I was going always a little bit further.
going a little bit further. And then, yeah, I even opened a yoga studio in Mexico, which was very exciting. So, but there was a point where I found out, well, I’m actually, that’s not how I teach yoga. So I’m coming from a holistic way or approach. I want to give them more.
then just doing the poses in the great vinyasa class or whatever these even restorative class. I want to tell them why. I want to ask them how they are. I want to give them space to share whatever is on their heart. And so then came my next step, which was like I met rapid transformational therapy and coaching from Marisa Peer.
She’s a British therapist and developed this amazing method. And then I added this to my toolkit. And now I brought all this together and share it. And also not only did I add it to my toolkit, but also towards my healing. So I could, with this method and with the coaching, I could really go underneath the surface into my subconscious.
And first of all, recognize, notice what’s going on there, what fears are stuck, what emotions are stuck, what beliefs are there running my life actually, and then also remove them. So all I teach, all I share, all I coach is because I’ve experienced it, and I share this now.
Brett:
I just want to shout out before we go into some of the work with the subconscious, just how many different things you tried, because I know when we were working together, you were very focused on helping people who had the autoimmune condition that you had, which was Hashimoto’s, is that correct? If I’m remembering correctly, yes. And,
Monika:
Yes. Yes.
Brett:
I just want to shout out Monica for everyone who’s listening because she was just being very brave and she was like approaching different Hashimoto support groups and you were teaching live yoga classes in different Facebook groups for free to sort of hustle and talk to more people who had that condition. Just really putting yourself out there. And then again, it takes a lot of guts to organize these half day retreats. It takes a ton of guts to open a studio and then kind of realize, you know, the studio model as beautiful as it is, isn’t actually my true work.
and what I want to be doing and then letting that go. And this is over a course of I’d say five years, I think probably, right? Ish, just for people listening, but just applauding you for the willingness to try so many different things. Cause I think a lot of times I talk to new yoga teachers and they’re like, well, what’s just the one thing I should be doing? Or they’re like, I just want to focus on online. And again, we want to focus, but I think your focus by following what was on your heart kind of naturally emerged and gave you all these different layers.
and tools that you’ve integrated into what you’re doing today. So for example, the, you know, working particularly in focusing on Hashimoto’s that gave you the entrepreneurial skillset of some lead generation skills, right? And email marketing and, you know, so it’s kind of like you’re at the entrepreneurial gym kind of conquering that ladder. And then the retreats, you know, I know there was a lot of budgeting and organization and interpersonal skills of asking the other women to come. And, you know, so you kind of got that notch in your belt and, and,
I think teachers, if you can kind of just follow what you’re passionate about doing and say yes to a lot of things, trust that it’s all going to come together under a unified brand long term. And it might be over the course of I’d say three to five years is pretty normal. That definitely was the case for me. We see it for the, you know, the case with you now with lifelift. So tell us a little bit more now about how this methodology actually works.
where you’re able to go so deep and underneath the surface as you said, are you doing kind of like a hypnotherapy with people? Are you just dialoguing with them? What does it actually look like if someone listening were trying to envision experiencing this, envision experiencing this technique?
Monika:
Yeah, well I use a multi -dimensional and holistic approach, meaning I do life coaching going towards the future, but not only that, I can also look towards the past because I do hypnotherapy and I work with the conscious and the subconscious mind. Of course I bring body…
Breathwork, yoga and meditation into that game. But how do I work is it depends on the person who comes. Very important for me is everyone is unique and needs their unique and tailored program. So someone comes to me, for example, and they know already they have an issue. For example, the fear of public speaking, fear of visibility, money blocks, all this stuff. And then I say, okay, well, what’s beneath that? Because…
There is always a belief underneath the surface in our subconscious that we have to look to. So first step is we remove that and install new beliefs. But sometimes people also come to me and they don’t know what the issue is. So they come and say, well, I want to create my business and I’m not a business coach, but I help them with the mindset and like removing…
subconscious limitations. And then they say, but somehow I can’t progress, so I’m stuck or I don’t know. And then we have their goal, their North Star, we walk towards it, but we look what’s holding them back. What is their limiting belief? And then we remove it, install new beliefs. And sometimes people even come to me and they seem they don’t have any issue.
but they just want to build something. They want to create a dream or whatever it is. And so I can also only work towards the future, but always having the possibility to go underneath the surface and like bringing up what needs to brought up because when we are working towards the future, there will always come some patterns or some self -sabotaging behavior, behavior procrastination, whatever it is.
and then we look close and then we dive deep and then we remove it and then we work towards the future.
Brett:
So this is where I’m going to pause you because you say we, you know, take out the old belief and install a new belief. And I’m visualizing like when I do my iPhone updates, you know, it’s like installing new, but I, how is this? Do you make it sound easy? But this actually isn’t easy as anyone who’s listening. Like we all know we all have beliefs we want to change. We have habits we want to change. So what does that process of like removal and installation actually look like? Is that a guided hypnotherapy that you’re?
talking to them about, is it something that you’re also incorporating the body and movement into, or if there’s a little experiential exercise you want to guide us through, I’m totally open to that as well. But I’d love to just really double -click into what this means, because if we can figure out how to do this, that’s really exciting.
Monika:
Yeah, yeah, I’m happy to explain this and I’m also happy for another time to give even a guided taster of that. But for now, I just want to explain. So when we dive deep, we have to understand that 5 % only what we do think and say is conscious and 95 % is in the subconscious. And that means if we only work with these 5 % where there is the willpower, the critical thinking,
and the planning and all that, 95 % we ignore. And in this 95 % underneath the surface, so often the image of an iceberg is used, that’s why I have it on my logo also. So the 95 % underneath, this is where our beliefs are, our emotions, the long -term memory and all of that. And where do they come from? Well, the beliefs we create come most of the time,
childhood because there was an experience and we made a meaning to this experience, to this event and created a belief. I will give you an example. For example, I was working on the fear of being seen or fear of public speaking and I went back to a scene from childhood.
And there came up a scene where I was 11 years old speaking up in class. My teacher’s making fun of me and everyone is laughing. And I was shocked and I didn’t even cry. And I had so much pain that I made the belief it’s so dangerous to speak in public and to be seen. Never, ever do this again. And my subconscious said, well, your wish is my command. I will do that. And therefore blocking me all the time.
when I’m doing that. So now coming back to the methodology, how do I do this? Well, I use the hypnotic state, the data brain waves, in order to access the subconscious. And when people are in this state, I guide them to scenes from the past, which are the root cause, because we have to understand…
where does this belief come from? Why is it here? When did we acquire it? And then scenes come up. And then we look at these scenes from the past, but as an adult. And because we are now adults, we understand scenes from a different perspective. So the first step is to investigate, like looking where does it come from, and then having the insight, well, actually…
It was just, in my case, this experience because the teacher made a really rude comment, but I didn’t do anything wrong. And it was just one experience, but I was a child and I took it as a child. And understanding this now as an adult helped me to heal this wound. So then we interrupted and we challenged this belief. Is it really true? Is it always dangerous to speak in public?
And then we change the belief. What do I want to believe instead? I want to believe that it’s fun. I want to believe that it’s my passion. I want to believe that it’s so good. And then I install the new belief. How do I do that? Well, in every RTT, rapid transformational therapy session, my clients get a personalized audio, which I record, where I tell them what they want.
which I find out before. So I make a hypnosis audio and give it to them to listen to 21 days and our mind learns by repetition. And when they repeat this, it’s like affirmations, but in the hypnotic state, when they repeat it over and over again, they really install these new beliefs. And the other one was removed already. So that’s how it basically works, the hypnosis session.
Brett:
I love that they get a personalized audio. I think that’s really fun. And I think, I mean, I’m not sure, but I feel like that’s an idea that you were playing with really early on was like, could you create personalized sessions for people or recording things for people? So it’s really fun to see how everything’s kind of come together. And just cause I really want to understand it. It’s like the personalized audio is for when they want to install the new belief. But first you guys take out the belief that they don’t want by kind of looking at these scenes. And I just love this.
vision of, you know, looking at these scenes as an adult right now because often unless we shine that light and kind of claim our power back in that way, we stay in this victim state with a lot of these memories that again we’re not even conscious of. Like I’m sure you weren’t thinking about that teacher on a daily basis until you really did some work to dig beneath the surface. So then I’m curious when they have the audio, they’re listening, they get into this Delta Brave Wave
wave state and then they are actually saying it out loud even in that meditative state or they’re just saying it silently to themselves.
Monika:
No, they just listen to it while we have the session and I send them the recording and they listen to it at home. I always recommend either before they fall asleep or after they wake up because they are still already in the alpha brain waves, which is closer to the data brain waves and they listen to it at home. So that’s a very important point because especially when you work with hypnotherapy, people sometimes mistakenly think…
They come and you fix and that’s it. But as we all know, no one can heal someone else. And I am just here and helping them to understand, but they have to do the work. So I only work with people who understand that and who are willing to do the work because it’s not fun always. But what’s fun is what comes afterwards on the other side of the pain.
Brett:
Yeah. Before we let you go, you know, you mentioned self -sabotage a couple of times, like both when you were building the business, you know, that it would be like a couple of steps forward and then some steps back and how that actually kind of led you to the path and the work you do now, which is realizing that you had some subconscious blocks that were self -sabotaging you. Do you want to, you know, speak a little bit just to this concept of self -sabotage, what that looked like for you, how it manifested in the business? Because I’m sure that’s something that a lot of people might appreciate some.
some light being shut on because it is challenging to run a business. And I find the same thing, you know, often it’s like three steps forward, two steps back. It’s not like this graph up into the right that lie. We’re kind of fed that, you know, it just improves every year. It’s kind of more like this, this spiral. And then there’s some really dark places and, but, but what did that process.
teach you about yourself because ultimately that’s why I love running a business is because it’s like personal development bootcamp and it’s the deepest spiritual work you’ll ever do because it forces you to look at all your programming and all your patterns and really deal with them.
Monika:
Yes, yes, my god, yes, you’re so right and it intensifies everything we do in our private life.
Brett:
Mm -hmm. Good word, yeah.
Monika:
Yes, yeah. So of course there were a lot of programs running underneath. One was I had to be the best in no matter what I do. At the same time, I had to believe that I’m never good enough no matter what I do. And of course the fear of visibility and public speaking. And all these beliefs and fears were sabotaging myself, meaning I was doing something and then sabotaging it with procrastination or doing something else or just not doing it properly.
or not doing the things they need to do. And when we have fears or this, like, let’s take the fear of public speaking, there are different types of people. Some people say, well, I can’t speak, and they don’t do it. And then there are other people, like me, they have the fear, but they suppress it, don’t listen, disconnect, and…
just suppress everything and do it despite, like we force and harass, like the pitter -douche comes through and you just force and do. But what happens? Sooner or later you get burned out or you self -sabotage, you do all these things. And with my development, putting on all these tools I have now, I could look then…
the root cause. I could look underneath the surface and I suddenly saw, because I was not aware that I was afraid of public speaking or of visibility, but I looked there and I was like wow there was this fear and then I did the work and I was like my god yes because there was one of the scenes where the one was the one at school and some other scenes I was like yeah now that makes sense and it was a misunderstanding because I never did something wrong and it’s not unsafe.
So I did all the work plus what’s very important also with all the work is like healing your inner child that was hurt. Like really doing this inner child work also which I also incorporate in my work and showing it well now you’re safe. We are safe. I’m not the child anymore. I’m an adult woman and you…
You are not there stuck anymore because this is what happens when we suppress, it’s stuck. And the belief is also underneath. And in my case, I was pushing everything down and I was doing this bite and yes, you can do and all that, but it’s not something which you can do for a long time. So that’s why I was self -sabotaging. And how can you break free from that? Well, the first step is also to become aware of it.
give it space, stillness, meditation or have someone guiding you, holding a mirror in front and really gently showing you the patterns you have and the beliefs. So yeah.
Brett:
What does your yoga or self -care practice look like on a daily basis now? I always like asking people this because everyone’s always curious about, you know, what other people’s morning routines or, you know, evening yoga routines kind of look like as you fit everything in your blossoming big coaching practice at this point. I know you also have a child, so tell everyone.
Monika:
Yes.
Yes, yes. I mean, I love to talk about that. And I mean, I have my fixed morning yoga on the mat, but it’s like you depend on how I feel. Doesn’t matter. Depending on if I do a really strong, powerful or just meditation or whatever it is. And before even I do the yoga on the mat, I, after I wake up, I do my meditation. I start my day with intention. I…
look what I have to do and how do I want to show up. I visualize my ideal future, my ideal day. Then I do my yoga and after my yoga I take time for another like also breathing techniques are also implemented depending on the day it’s very individual and but
Brett:
And is this an hour, 20 minutes? How long are you taking here?
Monika:
This also, it depends the time I have, like weekends normally longer, but it can sometimes only be 10 minutes. And it depends on the time, but what I found out is it’s not important how long and how intense, but do it on a regular basis. And it’s just, it’s becoming you. And then not only doing it on the mat, this was my next step I was going to, is like…
Yes, I do my morning meditation, my evening meditation and my yoga in the morning and afterwards I dance to happy music, which is very important also. But like this is not it. I take everything into my day. I stop in between, take a deep breath, focus on my body, for example, or take my future visualization with me and…
focusing on how do I want to feel, how do I want to show up, how do I want to think. So for me it’s so important to bring it all in the day and the same is with my coaching. It’s so important to bring all these things for people in their everyday life and that’s what I do and that’s what I also share with other people. Like it doesn’t matter if you talk now, more important is what you do at home and in between your work and in between like…
cooking and all that stuff.
Brett:
Yes, we agree on a lot of things. So it’s so fun to chat with you and have so much of that reflected and shared. So thank you. Tell people where they can find you. I know you have a YouTube channel and obviously they can coach with you. I don’t know if there’s a particular type of person who you think is best suited to your practice or this type of coaching, but how can people stay connected with you if they’re interested in this rapid transformational coaching and
your life lift coaching practice.
Monika:
Yeah, so people can find me on my website, which is lifelift .coach. And I work actually with everyone who wants to share their gift. I work with people who are really committed to their growth, like willing to take the extra mile. But yeah, anyone who wants to build something, to share their gift.
are welcome and I also include yoga in my coaching, which I now couldn’t talk about, but not like making a yoga class, but like taking parts out of it. Like even in the hypnosis, like we have to go into the body to heal the trauma and making like a little embodiment, a movement, or people come to me with anxiety.
I cannot do anything only with the head. We have to go into the body. We have to use the breath. We have to use all of that. So this is all also a multi -dimensional approach, but coming back where people can find me is my website. And I have a YouTube channel also where I coach, where I have my coaching sessions, not the hypnosis session, but the coaching sessions. Some of them are there to see.
and yeah Instagram is monika .czuknal and basically also tiktok, linkedin and facebook so i’m everywhere the places.
Brett:
We’ll put all the links in the show notes. And if someone’s listening and you’ve wanted to try hypnosis or you’ve wanted to try private coaching and you want to do it within the uplifted community, within the uplifted network, or you’re, you know, deeply desiring to take training, but have fears, you know, Monica would be a great person to talk to because I really trust her work. She was absolutely like one of my favorite people to coach because she is so committed and such an action taker, but also she’s taken every single uplifted training basically.
So she can also give you some insight if that’s a path you’re considering as well. So Monica, thank you so much for being here. And yeah, just again, share so many common values with you. It’s been amazing to get to reconnect with you after so many years of us coaching together and just seeing what you’ve grown and how incredible it all is. So blessings to you and everyone listening to the very end, sending you so much love.
And think about your passion. I mean, that was a word that came up multiple times during this conversation. Monica kept following her passion. She kept talking about how she wants to work with people who are excited about their passion. And if you’re doing what you’re passionate about, life becomes really a lot easier. So on that note, take care of yourself, do yoga today and namaste.
