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Healing Childhood Wounds with Ceremonial Cacao with Christine Olivia : Episode 236

 

Hey, sister! Welcome back to a Taylored Adventure to Happiness. If you are new, welcome! If you are a regular, I love ya, I love ya, I love ya!

Today we’re digging into what letting go looks like and how you can walk in freedom and fulfillment. Whether you’re ready to walk away from the grip of childhood trauma, past relationship baggage, or the negative opinions of others when you stand up for something you’re passionate about, this episode will meet you where you’re at with an abundance of compassion and practical tips! 

On top of all that, today’s guest is a direct reflection of the medicine she gives and the support she serves to the world. You will be mesmerized by her stories and moved to walk into the dark nights of your soul in a way that brings healing and hope. This beautiful soul is my friend, Christine Olivia.

Who Is Christine Olivia?

Christine Olivia is an author, first-time screenwriter, and cacao ceremonialist. She creates and expresses through storytelling and cacao ceremonies. When she was first introduced to ceremonial cacao, she was immediately overwhelmed with passion for the rituals and her ancestral connection with it. It was that encounter that opened her eyes to the magical being she truly is. 

Since then, Christine has become a goddess of cacao ceremonies and helping others open their hearts through this natural medicine that mother earth provides. With all of her endeavors, Christine’s mission is to inspire others to live in their truth and tap into their magic. 

If you’ve felt called to dive deeper into your inner child, connect with your creativity, or open your heart to receive love, money, and joy in a tangible, divine, and feminine way, this conversation with Christine Olivia is exactly the medicine that you need. Let’s get started!

How to Reclaim Your Energy and Sovereignty with Your Own Cacao Ceremony

Recently, I have been getting more involved in learning about cacao, the ceremonial processes, and its healing powers. It’s incredible! You truly feel your heart opening when you use it ceremonially. During this episode, I learned from Christine that cacao is a pure superfood in its natural form:

“Cacao is native to Mesoamerica, and it is ancestral medicine to the Latino community. It’s native to Guatemala, it’s native to Mexico, [and] all along the Amazon basin. … We think of it and know it as chocolate, but when you have it in its pure form, the way it should be had, it is medicine. It has beautiful healing properties. It has the bliss molecule and the aroma that gently energizes us. It has magnesium, that like feeds our brain, relaxes our muscles. Most people are deficient in magnesium. … [Cacao] is like the number one source of antioxidants, more so than blueberries or green tea, it’s number one. And then you have vitamins and nutrients and the living enzyme.” – Christine Olivia

When this superfood is prepared for ceremonial purposes, it’s made with the thoughtfulness, love, and prayers of the Calamine women. Calamine women have grown up with the cacao traditions their entire life, so their prayers are beautiful and powerful. When the cacao’s natural properties are combined with the intentional preparation of the Calamine women and an individual’s ceremonial rituals, it becomes a dynamic spiritual aid.

Cacao is also called the “heart medicine” because the magnesium it contains literally helps your heart pump. As it does so, your heart begins to open up and expand. A lot of people describe this feeling as their “heart blossoming.” Gradually, you’re able to feel more deeply.To sum it all up, cacao is a profound and gentle medicine that allows you to access your feelings so that you can deal with things that might otherwise stay buried. 

Christine explained that because of its gentle properties, the cacao is often referred to as the “grandmothers’ spirit plant”:

“Cacao is the grandmother’s spirit plant that holds you with unconditional love and like lets you be yourself and feel it all truly. So sometimes what can happen with a few sips is you’ll feel tears coming down your eyes, or you’ll be ready to giggle … When we have traumas and when we have stressors that are held in our body, when we haven’t released all that anger or sadness or those things that we have held onto in the past, they get stored, and they’re called neuropeptides. They get stuck in your joints, and the cacao actually helps you to release that. So that’s what’s happening when you’re crying or when you’re giggling or sweating. It’s just like a helpful release.” – Christine Olivia

Isn’t it amazing how nature gives us everything we need? I’m just so in love with the fact that there are things that are grown right from our earth that can help us through trauma, feel our feelings, and heal ourselves. So, let’s get into what a Cacao Ceremony would look like so we can start experiencing these magical properties in our own lives!

How to Begin Your Very First Cacao Ceremony 

If it’s your first time holding a cacao ceremony, Christine said that you could use organic cacao, nibs, cacao butter, or powder — whatever you have to try it! Tidy your space to eliminate distractions. Then prepare your cacao to drink. As you’re making it, be intentional to pray, whether it’s a prayer of gratitude, extending compassion to yourself, or praying on behalf of someone else. Get comfortable and mindfully drink your cacao welcoming the Cacao Spirit into any part of you that isn’t feeling so good. Visualize her, let her soothe you, feel her moving through your body, be present with her.

Beautiful things happen when we give ourselves the power to be our own healers, sister. As you mindfully make that cup of Cacao and drink it, that love and energy from the cacao grandmother flow into you, and you rejuvenate your own body. You’re reclaiming your sovereignty, your health, and healing your life. It’s fucking incredible!

How to Connect with Your Inner Child and Heal from Deep Hurt

All of our experiences and how we interpret them impact how we view the world and show up in our daily lives. Many of us don’t realize how much of life we’re approaching through the lens of childhood hurt that we have interpreted into disempowering labels for ourselves. In addition to cacao ceremonies as a powerful tool in unlocking our feelings, Christine believes that we can also find a lot of freedom and healing by connecting with our inner child.

“It’s so important [to engage in childlike play or creativity] because we are literally all children, pretending not to be big kids. Like we are just a bunch of big kids in suits. We’re so smart and adult, and we have so many woundings from our childhood that we get to literally mother and father. Our parents did the best they could, but they made their mistakes. And they didn’t know all the ways to hold you …but you know how to do that. You are your own healer. So you get to sit with your little girl or little boy and see how they’re doing daily because that is who you are. You are the inner child.” – Christine Olivia

As a child, you were the closest to magic, divinity, mother earth, and the wholeness of who you are. Our child-selves believed in magic. They believed in the impossible occurring. They believed in goodness and love. That’s why it’s so important to connect with and heal that little one inside of you. In many ways, they are your missing link to living with optimism and joy. 

If you want to connect with your inner child and begin healing your little one, this is the process Christine recommends:

  1. Don’t look for an old wound. Instead, feel what you’re feeling right in the moment.
  2. Place a hand on your heart and lower belly. Then close your eyes and envision your inner child. Imagine them in front of you and ask them three times, “How are you feeling?” Asking three times is important because that’s how many times it often takes to get a true answer.
  3. Now feel that feeling. Feel it in your whole body. Let yourself go there and welcome whatever comes. 
  4. Then, ask your inner child three times, “What can I do for you?”
  5. Finally, do that thing your inner child asks for, whether it’s a hug, a conversation with a loved one, or bowl of ice cream.

This practice of connecting with your inner child is so simple and easy but so profound. Slow down enough to honor whatever it is you’re feeling and allow that little girl or boy inside of you to run the show because, in the end, that’s your true essence — your true self. Healing is accessible to you, but you have to do the work of connecting with your true self. Your true self carries the hurt, but they very often also carry the key to your healing.

How to Handle Backlash When You Stand Up for Something You Believe In 

When a lot of people live in fear, like they are now, it’s easy for darkness to feel almost oppressive. As lightworkers, we are called to shine the light, be a source of love, and stand up for what we believe is right. In these times, it’s super important that we operate from a healed place and a whole place. In order to do that, Christine says we need balance: 

“Balance, you get to balance it all. And so, yes, I’m out there, and I’m protesting. … Then I use my voice and my platform to speak on those things. And then I get to also take care of myself and have balance because you will get lost in there. How can we shine our light and be the lights and anchor in the light if we’re consumed by all that darkness? … Anchor in that light to be that light shine. It’s really important to fill yourself up because how are you going to help anybody else if you are not healthy and taking care of yourself?” – Christine Olivia

As you’re caring for yourself and shining the light you were created to bring to the world, there will be backlash. No matter how heart-centered you are, there will always be someone who doesn’t understand where you’re coming from and is so broken, scared, or confused that they cannot welcome your light. Having the habit of caring for yourself and nurturing your inner child will anchor you for these moments so that you can respond well. 

Christine believes that a healthy way to respond to hurtful backlash is a three-part process;

  1. First, acknowledge that you’re human and allow yourself to experience the hurtful feelings. Cry if you need to or get a friend on the phone and rant for a few minutes. 
  2. Then choose an attitude of compassion that holds space for others to be confused.
  3. Finally, permit yourself to delete any message that is not in line with your energy from your online presence. 

“You don’t need to have that shit on your page. You can delete that message, or you could delete whatever you don’t need — [you don’t need] to have that shit in your [energy] fields. You get to let that go. We’re really coming back and tending to your heart because of that shit’s heavy. We’re human too.” – Christine Olivia

Anchor into the light and shine your light from that place. Honor your feelings when the world feels heavy. Cultivate compassion towards yourself and anyone who may have responded to your light in a hurtful manner. And let go of any energy in your vortex that isn’t aligned with you, whether that means deleting a comment, taking a sabbatical from social media, or telling everyone who doesn’t like what you have to say to unfollow you. After all, Christine was right when she said, “The only things that are going to fall through are the fake things.” 

You are safe to honor and protect your true self and let that version of you show up in fucking brilliant ways.

Why You Need to Listen to This Christine Olivia Podcast Episode Right Now…

Here’s what I hope you get from this episode: Come home to who you are. There’s going to be ups and downs, but if we’ve found a home in ourselves when the downs do happen, we will be able to move through them. Whether we come home to ourselves through a cacao ceremony, connecting with our inner child, honoring our feelings, or acting from a place of compassion, coming back to who we are equips us with the tools and modalities to move through anything effortlessly. 

If you want to connect with Christine further or dive deeper into the aspects of a cacao ceremony check out her website and follow her on Instagram (@christineolivia_). Don’t forget to get a copy of her book Child of Magic!

Thank you so much for hanging out with us today, sister! 

As always, remember to always choose happiness because, why the fuck not? 

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In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

  • How to stop numbing the pain
  • What is the Guatemalan ceremonial cacao
  • Bridging judgment and fear to compassion and love
  • Cacao as a healing property and aphrodite 
  • The heart medicine used by Mayan and Aztecs 
  • Ceremonial cacao at home
  • Other consciousness shifting plants
  • Healing wounds from your childhood
  • Remember the forgetting 
  • How to face the darkness as a lightworker
  • The reality of I.C.E, child trafficking, and BLM
  • How to handle the backlash
  • Staying grounded, connected and self-sustaining 

Connect with the Cacao Queen:

Website | Instagram