00:00:08:16 – 00:00:34:25

Nick McGowan

Hello and welcome to The Mindset and Self-mastery Show. I’m your host, Nick McGowan. And on this show, my guests and I unpack the stories that shape us and the lives we lead on our path to self-mastery. Today on the show, we have Claire Campana, one of the most interesting results of something like a global pandemic is that it affects everyone’s lives more similarly, especially in our thought life, than you could ever imagine.

00:00:35:12 – 00:00:58:02

Nick McGowan

And Claire, in late 2019 or early 2020, she began resenting her current circumstances. From the outside, she had a perfect life, but something was staring in her soul. Since that time, she’s dedicated herself to getting to know who she is deep at the core, and she’s figuring out what tools, habits, actions, etc. that work for her. On her journey towards self-actualization.

00:00:58:15 – 00:01:12:13

Nick McGowan

She joins us today to share about her journey so far and share some great tactics and practices that have helped her. They may do the same for you, so let’s not wait any longer. Let the games begin.

00:01:16:03 – 00:01:17:29

Nick McGowan

Hey, Claire. Welcome to the show. How are you doing?

00:01:18:02 – 00:01:20:13

Claire Campagna

Very good. How are you? Thanks for having me.

00:01:20:14 – 00:01:29:14

Nick McGowan

I’m great. Yeah, absolutely. I’m excited that you’re on. I know we shooting the show a little bit before we hit record, and I think we’re going to have a pretty awesome conversation.

00:01:29:15 – 00:01:30:02

Claire Campagna

I’m excited.

00:01:31:03 – 00:01:48:17

Nick McGowan

I appreciate you reaching out to me. I have different people that reach out at times and some people aren’t fit and other people are 100% fit. And one of the things that stood out, as you’d mentioned, that there were stuff that you went through in 2019 and into 20. And, you know, I think a lot of people are kind of in that boat, but yours is a little deeper than that.

00:01:48:18 – 00:01:58:14

Nick McGowan

You actually took it a bit further. So I don’t want to jump into this for you, Claire. Why don’t you tell us what you do for a living? And one thing that most people don’t know about you for sure.

00:01:58:15 – 00:02:26:03

Claire Campagna

So I am Claire Campagna. I am a packaging consultant. During the day, that’s my corporate role and my. My business side, because I am dabbling in both worlds right now, is really all around basically helping people to connect with themselves on a social level. It’s people that feel really disconnected with themselves and with their lives and are kind of just having that like, what the hell moment?

00:02:27:10 – 00:02:47:12

Claire Campagna

How did I get here and help bring them back to themselves and and like in a way that most of my clients at least have never really connected with themselves on that level before. And, and in that they find, you know, clarity and direction. And, you know, the goal is to ultimately help them to know themselves so that they can, you know, actually enjoy their lives.

00:02:48:27 – 00:02:52:25

Nick McGowan

What I thought. Beautiful. Good. I know you want to enjoy your life. Yeah, please.

00:02:52:26 – 00:03:13:18

Claire Campagna

Yes, that’s the goal. And really? So it’s I don’t even like to say I’m a coach. Like, I just like to support and mentor and guide people because they’re they’re really figuring out themselves. That’s the gist of that. And then a thing most people don’t know about me, I have had the same best friend my entire life. Like our moms were literally pregnant together.

00:03:13:20 – 00:03:15:12

Claire Campagna

So that’s kind of a cool.

00:03:15:18 – 00:03:18:00

Nick McGowan

That’s cool. That is pretty.

00:03:18:00 – 00:03:26:00

Claire Campagna

Cool. Go to my school growing up. So like, most people actually didn’t know that I had this like secret best friend.

00:03:26:00 – 00:03:30:21

Nick McGowan

So it was like an invisible friend. And people were like, Yeah, sure, sure. Oh, yes. Go to a different school.

00:03:31:22 – 00:03:32:12

Claire Campagna

Exactly.

00:03:32:13 – 00:03:51:29

Nick McGowan

That’s pretty funny, man. There. I don’t know if I have any friends from, like, even grade school. I have a couple from high school still. And I know there are certain people that they just they move along with their clan. In a sense. My mom has friends that are basically aunts to me like I have three different nans.

00:03:52:13 – 00:04:03:14

Nick McGowan

They’re not really blood, but they’re just people that have been in my life since like she was a toddler. So how do you guys like it did not grow differently or did you kind of grow along the same path or what?

00:04:03:17 – 00:04:25:02

Claire Campagna

Oh, we’re extremely different people. We joke about this, go on now. Like we’re I mean, we’re going on 30 years of friendship and we’re like, if we didn’t go through our entire lives together like that, that is really what does connect us. That’s what binds us is that we have quite literally seen the ups and the downs like a sister has.

00:04:25:24 – 00:04:48:00

Claire Campagna

It’s like it’s honestly very similar to her, just a sister. It’s like we, you know, we bicker, we get over it and and we were there when all of the things were happening in our lives, like every single big and small change and event. And, you know, I literally have no other friends that I can say that with other than my actual blood sister.

00:04:49:21 – 00:04:57:29

Nick McGowan

Yeah. And and sometimes your friends can be closer than your siblings at times, or at least in some cases. Is that kind of how it is with you?

00:04:58:23 – 00:05:22:14

Claire Campagna

So honestly, I view them both as sisters, but my sister, my blood sister, my real sister is actually one of my best friends to this day too. We were not super close growing up. We’re four years apart. So she’s four years older than me. She’s my only blood sibling. And we we never crossed paths in school because of that four year gap.

00:05:22:15 – 00:05:49:28

Claire Campagna

Like when I was a freshman in high school, she was a freshman in college, and it was actually that year when I was like, Whoa, you just left me alone with mom and dad. Like, when I’m a high school. Are you kidding? That’s mean. Not that she had any control, but sure. Yeah, but that was actually when we started to become close, when we weren’t living under the same roof and now she lives literally in the neighborhood across the street from me and is one of my best friends.

00:05:50:06 – 00:06:06:16

Nick McGowan

Oh, man, that’s awesome. I love that sort of stuff. My my brother’s five years younger than me, and he lives in Philadelphia. I’m in the Tampa, Florida area. So I wish that there were times where I would be like, Yo, dude, let’s go grab a couple beers or like, come over and let’s watch the game or something like that.

00:06:06:16 – 00:06:07:17

Nick McGowan

So that’s cool that you’ve got that.

00:06:07:24 – 00:06:16:05

Claire Campagna

It’s, it’s so nice. We, we’re like very spoiled and hey, do you want to go on a walk in 10 minutes? It’s as easy as that.

00:06:16:05 – 00:06:41:04

Nick McGowan

Some days nice again to kind of like step back to where we were when when we were talking about about everything before we hit record brought up 2019 and 2020. So why don’t you give us a little bit of context of what was going on in 2019, 2020 because COVID hit and we all know this and I think that’s one of those big curveballs that as people were going through things, it just knocked the wind out of people.

00:06:41:13 – 00:06:51:00

Nick McGowan

Some people, it helped them a little bit because they were like, okay, I need to look at things differently. Other people just got their fucking asses kicked, so let’s start. Let’s dove into that. Where do you want to start?

00:06:52:11 – 00:07:26:18

Claire Campagna

I would say I was a combination of those things that got my ass kicked and kicked it back up and learned a lot from it. But I would say like at the end of 2019. So this is honestly pre pre-COVID at least hitting the US. I was starting to feel just like inklings of resentment. I was definitely pushing them down, but just kind of like getting frustrated at work, getting just a shorter temper in general, just getting annoyed really quickly and being like, This isn’t me.

00:07:26:18 – 00:07:33:22

Claire Campagna

But you know, I don’t have time to sit and think about it. Fast forward three months to 2020 March. I had plenty of time to sit and think about it.

00:07:35:06 – 00:07:36:09

Nick McGowan

All the time. Yeah.

00:07:36:18 – 00:08:05:14

Claire Campagna

Time. Unfortunate, at least for me. And I mean, I spent a lot of 2020 just being really frustrated, like probably a lot of us. A lot of my brain was turned inward, though I you know that again, that what the fuck moment that moment of just like how did I get here? It was like I snapped out of autopilot and like actually had to sit where I was at and be like.

00:08:05:24 – 00:08:38:06

Claire Campagna

I am literally one of those people that just goes through the motions every day. How did this happen? How did I get here? Why am I here? Is this where I want to be? And you know, I spent basically the from from 2020 on to now. I’ve been working through that. I’m continuing to work through that. And really just like undoing every single piece of my life and looking at it and reflecting on it and figuring out why I made the decisions I did and how how I became the person I did.

00:08:38:06 – 00:08:48:24

Claire Campagna

And really, for me, like what it’s what I would have come to at this point is a lot of it boils down to I was doing everything I was supposed to do and following the rules. You know, I.

00:08:49:06 – 00:08:49:26

Nick McGowan

Was do.

00:08:50:21 – 00:09:08:22

Claire Campagna

Exactly everything I was expected to do. I was and it didn’t feel like that to me, which is why I think it took me so long to realize it, because I was like in high school I was, this is going to sound annoying, but like I wasn’t taking that much effort to get good grades. I was still going out and blacking out every weekend.

00:09:08:22 – 00:09:29:07

Claire Campagna

And like, I didn’t feel like I was like doing what I was expected to do and being this like perfect kid. I was still partying and being a very normal high school student, in my opinion. But, you know, like no one was ever questioning me because I was doing well in school and I was like, I then fast forward, I get a job doing exactly what I went to college for.

00:09:29:21 – 00:09:52:06

Claire Campagna

Like I actually did what my degree is for. So it’s just like I didn’t realize how much I was just going based on conditioning and expectations and it kind of hit me in the face. It was like, Oh shit, what do I even like? What? What? What are my preferences? Do I even have any? You know, a lot of it’s just been like unlearning and relearning ever since then.

00:09:54:06 – 00:10:21:19

Nick McGowan

It sounds like you kind of you were set in a fixed mindset is if you grow up and you go through things and for the most part, everything’s all right, you can just subscribe to well, it must be my innate ability to be able to do these things. And once you come to that awakening of what the fuck is going on right now, and you start to rethink everything and you start to shift from that fix to growth mindset, that can be extremely painful.

00:10:21:28 – 00:10:44:01

Nick McGowan

I’ve been through that as well with the fact that you’re going through and you’re processing through bits and pieces of that, that’s huge. Let’s set that aside for now, because I know that our audience and listeners have either gone through some of that or they’re trying to go through that now. So let’s talk about the triggers and the things that you were aware of when you went, Oh, hold on, wait a fucking minute, there’s some shit going on in my head.

00:10:44:01 – 00:11:07:04

Claire Campagna

Yeah, I think a lot of it started with me sitting alone in 2020 and seeing all this polarity going on in the world. All of this like horrible stuff going on in the world. And a lot of it came out of guilt for me of being like, Oh shit, I have reason to be as unhappy as I am, as unfulfilled as I am.

00:11:07:19 – 00:11:24:27

Claire Campagna

But I am, you know, I’m like looking at my life on the surface level like everybody else is. And I’m like in a great relationship. I have very supportive friends and family for the most part. I have a successful job. It’s financially successful. I’m like comfortable in it. I’m doing good things like, what’s wrong?

00:11:26:07 – 00:11:27:07

Nick McGowan

Yeah.

00:11:27:07 – 00:11:48:01

Claire Campagna

And I think what I’ve realized with myself and with just like my peers and clients is that’s a, that’s a big theme. And I want to make sure I, I mean, it’s going to sound annoying when I say it, but it’s just like the quote unquote better off your life looks on the surface. I think it can be really, really challenging to figure out what’s what needs course correction.

00:11:48:12 – 00:12:08:17

Claire Campagna

It’s like, yeah, that was the biggest struggle for me in 2020 was like, I even ask anybody that I was willing to talk to about it. Like the three people I was just like begging for clarity is like, I just want direction. I’m ready for this shit. It was like the, the knowing that I needed to shift my life was there before I knew what I needed to do.

00:12:08:17 – 00:12:37:06

Claire Campagna

And that was so frustrating. So, so frustrating for me. It’s spent a lot of time just like being frustrated and not not doing it. Yeah, it, that was not my main thing. That was my main trigger, if you will, of just like, give me some fucking clarity. And I could not find it. I couldn’t find it. And it was because I was just let sitting in my own resentment instead of doing something.

00:12:37:06 – 00:13:06:19

Nick McGowan

Yeah, you’re not alone. And you kind of nailed it. A lot of people were going through things. I’m sure a lot of people thought similar thoughts of like, why am I upset? Or, Oh, I’m all right, nobody’s really sick or whatever. And then there are people that had terrible things happen, totally get that, and they would have things that they could kind of look at and say, Well, because of this, I’m in a shitty mood, but there are a lot of people that went through that frustration and they were stuck just trying to figure out what do we do, what do I want to do?

00:13:07:13 – 00:13:24:10

Nick McGowan

What have I done to get here? And I think a lot of people looked at that as like, well, what if we as a country done to get here or is a world done to be able to get here? And what the fuck do I want to do next? So seeing that and being aware of that trigger, how did you start to work on that stuff?

00:13:24:10 – 00:13:40:18

Nick McGowan

And I understand that you were frustrated at because look up in there, fucking get it. That is super frustrating and as you grow, you’re stretching. How did you continue to work on that so that you could get kind of pass the I don’t want to go work out and just do it.

00:13:40:18 – 00:13:45:24

Claire Campagna

It took me an entire year like it took me seriously and.

00:13:45:25 – 00:13:47:10

Nick McGowan

It didn’t happen in two days.

00:13:47:10 – 00:14:18:28

Claire Campagna

No, it took me until like probably honestly, I didn’t feel massive growth, if you will, until probably like spring of last year. I started actually doing things that was genuinely the game changer. It was like the clarity came through, taking any step in any direction. It was like that was my thing. It was the paralysis by analysis of like there’s so many different things I could explore that I am interested in and now I don’t know what to do.

00:14:18:28 – 00:14:39:17

Claire Campagna

And it’s like if I take the wrong step in the wrong direction, then it’s like my whole life could crumble. And, you know, one day the frustration just got greater than the confusion, if you will. And I was just like, fuck it, I’m just going to do something. And I went to a women’s circle, which was like, so not something I would do.

00:14:40:17 – 00:15:06:00

Claire Campagna

And it ended up being like a random girl from my high school posted it. I had never spoken to this girl in high school. It was on Instagram. I was like, Whatever I am, that’s where I’m at in life. I’m going to go. And I went, seven people were supposed to show up. One person, other you? Yeah. No, like seven people signed up and they all backed out at the last second, except for one other person other than the host.

00:15:06:00 – 00:15:26:19

Claire Campagna

So there were three of us and they are literally two of my close friends. Now to this day, still like it’s made best friends. And the girl who was hosting it, I went to my high school, was just sitting there watching me and this other girl, like, what is going on? Like I came home that night and I made a voice memo and was like, I just met my future self tonight.

00:15:26:21 – 00:15:47:05

Claire Campagna

Like it was such an immediate connection. It was wild and it was like that was that was the sign I needed, I guess, to just propel me into branching out and just doing more things and like, you know, some of them felt better than others. And those are the ones that I’m continuing to just like follow the breadcrumbs at this point.

00:15:47:21 – 00:15:52:21

Claire Campagna

And that’s that was really it. It was as simple as just doing it.

00:15:54:03 – 00:16:16:16

Nick McGowan

Just take some sort of step. It’s funny today as we record this, there was an episode that was launched that’s called Keep Moving. Let’s Keep Moving. Yes, just keep moving. And throughout. Yeah, yeah, totally. And when you really think about the incremental progress and the little baby steps you make, I think we as people always want to just make some giant leap every single day.

00:16:16:16 – 00:16:40:27

Nick McGowan

I want to wake up and I want to take down mountains and monsters and do all these things. But most part, the little bits and pieces all add up to taking that first little step. Did you see, and were you grateful about that step at first, or was it something where you had to actually look back and say it was because of those initial steps that I took where I was like, Well, fuck it, I’m at this point, I’m going to go do this thing that was wildly outside of what you’re used to doing.

00:16:42:11 – 00:17:05:21

Claire Campagna

Yeah. So I will say when I made the decision to go and do the thing, I was just like, this is so out of character that I can tell that something big is going to come, whether it’s immediate or not. Like I feel like I did have that intuitive knowing right out of the gate that whether it was going to hit me in a year, it was going to hit me immediately like something was going to come out of this.

00:17:05:21 – 00:17:41:28

Claire Campagna

And I mean, like I said, I literally came home that night. We stayed, I think like an hour or two longer than she expected us to. And that night it was just like, I don’t know what just happened. That was wild because it really was my first experience, first person, if you will. And not just like through consumption of audiobooks or podcasts and whatnot, where I was connecting with people on that conscious level and like having real conversations with people and not, not the I mean, I love all my, my friends from my, my former life and my, my still life, really.

00:17:41:28 – 00:17:58:24

Claire Campagna

But it’s just like the friends I’ve made from 2021 on. I just have a different type and level of conversation with them and connection that feels more, more school related than, than anything else. I it, boil it down.

00:18:00:02 – 00:18:18:19

Nick McGowan

I’ll think about it. If you didn’t move, if you didn’t act, if you weren’t aware of that frustration and then start to take some steps with that frustration, you wouldn’t be where you’re at now and you’re still early on in that journey. Is it 2021 was just last year, I mean less than six months ago. Yeah. So what happened after that?

00:18:18:19 – 00:18:27:00

Nick McGowan

Like, what did you kind of step into and do differently to keep that thing going instead of just reverting back to where you were?

00:18:27:00 – 00:18:50:12

Claire Campagna

I think it gave me the courage to actually dove into these other tools and modalities that I had been reading about and consuming information about, but too scared or too, you know, exclusively busy. Like I made up excuses to do myself. And it was like, no, I’m going to I’m going to go do a past life regression hypnotherapy, fuck it.

00:18:51:09 – 00:19:13:15

Claire Campagna

And I literally booked one within a week of that, like, and, you know, just like I just started doing sound healing Reiki, just like all these things that I had wanted to do and you know, for whatever reason, just didn’t, didn’t feel like doing. I felt too stuck to even know which one to do first. And I was like, We’ll just do one like and then do another.

00:19:13:15 – 00:19:47:21

Claire Campagna

And I think that’s that’s really what launched me is like I just started trying things and I didn’t even launch my or think of launching my business, I should say, until November of last year. I officially launched it in March of this year. So it is brand new, but I had it some version of it brewing literally since that day that women circle in like March or whatever of last year I had, I knew that there was something that I was going to do with all of this, that I was about to this journey of self to go on.

00:19:48:22 – 00:20:07:21

Nick McGowan

Mm hmm. Yeah, man. When you know that and you feel it, your body shifts. Your soul shifts, everything shifts. And it’s like that. I guess it’s an awakening in some ways, but it’s more of I. I felt more of an energy burst at that point. Like, almost like a star exploded inside of you. You feel the same thing?

00:20:08:08 – 00:20:34:22

Claire Campagna

Yes. Totally. Like, so excited. Like anticipation. Nervous anticipation. Like, oh, like I can tell something big is going to come of this and I don’t know what it is. And I’m quite frankly, I’m still I can the picture is getting clearer each day, but I still don’t know what it’s going to be, you know? And yeah, it’s just like it’s this nervous excitement behind all of it for sure, in a way that I hadn’t in so long.

00:20:34:22 – 00:20:43:26

Claire Campagna

Like after coming out of that level of just disconnection and existing instead of living it just it like you up.

00:20:43:26 – 00:21:02:26

Nick McGowan

It can be easy to look for different things and try to just find different things to fill holes. You know where you go. I want to try this because I really don’t want to process the shit that’s behind me. So do you find that you had gone through some of that, that you were actually looking and like poking around at different things because you were running from the shit that you really needed to actually process.

00:21:02:26 – 00:21:39:13

Claire Campagna

So I think the easier answer would be to say yes, but honestly, no, I, I am a person who is very into depth like I am first level conversation. I have always been great. Yeah. I don’t like about the weather, you know, so I have always been that way. But at the same time, up until, you know, 2019 when 2020, I was also a very dissociative and numb person.

00:21:40:07 – 00:22:06:10

Claire Campagna

And so it was like this very strange paradox of wanting to go deep with other people, but not with myself. And I think because I already have that openness to death to begin with, when I opened the gates for myself, it was like, Oh, oh, no shit. Well, this with myself the whole time. Yeah. Not just other people, but more so that type of thing where it was like, Oh, I mean, that’s why I’m here.

00:22:06:12 – 00:22:25:11

Claire Campagna

One week after the A Women’s Circle booking, a past life regression therapy, I’m like, Whoa, could you go any deeper than that? Like, I even try to pull out things from your, your current life, which I am doing as well. But yeah, I, I’ve been trying to dig up every possible thing I can since that day.

00:22:27:01 – 00:22:44:28

Nick McGowan

I’m glad you circled back to that, because that was part of the reason why I brought that up. You know, you kind of almost jumped over your own life. Like, let me go back and see if there were things that were outside of that and I know can be easy to do it. I call the stuff out because I have done that sort of shit and it’s, it’s fucking daily almost at times or things come up.

00:22:45:03 – 00:23:06:09

Nick McGowan

And it’s interesting because now I’m sure you’re aware where like stuff would pop up and you’re like, I see you talking to yourself almost like you, motherfucker. You better stop that and be able to shift those things. So what have you done differently? Yeah, yeah. So what are you doing differently now than you would have done a year ago in your daily work to make sure that you continue to work on this stuff and grow?

00:23:06:28 – 00:23:27:25

Claire Campagna

I think a forever growth mindset thing that I’m working on in my life from now on and since that day is being present and being like being a witness in my own life, you know, and that sounds so easy. And it it’s not it is not.

00:23:27:25 – 00:23:29:23

Nick McGowan

You know, it’s not.

00:23:29:23 – 00:23:36:21

Claire Campagna

Yeah, it’s like, duh, who’s not witnessing their own life, but it’s like everybody. Yes, exactly. No one’s doing it.

00:23:36:21 – 00:23:38:00

Nick McGowan

Yeah. Yeah.

00:23:38:13 – 00:24:00:20

Claire Campagna

So I think that honestly is has been the biggest shift for me is like I’m now that freak that’s like in the middle of an argument with somebody, I’m like, I need to walk out of the room and I like literally will separate myself and feel, you know, where in my body that that trigger is actually coming up where okay, like, whoa, my heart tracker is on fire right now.

00:24:00:20 – 00:24:28:01

Claire Campagna

And that’s that’s interesting. When I feel like I’m being forgotten, that part of me is is like, lighting up, you know, just, like, actually paying attention, which I think is like a huge theme for anybody that has a history of dissociating or numbing or escapism or anything of that nature. Yeah. To like really focus on embodiment and, you know, being in the physical body.

00:24:28:01 – 00:24:44:03

Claire Campagna

Because for me, it’s so much easier to just like float away and be in my mind. And I think that’s been like the biggest shift for me is like I actively have to put effort into being here now. Yeah. And when I do that is when you’re.

00:24:44:06 – 00:24:45:07

Nick McGowan

Like, pull your ass back.

00:24:45:11 – 00:24:46:10

Claire Campagna

Hard. Yeah.

00:24:46:14 – 00:25:03:15

Nick McGowan

It’s not that hard to see it, but it can be hard to pull it to be able to pull yourself back into the space and make sure, Hey, we’re here, we’re here, we’re here. Understanding what that triggers, what that trigger actually is and what where it’s coming from. I’m going to ask you kind of a tough question, that maybe it’s tough, maybe it’s not, but it keeps coming to me.

00:25:03:20 – 00:25:07:15

Nick McGowan

What happened when you were younger, that you were running from that when you when you were a little kid?

00:25:08:13 – 00:25:33:01

Claire Campagna

Yeah, like I, I think that honestly was the the biggest thing for me and the past life therapy just to give more context around that. It wasn’t just past life like we were going back to the childhood as well. So that was that was honestly the main thing. I was like part of it. I know that I dissociate and I was curious if there was like a moment that I had suppressed and, you know, maybe there still is and I haven’t excavated it yet.

00:25:33:01 – 00:25:58:05

Claire Campagna

Who knows? But there I have not found a smoking gun, if you will. Like there’s not like this single moment in my life that I’ve pushed away and was running from per se. But I, I, I did have, I think again, that theme of like on the surface level in my life looked quote unquote very fortunate probably to a lot of people.

00:25:59:10 – 00:26:27:00

Claire Campagna

But there was a lot going on behind the surface. Like I, I like many millennials, my parents got divorced when I was in third grade, like the next year. My best friend, who I’d mentioned a minute ago, her dad passed away and it was to us, it was very unexpected. And it still to this day, I haven’t experienced a death that hit me as hard as that one did in sixth grade, my entire apartment burned down and we lost every single thing we owned.

00:26:28:15 – 00:26:29:03

Nick McGowan

That’ll do it.

00:26:29:03 – 00:27:01:02

Claire Campagna

Well, this happened before I was even in high school. And I think, like, there’s all these, you know, quote unquote, smaller events like that that aren’t necessarily like that mind blowing. But just I had so many of those incremental moments that I just breezed past. Right? Like I literally remember in sixth grade, watching our apartment burned down like my sister’s amp, your guitar amp, her window in her bedroom busted open and her amp just like fell out of the bushes or out of the window and landed in the bushes.

00:27:01:02 – 00:27:12:27

Claire Campagna

And like my mom and my sister are, you know, crying, understandably. That’s a normal reaction. And I’m literally standing there like a 12 year old and I’m like 20 tomorrow.

00:27:13:25 – 00:27:17:03

Nick McGowan

Yeah. Or are we going to capital fucking dissociation? Yeah.

00:27:17:10 – 00:27:38:12

Claire Campagna

Like, I mean just yeah. Just numbing it all out and I, you know, I think it made a lot of that easier for me probably because I did have a lot of situations like that. But you know, in the past year I’ve had a lot of emotions come up that I’ve like found again that I’ve stored in my body.

00:27:38:12 – 00:27:58:08

Claire Campagna

And I think that’s probably a reason also that I don’t love to be in my body because I, I have been storing these emotions in this way and I just like pretend it didn’t happen to me for so many years. So it’s been a year of release, really like a lot of just crying that I never did for the past 25 years.

00:27:59:12 – 00:28:22:24

Nick McGowan

Mm hmm. A lot of stuff to go back through. I think most thing I don’t want to say everything, but most things that affect us and potentially infect us throughout life come from childhood trauma of some sort. And everybody’s trauma is different. I could talk to somebody where they go. Some kid took my bike and popped my tire when I was ten and that fucked me up.

00:28:23:10 – 00:28:49:23

Nick McGowan

The people. It could be like I watched my apartment building burned down, but you know, it’s all right. Moving along. There’s some shit that happens that we tried to dissociate from, but you can’t really dissociate from it. It’s still back there. It’s still in there. The fact that you went back through and you started to look through it and allowing yourself to shake that energy off, I keep having this visual in my mind of like a dog getting out of water and just shaking its ass and getting everything off of it.

00:28:49:24 – 00:29:07:04

Nick McGowan

If only it was that easy. Just be like, Well, get the fucking shit off my arm, you know? And that’s about it. That’s not so you’re still doing this work, but what does that look like daily for you to do that work? Outside of being aware of those moments, do you do journaling or any sort of guide? Yeah.

00:29:07:04 – 00:29:07:16

Nick McGowan

What do you do?

00:29:07:16 – 00:29:27:08

Claire Campagna

Part of what I did from 2020 through now is I did become a certified yoga instructor. I don’t actually teach it. I did it for myself. Maybe I will one day. But it was it was to help with the embodiment piece because that was that was actually one of the first steps. I was like, okay, like this is going to help me.

00:29:27:08 – 00:29:49:05

Claire Campagna

I know it is at one point in my life, if not now, and that’s been helpful to just be able to use that as a tool. The inside of it, honestly, has been super helpful as well. Like breathing to me is so, so powerful. And I also like literally will use dancing and shaking back to your image of shaking like that.

00:29:49:05 – 00:30:05:20

Claire Campagna

Really, this is something that I do like I if I’m starting to get really pissed off at work or something like that, like I will stand up, walk away from my computer and just like this is so funny, I will literally turn on one of those like emo songs from when I was in like high school or something, you know, I.

00:30:05:27 – 00:30:06:03

Nick McGowan

Saw.

00:30:06:10 – 00:30:07:11

Claire Campagna

Some really good.

00:30:08:00 – 00:30:10:01

Nick McGowan

What’s the go to? Let’s hear it.

00:30:10:04 – 00:30:34:08

Claire Campagna

Oh, man. There’s so many. Like, you know, there’s like, we’re going real dark. Let’s turn on some Hawthorne Heights guys. Let’s just go. Let’s subscription person paramour and like the killed by 30 seconds to Mars like let’s let’s look at ourselves in the world for a minute. But honestly, it’s like the most therapeutic thing too, when you’re already in that feeling of, like, teenage rage.

00:30:34:08 – 00:30:46:08

Claire Campagna

Almost like to just, like, tap into it for 3 minutes and just, like, dance to it like no one’s watching. And you’re like, damn, I feel pretty good now. All right.

00:30:46:08 – 00:31:04:23

Nick McGowan

Hey, get your body in motion. It gets the energy in motion. I don’t think that you need to get pissed off to listen to paramour or something, though. Hawthorne Heights, whatever. I mean, shit, honestly, today’s been a day to remember day. I’ve had a day to remember on my mind as soon as I woke up. And then it was just playing all whatever, nine albums they got or whatever.

00:31:04:23 – 00:31:24:01

Nick McGowan

Yeah. But yeah that, that energy can definitely move you. I totally get that. I think there are times where there’s no energy except for the energy that’s happening inside of you and you feel like you need to do something outside of you. Like how I used to as a little kid. I used to, like, throw shit or punch things because I needed to get the energy out.

00:31:24:10 – 00:31:39:27

Nick McGowan

So as we get older and we start to do the stuff where we go and we shake, that’s totally should be normal. You should be allowed to be able to do that because at that split second and you’re not losing your shit for like an hour or two. Well, are you? I mean, it’d be a different story. Yeah, exactly.

00:31:40:00 – 00:31:42:17

Nick McGowan

If you did that, I’d be like, Pivot would go in that direction.

00:31:42:25 – 00:31:44:13

Claire Campagna

This conversation’s over.

00:31:44:13 – 00:32:06:14

Nick McGowan

Yeah, it’s been real, real long by now. But the fact that you can go through that and be okay is okay. So everybody that’s listening be okay with that because you go through shit. Just be okay with it. Just don’t let it linger. So how do you how do you manage your mindset after those moments and how do you not let it linger?

00:32:06:22 – 00:32:07:04

Nick McGowan

Yeah.

00:32:07:24 – 00:32:36:16

Claire Campagna

There’s a there’s a couple of things I do for like the mental aspect of it. So I do journal, I do meditate, I do reflect pretty often. And as you as you heard from my earlier example, I love the voice memo note option on phones. I do. I find I’m a very audio person already. Like I like to consume information that way versus reading and I think that’s why I like to speak it out as well.

00:32:36:17 – 00:33:16:29

Claire Campagna

Like it’s just more natural to me. So I find it really helpful to get my thoughts out in that form and replay them later and just reflect on. That’s a super, super helpful thing for me and honestly, a good cry like crying. And while I’m crying, I’m always reflecting like I’m one of those people that’s like it’s tied in with the process, if that makes sense, whether it’s like actively, consciously thinking or not, it’s like the work is being on undone, if you will, the not tied while I’m crying and music is just so, so helpful for me in that.

00:33:16:29 – 00:33:41:22

Claire Campagna

So that’s, that’s like honestly my number one, it’s just like play a song that’s going to evoke emotion to the point where I’m going to cry and because it’s, you know, it is difficult. So for me to just like write when I need to and sometimes I do need that music to, to set it in motion. But usually it takes like one note and then following.

00:33:43:10 – 00:34:10:02

Nick McGowan

That, I want to touch on something, a potentially sexist thing where I think there might be some listeners that listen to this that go, Well, you’re a woman, you are going to cry. That’s complete bullshit. And I’m glad that you bring up the fact that it’s difficult for you to be able to get to that point, that you find things that help you actually get to that point where you can find that release is I think there are a lot of men and women that need to allow themselves that release it.

00:34:10:04 – 00:34:26:26

Nick McGowan

Look, if you’re going to cry, I can cry. Get it out. If you’re going to rage for a moment and scream, go for it. Try to do it the right way. Like the singer would blow out your voice. But same deal with anything else. Don’t go too crazy with it. Let that energy out. So whatever way you can figure out to do that, that’s huge.

00:34:27:09 – 00:34:46:04

Nick McGowan

So do you think that you subconsciously kind of figured out like, I have to get myself to this point? Like the recipe is to be able to get myself to this point, to allow me to get past this, to then be able to release. Or did you consciously kind of put that together real like, well, something’s got to trigger me and I don’t want to poke myself with a knife, like, how did you get there?

00:34:46:22 – 00:35:08:08

Claire Campagna

Yeah, I think I’ve always been very sensitive to music, so I didn’t necessarily always cry when I would hear it. But I. I know how much it evokes in me. Like, within an instant, I can feel it. So it was a quick thing for me to turn to, I guess, but it’s just back to the whole like shaking thing.

00:35:08:08 – 00:35:13:24

Claire Campagna

I don’t know if you’re familiar with like shamanic shaking and that whole thing.

00:35:13:25 – 00:35:17:07

Nick McGowan

A little bit. Just the basic surface level of they shake the energy out.

00:35:17:07 – 00:35:42:25

Claire Campagna

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. No, that’s I mean, that’s what it is. And I mean, I won’t get into what it is, but in very short summary, it’s like basically think of an animal that’s getting preyed on like a possum or something when they, you know, come to after playing dead, they literally simulate the attack like it still happens. And they, they literally cause that adrenalin to flow through them because it’s still there.

00:35:42:25 – 00:36:12:15

Claire Campagna

It did flow through them. And they they have to shake it off quite literally to allow it to do them and not be stored in their bodies. And I heard that on a podcast in 2020, and then I heard it like three more times. You know, one of those synchronicity things after that. And that’s what led me to the combo, I think of the dancing and the singing and like that’s I think why I do the teenage angsty music too, because, I mean, express that stuff is like it is shaking.

00:36:12:15 – 00:36:17:12

Claire Campagna

Like you’re like mosh pitting alone in your bedroom.

00:36:17:12 – 00:36:19:09

Nick McGowan

Yeah. Oh, man.

00:36:20:19 – 00:36:21:11

Claire Campagna

Great image.

00:36:22:11 – 00:36:40:22

Nick McGowan

Yeah, well, that’s where my head was and trying to pull myself back. Now it says an adult jumping around. But that’s I mean, I do that there are times where I can feel that my energy’s off or I’m just not at my natural state of joy. And I’m like, All right, fuck is wrong with you. And I toss on typically my go to is heavy so I’ll go to something.

00:36:40:23 – 00:36:57:00

Nick McGowan

I’m not super, super heavy like my sugar wise, depending on the day. But typically it’s like a periphery or something like that where I kick it in and then you got to move around. There are times where I’ve joked with people, I’m like, I’m fucking headbanging in my office for 15 minutes because you need to you need to get that energy out.

00:36:57:00 – 00:37:19:25

Nick McGowan

And then at that point you’re able to actually go, Oh, I’m good, what’s next? I should probably turn this shit down a little bit and then you move along and kind of do your thing. So I feel that. I totally feel that. And I want to encourage people to be able to explore that, explore that more often. I think as a lot of us continue to work either from home consistently or hybrid, that we can use the space that we have that we’re comfortable in.

00:37:20:11 – 00:37:23:28

Nick McGowan

You work from home. Are you a hybrid worker or do you work specifically from the house?

00:37:24:14 – 00:37:40:11

Claire Campagna

I would say like 85% of the time of working from home. So traffic is still the primary, but I am in sales. So, you know, when I do go visit customers or we have like a divisional meeting or something, I’ll go into the office but I totally am taking advantage of the idea here.

00:37:41:15 – 00:37:59:19

Nick McGowan

Yeah. Of I’m sure it’s different for different people, people that have kids or pets around and things of that sort. But if you can still find some of that energy or that space release some of that energy, that’s you. So it’s been great talking to you. I think we’ve gotten a lot of great stuff here, so thank you for being on the show.

00:38:00:02 – 00:38:03:23

Nick McGowan

Is there a one piece of advice you’d give somebody that’s on their path toward self mastery?

00:38:04:04 – 00:38:28:04

Claire Campagna

I think the the major thing I would say that’s been really helpful for me is to give yourself grace and recognize that, you know, once you do open this can of worms and you decide to to really grow and evolve and, you know, care about your life, it’s going to be a roller coaster. It’s not going to be able to be closed back up.

00:38:28:04 – 00:38:47:03

Claire Campagna

And, you know, once you start, you’re not going to want to stop. But just know that it’s not all an upper trajectory like, you know, that’s part of that’s part of it. Riding the wave and learning how to ride the wave. And that can be really, really frustrating when you just started and you’re like, you can get discouraged.

00:38:47:03 – 00:39:00:24

Claire Campagna

So I just I would I would say to give yourself grace and be compassionate with yourself and just, you know, take every opportunity as a a learning a chance to learn.

00:39:00:24 – 00:39:04:21

Nick McGowan

Right. Appreciate that. Where can people connect with you? Where can they find you online?

00:39:05:10 – 00:39:27:29

Claire Campagna

My website is Claire Campagna dot com. Just my name. Very easy and my Instagram is Claire period companion also very easy. I think those are the two best places to connect with me. Feel free to shoot me a message. I mean, as you can probably tell from this conversation, I just I love talking to people on on similar journeys.

00:39:27:29 – 00:39:37:18

Claire Campagna

And that’s like my favorite thing in the world. So even if you don’t don’t want to be a client, please, please talk to me. I just love, love people on the journey to consciousness.

00:39:38:08 – 00:39:41:13

Nick McGowan

I appreciate that it’s been great having you. Thanks again for being on the show.

00:39:41:25 – 00:39:50:16

Claire Campagna

Yeah, thank you.

00:39:51:14 – 00:40:12:25

Nick McGowan

Another great conversation on today’s episode of The Mindset and Self-mastery Show. Claire answered the call to that stirring in her soul. I mean, let’s be real here. You can only push it away for so long until it just claws to get out. Okay, maybe that’s a bit much, but if you don’t feel that, then you’ve really got some deep diving to do.

00:40:13:23 – 00:40:39:29

Nick McGowan

Yeah, you got some. You got some work to do. Like Claire here. We should all continue to aim for learning and growth, so that’s okay. We all have work to do, and it’s about incremental progress on our journey. Doesn’t all have to happen overnight, but you got this. So what you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topics we got into today, and if you enjoyed the episode, please jump over to iTunes and subscribe rate and leave a five star review.

00:40:39:29 – 00:41:02:20

Nick McGowan

If you really enjoyed the show, just go ahead and share it with a friend, family member or somebody that you like because this is a pretty awesome show, right? Yeah, I appreciate that. But we covered a lot of stuff so. Appreciate you sharing out. I’m sure your friends will, too. And check out the show notes for more information and specifically for Claire and check out other episodes on the mindset and Self-mastery show dot com as well as our YouTube channel.

00:41:02:20 – 00:41:22:01

Nick McGowan

Just go to YouTube, type in the Mindset and self-mastery show and there you go. Thanks again, Claire, for being real honest and vulnerable with us. And thank you for sharing some wisdom. Thank you to you. Yeah, you. Thank you for hanging out with us today. And with that, remember, your mindset matters and so do you.