31. Unlocking the Power of Trauma-Informed Yoga for Emotional Healing with Cheryl Killilea

Are you ready to unlock the power of movement for healing and self-discovery? In this episode of Speak Honest, I chat with Cheryl Killilea , a certified personal trainer and trauma-informed yoga instructor, about how yoga and movement can help release stored emotions and improve our mental and emotional health. Cheryl shares insights on how different attachment styles might affect our approach to exercise and wellness and offers practical tips on finding balance and peace through trauma-informed practices.

You might want to listen if:

• You’ve experienced trauma and are looking for new ways to heal.
• You feel stuck emotionally and need tools to help you move forward.
• You’re curious about how attachment styles affect exercise preferences.
• You want to learn how simple movements like walking can transform your emotional health.
• You’re seeking a supportive, non-judgmental approach to yoga and wellness.

About Our Guest:'

 Cheryl Killilea is a seasoned personal trainer and trauma-informed yoga instructor with over 12 years of experience in the health and wellness industry. Passionate about empowering others, Cheryl believes that the strength gained from working out is often the very strength needed to get through another day. She specializes in creating safe, inclusive spaces where clients can explore movement, heal from trauma, and connect more deeply with themselves. Cheryl’s approach combines physical fitness with mindful practices, guiding her clients toward holistic well-being and resilience.

Want to Learn More?  Download Cheryl's Free 12-page Guide to Find Balance and Reclaim Your Inner Peace
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DISCLAIMER: Speak Honest podcast content is informational, not professional or medical advice. Jenn is an ICF relationship coach, not a licensed therapist. Consult health professionals for specific concerns. Client opinions do not reflect Speak Honest’s stance. We aim for accuracy but are not liable for errors or outcomes from this information.

Transcript

Jenn (00:02.7)

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Speak Honest. On today's episode, I have a special guest with me and with me today is Cheryl Killaly. She is a certified personal trainer and trauma informed yoga instructor. And I wanted Cheryl to come on the podcast today to talk about healing and relationships in a different way. I talk a lot about mental health and the subconscious mind and all of this stuff, but I want to come at this from a health and wellness perspective. So Cheryl, thank you so much for coming on the podcast today and tell us a little bit about yourself.

Cheryl Killilea (00:32.72)

Yeah, thanks Jen. I'm so excited to be here. So I have been in the health and wellness space for a little over 12 years now. I left a corporate America job to pursue health and wellness and I've really never looked back. I love being a trainer. I love working with people and just helping them get in touch with their body and realize how powerful the body really is and then how that can shift.

our mental health, and of course affect our relationship with ourselves and also our relationship with others.

Jenn (01:09.084)

Mm, I love that. One of the really cool things that I saw that you do is I've never heard of before, trauma -informed yoga practices or trauma -informed yoga instructor. Can you tell me a little bit more about this?

Cheryl Killilea (01:22.628)

Yeah, absolutely. So when I first heard about it, I was really intrigued by it. And it is still a new, I guess, practice or fundamentals when you look at yoga. really when people ask, what does trauma informed or you might hear trauma sensitive yoga, what does that really mean? And we just take a different lens to yoga. And it's really all about our power.

on a yoga mat. And so if you've ever taken a traditional class, it will be put your arm here, put your leg here, move your hips this way, breathe this way. Right, right. It's so structured and a trauma informed approach really allows the participant to decide what

Jenn (01:58.998)

Yeah, it's like Twister. It's like, yeah.

Cheryl Killilea (02:12.314)

feels right for them. And so an instructor like myself is going to give guidance, give suggestions, give options, but there's no hard and fast rules of this is what it should look like because let's face it, we're all different, not only in our physical being, but even just in our body and how we can move. And so it's really giving ownership back to the participant and letting them know that

what feels right for them is good. It's right for them.

Jenn (02:45.246)

I love to hear that because I've heard from a few people that yoga can actually elicit a trigger inside of them. Certain poses, in fact, depending on what type of trauma you had, you know, whether in early childhood or adulthood or any sorts, there's certain poses and like you get in those positions and they're a little bit vulnerable. And so they've shut down and they don't want to, they don't want to go back. And I felt that

Cheryl Killilea (02:59.664)

Yes.

Jenn (03:11.638)

familiar sense myself. didn't do yoga for a really long time. I have a bad back. I was afraid that, you know, it's not for me. And then I started trying to go and I love it. And I like the meditation point part of it. And, I love the mindfulness, but I don't think I would have ever gotten there if someone hadn't kind of held my hand through the process. And it sounds a lot like what you're saying you do as a yoga instructor.

Cheryl Killilea (03:35.46)

Yeah, absolutely. I think a lot of people are really intimidated going into a class that is really structured and not from a trauma -informed lens because we look around and everybody really looks very similar in their poses. And I took yoga for a number of years before I was in health and wellness. And my shoulders, I would come out with such neck and shoulder pain from, you know, arms straight up like into a warrior pose.

And I realized, and I did it because that's what they said you should do, right? And I realized that's not the best for me. I carry a lot of stress and tension in my shoulders, as many of us do. And so I love me some cactus arms, right? Like I love cactus arms and I always just want to give options. And that's really the yoga that I think is meant for all of us is that we have options in our practice.

Jenn (04:30.532)

I love that too. Especially anyone that has had trauma in their lives, especially big T trauma will know that getting trapped or stuck in a specific way of being is never going to help us heal and shift out of that pain. Like we need to be able to utilize our nuances in our lives. So I love that as you're doing that. So I would love to also know in terms of your yoga practices and how you got into yoga, you mentioned you left the corporate world, but I would love to know how has yoga influenced your

Cheryl Killilea (04:35.14)

Yes. Yes.

Jenn (05:00.378)

own relationships, whether that be personal or professional or familiar, any of those.

Cheryl Killilea (05:06.116)

Yeah, know, yoga has really changed my life in so many ways. And it's a practice that I go back to. Sometimes I pull away and there's different seasons of my life that it's not a higher priority. But what I find is when I have some big shifts in my life, like when my dad died, when I went through my divorce, some really big life altering changes.

my yoga mat was always there to welcome me and I could just go to that mat and my emotions would really just come out. I could move, I could cry, I could breathe. You you talked about the mindfulness piece. Like it was just, I wasn't strength training in the gym where I had to count repetitions and make sure I was breathing so I didn't hurt myself. I wasn't doing cardio, which you know, sometimes can be good and bad that I...

you know, was just over exerting myself and my yoga mat just welcomed me back. And then I could show up in a better way to the people that needed me, my clients, my family, because I had took some time to just let it all go on my yoga mat.

Jenn (06:17.111)

What is it about yoga that gets us so relaxed? can't figure it out. Do you know?

Cheryl Killilea (06:24.654)

Well, I mean, there's a lot of science behind it, of course. You know, I think that when we can get into some of the heart openers with opening up the heart and the chest, hip openers, those are really known, like when you talked about like some postures that may be for different sensitive populations, like if there's been sexual trauma and things like that, we store a lot of trauma, as you may know, in those hips, in the psoas muscles. And so when we do those hip openers,

That can be very emotional and releasing. There's just something about, you know, we store all that, the issues in our tissues is what my old yoga instructor used to say. Right, right.

Jenn (07:05.814)

love that. Say that, wait, say that again. We store, we store our issues in our tissues. that resonates with me. I love this. I love a good rhyme. Yeah, yeah.

Cheryl Killilea (07:10.348)

issues in our tissues, right? So we got to feel it to heal it, right? So she had so many little, little, little nuances, right? I know, I know. So we got to feel it to heal it. And I think that's what yoga really does. It really brings us into our body, where we can maybe start to process some of those emotions. And that's why a trauma sensitive class is so important, because those emotions will bubble up and

If you're not in an atmosphere that allows for that, then we're either shoving it down or we get scared and don't want to go back to that class or that environment.

Jenn (07:51.2)

That's what I've been through. And it's interesting that you say we hold a lot of our trauma or our pain or our past experiences in our hips, depending on, what we went through. And I like to be very open about what I've been through, but I have been through sexual abuse. And I never thought about that before. But in terms of when I do these hip releasing movements in yoga, I have been known to just start crying in the middle of yoga class. And when this used to happen to me well before I would ever heal, I would get so embarrassed.

Cheryl Killilea (08:13.796)

Yeah. Yeah.

Jenn (08:19.702)

and I would just shut down and I would never come back. And so knowing this, like knowing that there is a normalcy to these big emotions that come up and out of you, and I'm sure any yoga class you're in, if you start crying, I bet anyone would understand. Is that right? People in yoga get this. Yeah.

Cheryl Killilea (08:19.716)

Yes.

Cheryl Killilea (08:27.524)

Yes.

Cheryl Killilea (08:34.67)

Yes, yes, yes, most definitely. Yes, they do. But we feel that like, wait, I don't see other people or this isn't normal. We just don't know what to do, especially if we're not comfortable crying. And so I will usually tell my classes, like, especially if we are going to do some, you know, deep, we've done some deep hip work throughout maybe the month of March or something. And I just say, you know, this might be something that you experience just to prepare them for it.

If you want to not do that, you can just lay on your mat, you can do some breathing, there's other options. You have the option to choose if it works for you today. If not, that's okay. Absolutely.

Jenn (09:14.442)

You have the options. What a beautiful, empowering thing as well to just go in and do that. Well, I would love to also know then, since you work with people that have been through trauma and you understand that there's these big emotions that come up when someone is fighting with their partner, you know, or they're getting in one of those big fights, maybe with their mom or with their sister or sibling or something, and they're completely dysregulated. And I talk through this a lot with my clients and I try to tell them, you know, you need to remove yourself.

And you need to kind of equilibrate first. do kind of the raise method of just kind of figuring this out. What is a great grounding technique? Because I tell them, remove yourself and ground yourself. But as a yoga instructor, do you have any particular poses or practices or ideas that they could be doing to ground themselves?

Cheryl Killilea (10:06.202)

Yeah, so it can be different for people depending on maybe their attachment styles, but maybe also just their nervous system in general, because if we are typically like avoidant attachment, we are going to want something high powered because we are avoiding it, right? So we're avoiding the whole situation and we just want to

you know, do something fast, some like a power class or a hot yoga class or a run or heavy strength training, CrossFit, something like that. Like that's where we would generally go to. So I often say we got to, and I can speak from experience here that we've got to kind of work it all out. We got to leave it all on the mat and basically beat the shit out of ourselves. And then we can finally calm down and then we can be on our mat and we can sit in.

You know like a staff pose which is just seated on our mat or we can lie down into a Shavasana But most times if you take somebody that is really at that high strung out level and try to ground them down Their mind is just going to keep racing and they're gonna keep thinking I should have said that or I shouldn't have said that or I should have did this right And the anxious can be a similar way So sometimes we just have to get those big emotions kind of worked out through some sweat. Maybe some tears

Jenn (11:21.825)

Yeah.

Cheryl Killilea (11:31.34)

and then we can bring some grounding. Not always the case, but sometimes.

Jenn (11:35.244)

But that it's so this is really cool. So you're telling me attachment styles have different types of workout methods. This is fantastic. Yeah.

Cheryl Killilea (11:42.948)

based on some of the research that typically an avoidant is going something high powered like I mentioned, a power yoga, like CrossFit, running, things like that, where the anxious side is maybe going to, they're working out is really not even about, it's more like what their partner maybe would.

they would try to be like that person for their partner kind of, well, you know, I'm going to work out to look good because my partner, I'm anxious and my partner is going to leave me for somebody that's, you know, better looking or in better shape or something like that. Right. So the anxious side of things, they're, they're working out on it for a different reason, I guess, if you will.

Jenn (12:29.308)

That makes sense because they're preoccupied so much with what their partner thinks and is doing and is this good enough and they're they're consistently trying to earn their worth. so their motivation for going to the gym or going to a yoga class, you know, is to get that that nice booty, you know, or is to like, you know, build up their, you know, like, you know, shoulder chest area or something that isn't necessarily to just like beat the shit out of something. But it sounds like for avoidance, they really want to get into that, like that that

Cheryl Killilea (12:33.284)

Right, yes.

Cheryl Killilea (12:38.127)

Yes.

Cheryl Killilea (12:43.908)

Right.

Cheryl Killilea (12:52.911)

Right.

Jenn (12:58.236)

hit training is almost what I'm hearing, right? That like high interval, we want to just go for it. And that's fascinating to me, because as someone that leaned avoidant for a very long time, I used, like I said, hated yoga. And in fact, I would take these classes at like my local YMCA. And it was like these really fun classes. And we would just be dancing around and doing like kickboxing and stuff. And then at the end, we would do the lay down part and I would just leave.

Cheryl Killilea (12:59.664)

Correct. Yes.

Cheryl Killilea (13:11.6)

Yes.

Jenn (13:25.504)

I would leave every time. couldn't, I was like, this this is waste of my time. Like, what is this? Like, this is not what I am here for. But that, but I didn't have the self -awareness as to why that is. And I didn't have the self -awareness of like, hey, actually this rest, this relaxation, this is critical. It's key to the healing part, right? We need to rest in order to actually heal and repair. And that's part of that. So I love that so much. Okay, great. So we have, so we have avoidant and we have anxious and that's what they do.

Cheryl Killilea (13:25.689)

Yes, same, same.

Cheryl Killilea (13:31.438)

Yes. Yes.

Cheryl Killilea (13:40.176)

is important, I guess.

Yes.

Yes.

Jenn (13:53.598)

And now how about for disorganized? I have a feeling it's probably just gonna be a mix between the two how they're feeling, because it's what they do.

Cheryl Killilea (14:00.101)

Yeah, I think so. think that they just ebb and flow between, you know, maybe wanting to do what their partner would be, you know, go with their partner to the gym if that's what their partner does and kind of follow that path or they're going to go for some high intense type of thing. So I think just a mix.

Jenn (14:03.541)

Yeah.

Jenn (14:16.82)

You know, and that's actually a great thing to be mindful of because I'm thinking back to myself and this inconsistency that I often feel inside of me is very confusing. And so if you're out there right now and you're listening and you suspect you have a disorganized attachment and even yourself, you're like, you know, I also do love sometimes going to these big group classes, you know, because they're with other people and I get that social connection and I'm working out with people and...

Cheryl Killilea (14:26.202)

This is...

Cheryl Killilea (14:39.503)

Yes.

Jenn (14:42.56)

Perhaps even their perception of me is what drives me to do it harder. And then also some days I don't want to be near anyone and I just want to work out at home with my weights. And if that's confusing to you and you think you might have a disorganized attachment, that's probably the reason. Because on certain days you're just leaning certain ways and there's nothing wrong with that. It's just a part of the pendulum swing dance, as I call it, that happens with the disorganized dance.

Cheryl Killilea (14:46.233)

Absolutely.

Cheryl Killilea (14:57.456)

Absolutely.

Jenn (15:06.732)

That's just a consistent, it's the one thing disorganized or consistent at is being inconsistent. It is just how it is. Right? Okay. All right. Now how about, let's see, for anyone listening and they're healing from past relationship traumas, maybe in their lives, you know, they had an abusive husband or a mentally abusive boyfriend or something like that. And they're struggling, they're in heartbreak.

Cheryl Killilea (15:14.274)

True story, true story, yes.

Jenn (15:35.432)

They don't know how to shift out of this. They've tried doing all the work. Maybe they've even worked with me or with other coaches or other therapists. And it's just like something's not clicking. What kind of yoga practices or kind of philosophies do you recommend that could aid in their healing process?

Cheryl Killilea (15:52.292)

Yeah, one of the number one things that I recommend for anyone that's really went through traumas or any kind of big life changes is to get out and walk. think it is walking is very underrated and I think it is one of the best things that we can do for not only our physical health, but also our mental health is to.

Jenn (16:03.074)

Hmm

Cheryl Killilea (16:13.722)

put down our phone, just get outside and walk your neighborhood, walk a path, walk in the trees. Like there's just something about being outside and the healing properties that come with that. And so that's the number one thing because for many people when coming out of traumas, especially a relationship, it's really, it can be difficult to get into a yoga practice initially. And so I say if they can start with some walking.

then look to something like yoga or strength training. Being around other people can be helpful because oftentimes we want to isolate after a breakup. And so I say, if you can join a gym or group fitness classes, things like that, that can just be really helpful for us, not only for our physical and mental health, but then we're adding the wellness, the social wellness piece in there as well. Maybe making some new friends and that's always a bonus to our mental health.

Jenn (17:12.99)

I love that. I'd love to stop down on the walking piece that you talked about because I read about this recently, this really cool study that showcased to that just 30 minutes a day of walking actually decreased. we have our amygdala and our hippocampus in both sides of our brain. You know, I'm going to get sciency and and the hippocampus and the amygdala, you know, they're responsible for our memories and our moods and our emotions and all that stuff going on. So when we have trauma in our lives, it actually gets all out of whack.

Cheryl Killilea (17:29.936)

That's okay.

Cheryl Killilea (17:37.082)

us.

Jenn (17:42.53)

And honestly, right now, I kind of forget if it's the hippocampus that grows and the amygdala that shrinks or vice versa. I don't think it matters for the look up this look up the research anyone that wants to know the exact thing. But the idea here is one of them is shrinking, one of them is growing. And it's the wrong way. Just 30 minutes of walking a day. This research showed people's I'm going to just say their amygdala. It started regrowing like their hippocampus started shrinking and their amygdala started to regrow. So their

Cheryl Killilea (17:50.17)

Yeah.

Jenn (18:11.138)

their dysregulation of their emotions, which comes from the amygdala. That was what was all like tiny and out of whack and all this stuff. And the hippocampus with the memories and we can't quite remember what's going on. And trauma is just really, really impactful that way. And so just 30 days, that's not even 10 ,000 steps y 'all. I did the math one time. Like it's only like 3000 steps. If you just.

Cheryl Killilea (18:25.797)

Yes.

Cheryl Killilea (18:34.064)

Right, and the newest research is actually showing that as little as 4 ,000 steps a day can reduce your chances of like, say, dying early in medical conditions. So 4 ,000, I mean, 10 ,000 is the gold standard, they say, but that's really hard for a lot of people. But 4 ,000, we can all get in 4 ,000. Yeah.

Jenn (18:48.372)

Yes.

Jenn (18:52.386)

That's it, that's all it takes. Just get out there and do the 4 ,000. You know, I did this math one time. It says that I have this big challenge for myself for the year to walk 10 ,000 steps every day. And I was doing great. I was doing freaking fantastic for the first like six months, actually like seven up until like July 1st. And then I got COVID and then my husband got COVID and then everything started going to shit. And then I hadn't done it in ages, but I'm back in.

I'm back and I'm really proud of myself. You know, I didn't shame myself too much. It just, went down. But hearing this as well, like it doesn't have to be 10 ,000. But here's the math I think people would be really interested in. It takes about 10 minutes to walk a thousand steps. That's all. You know, I'm pretty short. So like, you know, I'm trying to get my walking in and stuff like that, but roughly speaking, I know everyone has a different gait. It's just about 10 minutes, 1000 steps. If you do that math.

then that is only 100 minutes in a whole day that you would be walking to get 10 ,000. And 10 ,000 is a lot, right? That's what we think is a lot. But 100 minutes is only just a little over an hour and a half. Now, how long are we awake during a day? What is it? Like 16 hours or something? Right? Like 16 and then eight or whatever. Some people more, because we don't, you know, we don't get enough sleep. That's a whole nother thing. Six.

Cheryl Killilea (19:54.64)

Absolutely.

Cheryl Killilea (20:06.564)

Yes, would, probably for most people, yeah.

Cheryl Killilea (20:13.24)

Right, right.

Jenn (20:15.202)

15, Cheryl, 16 hours of the day we are awake and we are sitting here, no pun intended, thinking that an hour and a half of walking is too much. Isn't that wild? Like it's actually wild when I stop and like break it down that way. So that's why I'm like, you know what, after I thought about it that way, that's it. I'm getting up. I'm getting my steps in. I'm not very physically active. I have a lot of pain. I totally get it. Okay, walking. Walking's gonna help.

Cheryl Killilea (20:25.07)

much I know.

Cheryl Killilea (20:39.866)

Yeah, absolutely.

Jenn (20:40.578)

It's going to help your emotions. And not just because they say it's going to help. It's not going to necessarily help you lose weight. We're not talking about this. This stuff is this stuff is science. It's physically helping rewire your brain. If you have an insecure attachment style, this is one of those things that can really help with your dysregulation. And the other things you mentioned were, group classes. Is that what you said? Yeah.

Cheryl Killilea (20:49.764)

It is.

Absolutely.

Cheryl Killilea (20:58.17)

Definitely.

Cheryl Killilea (21:02.704)

Yeah, yeah, some group fitness classes are just a great way, especially if somebody can be intimidated with the gym. You know, I've been a trainer for 12 years, but I remember when I first started training in my 20s and I walked into a gym and that was before Google and you know, the internet really. And I remember I looked around and I didn't know what to do. And so I would just get on the treadmill and walk, but then I would watch people.

Jenn (21:08.543)

Mmm.

Cheryl Killilea (21:26.51)

And then I would go over and copy what they did. So I'd be bench pressing. Okay, then the next day I'd come and I'd follow the same thing. But today we have so many group exercise classes that that's a great place for people to go to meet other people and to get in shape at the same time. Or maybe even go with a partner. mean, that could be a great opportunity to build your relationship is by going for walks with your partner or going to group exercise classes with them, a spinning class or something like

Jenn (21:57.226)

be like such a fun little date night to do as well or something. Why not do that? Or even like bring your if you know that you do really well with someone else, bring a friend along. Right? Yeah. As a personal trainer for yourself, do you ever have issues with like women with insecurities? Like you were saying, not wanting to go in the gym, you feel like maybe you don't feel your best or you know, you feel fat or you don't feel good or I can't lift weights as good as she does.

Cheryl Killilea (21:59.635)

Yeah

Cheryl Killilea (22:06.672)

Absolutely, yeah, yeah.

Jenn (22:23.798)

How would you handle some of those insecurities that are kind of popping up in our minds? Those stories we're telling ourselves.

Cheryl Killilea (22:28.858)

Hmm. Yes, there are so many. I'll never forget one of my clients who thought she couldn't go out into the regular gym area at the gym because she had her work socks on and she didn't have like athletic socks. Kathy was her name and I was like, Kathy, nobody, promise you, nobody is looking at your socks, right? We just have this fear that everybody's watching us, judging us, what we can do, what we look like, our body. And so...

Jenn (22:47.542)

you

Jenn (22:50.999)

Yeah.

Cheryl Killilea (22:56.654)

My advice to women is to maybe start small, right? Is to maybe you do start working out in your house or apartment with some hand weights. There's a lot you can do. There's lots of YouTube videos. Maybe you do get to a gym, but it's maybe there's a woman's only area or it's a fitness class. We just have to make the first step and realize today people are so self -absorbed with their selfies and their tripods and their ring lights.

They're not watching you. They're really not. just have to... We just have to do it. I mean, there's really...

Jenn (23:31.402)

Yeah, because what is the, you know, what is the cost of being afraid of that kind of stuff, right? That's what I like to really ask people. If I get it, I get that you're afraid. I get that you're self -conscious. Absolutely. Yeah. But what is the cost of it? If it doesn't cost you anything, then it's no big deal. Who cares that you're afraid? But if that fear means...

Cheryl Killilea (23:40.825)

Absolutely.

Cheryl Killilea (23:44.528)

For sure.

Cheryl Killilea (23:48.42)

Right.

Jenn (23:49.91)

You're getting, you your endorphins. You're not moving your body. You're not moving your muscles. You're not getting your bones, right? Strength training is supposed to be apparently really good for your bones. And as I'm getting older now myself, I need to get back into that. not, I have a gym membership. I haven't gone in ages as one does. And that's, that's the goal though, right? It's so much more than just losing weight. That's not the point.

Cheryl Killilea (23:57.424)

Absolutely.

Cheryl Killilea (24:08.688)

Yes, it happens. Yeah. Yes.

Yeah, I mean, you know, I started working out in my 20s and my goal when I started working out was not to lose weight. Honestly, my goal, was a single mom, single mom going to college and working full time. My goal was to be able to manage my mental health. That's really why I started working out. The weight loss was secondary. That was just a byproduct, right? That I noticed that I was getting stronger and feeling better and wow, wasn't like I was making better food choices. So

Jenn (24:29.363)

Mmm

Cheryl Killilea (24:43.188)

A lot of times with my clients, say, let's start with the movement. Let's start with the yoga. Let's start with the strength training, the walking, right? And we'll get to the food, right? The food sometimes works itself out. But if we can start moving our body and have any appreciation for our body and what it can do for us, rather than fixating on some damn number on the scale, as that's what we're worth, I would rather you tell me your worth is that you just squatted a hundred pounds versus what your weight is on the scale, honestly.

Jenn (25:11.918)

preach. just, I love that so much. And such a good point because so much of our food issues, our food addictions, especially in women comes from these wounds that are inside of us, right? From our attachment wounds that have just been brought up inside of us and we seek food for comfort or for safety or for all these other reasons that have nothing to do with just fueling ourselves. And so I love how you're saying if we get into the gym or if we go for a walk or we hit our yoga mat.

Cheryl Killilea (25:20.634)

Yes.

Yes, totally.

Yes. Yes.

Cheryl Killilea (25:33.455)

Yes.

Jenn (25:41.078)

those emotional dysregulated times are actually potentially could just work themselves out. So when you're feeling better, you do tend to eat a bit better, don't you? Cause I don't know about you, but when I'm feeling good, it's not necessarily when I'm reaching for the ice cream, maybe when I'm out at like a party, but I'm rarely, now that I think about it and yeah, exactly. Now that I think about it and maybe just like coming up with this on like the thought process on the fly, but never do I eat ice cream.

Cheryl Killilea (25:51.216)

Yeah, absolutely.

Cheryl Killilea (25:55.632)

All right, of course, at home.

Jenn (26:09.718)

home alone when I'm happy. So what an interesting thing too is if we don't even villainize per se ice cream, right? And that's a beautiful thing to have when we're out with friends. But it's those times when we're hiding it in home, you know, or we're eating out of stress or we're just chugging things out of just dysregulated spaces. So I love that so much. That just really inspired me as well to think, okay, I just need to get moving.

Cheryl Killilea (26:33.498)

Absolutely.

Jenn (26:38.164)

All right, that's it. I'm leaving. I want to go on a walk. Next podcast, we're walking, Cheryl. Let's go.

Cheryl Killilea (26:38.447)

Yeah.

Cheryl Killilea (26:42.542)

Okay, well I just, you what I always say to my clients is, you know, here's the thing, right? When we're working out, and again, that can look like a lot of different things. It can look like whatever it is that you enjoy. I do think strength training is important, and I had a conversation today with a client who was like, I just hate it, and I said, here's the deal though. We don't always like to brush and floss our teeth, do we? We don't like to clean the bathroom, but we do those things, right? Right, we do those things because they know we're in.

Jenn (27:00.661)

I know.

Jenn (27:07.116)

She's way to call me out, Cheryl.

Cheryl Killilea (27:12.186)

they're important to us, right? And the strength training is important to us, right? Because when we feel better in our body, we show up different in the world. We show up as a bigger, confident, brighter person to everybody in the world, to our relationships, our family, just everyone, our business. We just show up different.

Jenn (27:13.596)

Yeah.

Jenn (27:36.458)

It just, it would really, really do. I love that. I also felt called out in that moment, but in a great way. no, I love that so much. Okay. So I love this idea of this trauma -informed yoga. Again, I've never heard of this. I have no idea. What could I be looking up or Googling in order to find someone or some thing? Where can I get this? Where can I get you? Cause you can't be everywhere all at once. So how can we? Yeah.

Cheryl Killilea (28:00.974)

Yeah, yeah, I know, right? Yes, so I do have a YouTube channel called Changing Lanes Wellness. I've been trying to get on there and post some videos on a regular basis and I do lead an online class on Monday evenings. That's starting up again in September and my teaching is from a trauma informed approach, so I will always give options.

Jenn (28:08.821)

Okay, great.

Cheryl Killilea (28:28.884)

And one of the things that you'll notice if you've taken other yoga classes compared to mine is my verbiage is just a little bit different. I'm inviting. I'm not telling you to move your arm here. I'm just saying, try this, see how this feels. Notice how does your body feel just for today? You might do this. And so a lot of it is just in the verbiage that I use in making participants feel welcome and that they're in control of

their body and they can decide what feels good for them today because you you said you have pain, chronic pain, and so your body feels different on different days and maybe doing a pigeon pose might not feel good for you today because it's pretty intense on the hips. So I'm gonna give you a lot of other options.

Jenn (29:20.278)

love this. And what a great, we are talking about all these different ways you can work out. What a great idea if you feel self -conscious in a yoga class. Again, I know I do because if everyone else is doing a pigeon pose, I just even, even to this day, and I got to tell you, like I'm way more healed, way more secure, but I don't even realize what's happening. But if everyone else is doing a pose, I'm like, I want to do it. And then that was a terrible idea and I should not have done that. And I am getting better at it a little bit now, but I just can't help myself. But being online.

Cheryl Killilea (29:28.857)

Yeah.

Cheryl Killilea (29:41.347)

I know, we do.

Cheryl Killilea (29:46.896)

I know, I know.

Jenn (29:49.868)

So you do these classes on Monday nights. That's awesome. What a great place. So what would someone need to be able to go to one of your classes?

Cheryl Killilea (29:58.832)

So I do recommend a yoga mat, but it's not even required. You could use a beach towel if you wanted. So yoga mat and then a yoga block and a strap are sometimes used as tools. But again, not required because if you don't have a block, you could use a pillow or a blanket or some towels. And if you don't have a strap, you could use a tie, a belt, a scarf, a towel. So, I mean, that's the great thing about yoga and walking is you just, you don't need any equipment, right? You can just.

Jenn (30:28.672)

Yeah. That's such a, I never thought about like, you could just use a belt in order to have one of these like little stretchy things or whatnot. I did, I did one time a long time ago, buy a bunch of yoga stuff, cause I was going to get into yoga and then I never did. So I might have to check out your Monday class. What time is it on on Mondays? Do you know yet?

Cheryl Killilea (30:28.847)

Do it.

Cheryl Killilea (30:44.112)

Yes, it's 5 to 6 p And all the classes are recorded and so it's a month by month You just sign up for the month and you get the recording and then you have that recording for two months And you can listen to it you can watch that and do that if you liked that class You could do that class again, so nice gentle easy flow

Jenn (30:46.466)

Jenn (31:00.51)

my God, so that's great. So five o 'clock on Eastern time. No, central time, Eastern time, central time, five o 'clock, central time. My gosh, time zones, I gotta tell you. Okay, perfect. So five o 'clock central time for people and you can do it. So you would be doing it live with you or you get to watch the recording. so for people that do feel like they have a big social connection. I know I do. I have this desire, this need to kind of do things with other people a lot of times.

Cheryl Killilea (31:05.506)

Central time,

Cheryl Killilea (31:11.514)

I know.

Cheryl Killilea (31:17.326)

Yes, yep, yes, right, correct.

Jenn (31:28.726)

Even this podcast kind of is that for me because I know I'm talking and people are listening and we're all having a big discussion around everything. And so that idea of being able to do something on my own so I feel protected and safe in the comfort of my home, but knowing that there's other people doing this out there with me, but without having to let them see me. that's like, that's just like the best of all worlds right now. Yeah, exactly.

Cheryl Killilea (31:41.178)

Yeah, absolutely. Yes.

Cheryl Killilea (31:51.76)

Correct, right. You only see me, right? But I'm looking for you on the, I'm looking for your name on the screen. Okay, she showed up this week, because otherwise you'll get an email saying, okay, miss you in class, but here's the recording, so.

Jenn (32:02.326)

Yeah

That's so great. And can your clients reach out to you afterwards and say, hey, I was confused about this one movement. beautiful. Yeah. You just sound like someone that would be very safe and inviting to be able to go to for this kind of stuff. So you said changing lanes wellness. Is that right? OK. We're going to put all of this in the show notes as well. So no worries if anyone's like, is that one L or two? Don't worry. We'll put it on there. That's your YouTube channel.

Cheryl Killilea (32:11.376)

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, always.

Cheryl Killilea (32:21.328)

Correct. Mm They can find me on...

Great.

No.

Jenn (32:31.358)

Monday evenings, you're gonna be in September, you're gonna be, which is like in three days, you're gonna actually, three days from the time of recording this, it'll be September by the time it comes out. So make sure you get on that everyone. And do you have a website, Facebook, anything else that people can follow you on?

Cheryl Killilea (32:38.508)

you

Cheryl Killilea (32:47.086)

Yeah, you can find me on Facebook and Instagram and I'm changing Layne's wellness on both of those platforms. Yeah.

Jenn (32:53.366)

That is so fantastic. Okay, well, is there anything else you really want to like leave us with or you're thinking about before we wrap up today?

Cheryl Killilea (33:02.5)

Yeah, so this has always been sort of my quote that I always just use. The only bad workout is the one that never happened.

Jenn (33:13.614)

I love that. What a beautiful, beautiful way to end this. We encourage you all to get out there, walk, do yoga, do strength training, do whatever it is that makes you happy. Dance, you know, just any of the things. Get up and just jiggle. Who cares? Thank you so much, Cheryl, for coming on here with me today. I would love to have you back sometime, especially with everything going on. I love it so much. And everyone out there, thank you so much for listening to us and we will talk to you later. Take care.

Cheryl Killilea (33:27.824)

Absolutely. Thank you.

That'd be great.