Kitty Davidson explores a few methods to eradicate anxiety in any moment, and connect with your calm and tranquility, tapping into your power.
Kitty Davidson explores a few methods to eradicate anxiety in any moment, and connect with your calm and tranquility, tapping into your power.
A few takeaways:
Connect with Kitty Davidson:
https://www.instagram.com/littlebuddhakitty/
https://www.facebook.com/kitty.davidson.5
This show is for coaches and entrepreneurs who want to powerfully connect with their ideal clients to create transformation in the world.
By listening to this show you'll gain insights and tactics to connect with your future clients, and learn how to serve them at a higher level.
We're going to be talking about the strategies and techniques that coaches and entrepreneurs are using to create powerful connections to themselves, to clients, to collaborators, and to their future coaches.
We dig deep into what's really working, and what is NOT! We don't shy away from expressing big goals, and big fears. Allowing you to come away from the listening experience with new insights and new tactics to create clients for your business.
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Michael Rosenberg 0:08
All right. So welcome to the entrepreneurs connection I'm on here with kitty Davidson. She has a she's an integrative coach with mindful summits, the creator, I believe, of mindful summits. And I'm just going to pass it right over to you, Kitty, to share a little bit about your story how you got into this space of integrative medicine, and healing and everything that you do, and, and then how you got to where you are today.
Kitty Davidson 0:43
Oh, well, thank you for having me today. I really do appreciate that. And thanks for allowing me to share my story with you and your listeners today. I totally appreciate that. I want to throw that out there first.
Michael Rosenberg 0:56
Yeah, absolutely. Love happy.
Kitty Davidson 0:59
Thanks. Thanks. So how I got started. It's so interesting. I have have a varied professional career. I started a long time ago, I was in the military. I was in finance. And if people know my story, it's so funny. They're like, how did you get to health and wellness, from where you began a long time ago. So I started out in the military, I was in accounting and finance. And that was way long ago when I was in my 20s. I went through accounting and finance went into software development, went into programming and training. So that's where I started. And then that's where the, that's where the change started. Because I was sitting there training some software one day and I, the thought crossed my mind that I need to make a bigger difference in the world. I was making difference is in corporations and that kind of thing with software and training them how to use and that kind of thing. But I was like, No, this just isn't doing it. For me. I felt like I was being called into a higher purpose. So I was finishing my bachelor's degree in Human Services management, because I knew that I was going to, you know, somehow make a switch into something different. But I was like, no, it's got to be something bigger. And that's when I decided I was going to go into my master's program into Council. And that's where I got my start about 12 years ago. 15 years ago, actually, I started my Master's in counseling. And I was like, yeah, I'm going to go and I'm going to impact people. And I did. I got my first gig, I worked in forensics therapy. So I worked with the criminal population, cut my teeth in that area. And they went into working with victims and that kind of thing. But all the while I was like how can I? How can I continue to make a bigger impact in people's lives? So that's when I decided, Okay, what else can I do in order to help people? And that's when I went into the motivation and performance work. And I started doing trainings with big organizations with with regards to blocks and performance and motivation. Okay, because I had found that a lot of people were having all of these negative thoughts about their performance themselves. And it was keeping them stuck. Right. So I was using my psychotherapy, have you been there? I think we've all been there at least a little bit of our lives trying to figure out Oh, gosh, do I suck? What What am I going to do? Right? So I started doing the training for organizations and that kind of thing with motivation and performance working basically, with sales teams and sales forces. And I noticed that I really enjoyed doing that. And then they kept going, Well, how can I continue to up the ante? How can I continue to help people on a, on a very different level, not just one to one, because if you've ever been in the therapeutic room, it's your therapist, and the individual, and you're helping one person at a time? Well, I found that through the group experience and through teaching, I was able to impact more people. And I was like, super, how can I continue to move on with that? So I started learning, diving really deeper into my Eastern philosophy stuff with meditation and how that impacts awareness and mindfulness practices, how that helps people grow, how that helps them with their motivation and their performance issues. So that's where that kind of stuff started. And then it it's kind of like a domino effect. So you know, you start with one thing and then it starts to cascade into a bunch of other little things. So I was like, I just got to keep going. So I started doing trainings on emotional intelligence, mindfulness, different meditation techniques yoga. And I found out that this was having a bigger impact on my clients. Not just from a therapeutic level, but from a performance level because I was still working with some clients on motivation and performance issues. And especially with anxiety, a lot of the clients that I've morphed into that I work with on a coaching basis, they have performance anxiety, whether it's an athlete, because I've worked with athletes before, or it's somebody who's going into court to testify on their particular subject matter. They're an expert,
business sales, etc. I've, I've recognized that, that anxiety is there. So all of the mindfulness based things that I had been learning all throughout the years, I started using that in my, with all of my coaching people, and it was helping them improve their performance. Yeah, so and then I was like, Okay, uh huh. Oh, I
Michael Rosenberg 6:18
would say, I would love it for you to share kind of like, what are some of the results that people started getting? After you started integrating all of those different modalities into your coaching and into your performance work?
Kitty Davidson 6:34
They were calmer. It was interesting. I worked with one individual who would go in and testify, you know, for her subject matter. And she told me, she was like, when she would go up, she felt like her voice was little like nobody could hear her. Right. And that's important in court, when you're when you're going to go testify in court. And I don't know if you've ever done that before, I've had to do it several times. It is difficult. And you're sitting there and you can, it's a stressful situation. And she felt like she could project her voice. She felt like her message was coming across with clarity. And she was like, I'm not. I'm not shaking, because she would go and she would shake. So I taught her breathing techniques, I did something called bilateral stimulation of the brain with tapping. I taught her how to do that and incorporate the deep diaphragmatic breathing. So that settles down the sympathetic nervous system. So you can have that sense of calm in your body. And she, she felt like she she just did not feel anxious.
Michael Rosenberg 8:01
Yeah,
Kitty Davidson 8:02
yeah. And we took away all the neg Yeah. And we worked on the negative thought patterns that she had before going in to testify. And they just weren't there. The The one thing that we worked on was I speak with confidence, I speak with integrity, you know, those kinds of words that you need to incorporate in your mind, as you're going in to testify, I speak with confidence. I mean, if you can say that, the words that come out of your mouth will be louder and clearer. I've seen it happen. It's amazing.
Michael Rosenberg 8:44
So you're saying just from like implementing that thought or saying that out loud, all of a sudden, it becomes true.
Kitty Davidson 8:54
Implement Yes, implementing the thought and saying it out loud and actually attaching an emotional response to it as well. Something like calm. Something like the feeling of confidence, because I what I do for people too, is I do something called a future template with the bilateral stimulation of the brain. So I have these individuals. Imagine what it's like for them to go into that space that they are performing in. And then we walk through it through the visualization of them actually doing whatever they are trying to do. And as they're doing it, they're implementing that I am confident or that I speak with integrity, or them setting on, you know, their bicycle, whatever the performance is, I have them visualize that. And it's an all over body experience as I work with them.
Michael Rosenberg 9:51
Wow. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Thanks for sharing that. So,
Unknown Speaker 9:57
yeah,
Michael Rosenberg 9:58
so I feel like I ended Did your story though, because I wanted to hear a little bit deaf. But so, so what happened? So you started getting more into the performance and mindset and the eastern practices as well, including that altogether. And then what happened? When did you? Well, yeah, what happened next, what happened next,
Kitty Davidson 10:25
I decided that I wanted to up my game, another notch as well. So I decided to go into a Ph. D. program for integrative medicine, which brings in the eastern philosophies and the eastern medicines, and traditions, because I wanted to research more on meditation. And one of the things that I have learned through researching the meditations, the different types, as well, because there's several different types of meditation is that especially with performance, and being able to use your deep breathing, heart rate variability, that coherence thing that you hear out there, in the performance world, it changes the shape of your brain, and how you react to things, which is super important in the performance world. When we use our breath, it changes, you know, it, it rejuvenates not just the entire body, but it rejuvenates the brain, okay. And it also has an effect on things like the limbic system, which is the emotional function part of your brain, okay? It can help. It can help you with bringing down the anxiety response, which is, you know, linked to the performance issues that I work with, it helps with the fear aspect, it helps with that overall sense of calm. So that is how I mean, that's really what brought me to where I am today, is doing all of the studying and whatnot in that integrative medicine program. So I can help people go even further. And the neuroscience behind motivation, and performance is super important. And if I can teach people about their brain, and how to change their brain, change your mind to change your brain, it actually has an impact on people and how they look at their anxiety. I've sat there with people who have come to me super anxious about whatever their performance says. And if I can tell them, okay, this is what happens, you know, this is how you take in stimulus. And this is how you can your brain does it. And this is what your mind is creating, then, that, I've noticed that that gives the person something that they can grab onto, it's very, it's very solid, it's concrete. So it gives them a foundation. And then we can go on to the the performance work that might be a little esoteric, like, I'm going to teach you visualization, and I'm going to teach you the energy centers in your body, and where your meridians are for motivation, and performance and that kind of thing, because that kind of stuff you can't really see. But if I can talk to you about the neuroscience behind performance, that gives you a foundation. And it really does seem to calm down that nervous system response. While that person is feeling that anxiety, it's interesting. I've seen it happen a lot.
Michael Rosenberg 13:31
Yeah. Wow. Yeah, yeah. So right now, in this moment, there's like some construction going on the background. And I'm listening to you, I'm trying to focus solely on you. And like what you're saying, and I'm already I'm getting anxious, just in this instance, about making sure that the recording comes out well, and that, like I'm listening enough, so I can ask you the right questions. And all these different things are coming up for me. And I just felt like sharing that with you. And so I'm curious. What, so let's say and these are things that come up every day, right? Like they're just like, always, stimulus that you were saying a comma, right, and causing, you know, these reactions, right. It's like, I'm not controlling, not necessarily, I don't want to say I'm out of control, but it just like a natural reaction for me to be like, right about the future of like, oh, when I edit this, like, I hope that there's one last sound and that kitty sounds great, you know, and I'm curious, like, what are some of the first steps or first actions that someone can take whether it's me, asking selfishly, or like someone who's facing some anxiety in their life or in their everyday work where they are a high performer they want to perform at an even higher level? Like what actions can someone take today or tomorrow whenever they're listening? to it, that are going to help them to start kind of re rewiring their brain and changing the shape of their brain.
Kitty Davidson 15:09
Well, one of the things I would tell people to start out with is to feel grounded. Okay, that the outside noises, those kinds of things that makes you feel less grounded. So one of the things I can tell you to do is use your five senses. Okay, so
Michael Rosenberg 15:26
standing up, I'm standing up, okay.
Kitty Davidson 15:29
Okay, so you stand up, feel the feel the ground underneath your feet, just stamp your feet a moment. That's, that's really grounding. Okay. Okay, okay, I'm doing so the first one. Okay, take a really deep breath in through your nose. diaphragmatic breath and release it slowly out through your mouth. And I want you to use your five senses. Okay, so I want you to find five things with your eyes and call them out loud.
Michael Rosenberg 16:04
Okay, neon sign. White. Building cup. Ball.
Kitty Davidson 16:14
Okay, so far perfect. Yep. Yeah. I want you to touch four things.
Michael Rosenberg 16:22
Jeremy, call them out.
Unknown Speaker 16:24
Yeah, okay,
Michael Rosenberg 16:26
phone. Why not? Got planner got notebook computer.
Kitty Davidson 16:31
Perfect. Okay. I want you to try to hear three things.
Michael Rosenberg 16:43
Okay. I hear mainly construction.
Kitty Davidson 16:50
Okay.
Michael Rosenberg 16:51
Let's see. I hear my voice. Let's see.
Me I hear a few different construction noises. Maybe some cars passing by.
Kitty Davidson 17:11
Perfect smell to things.
Michael Rosenberg 17:19
Let's see here. There you go. Got a smell my smell myself. And I have this candle. That's just overwhelming the entire room with a scent. Okay.
Kitty Davidson 17:30
Okay. And now taste one thing.
Michael Rosenberg 17:40
Like how we both took a drink of water at the same time?
Kitty Davidson 17:43
Yeah. How do you feel?
Unknown Speaker 17:47
I feel good.
Kitty Davidson 17:51
There you go. Just a little bit calmer.
Michael Rosenberg 17:57
Yeah, a little bit calmer.
Kitty Davidson 17:59
There you go. I
Michael Rosenberg 18:00
feel a little silly, which makes me feel better. Okay, there you go. There you go, like maybe a little bit in the shell action happening. So I think that exercise really helped me personally to just step out of like the so all those anxieties, like you were saying, Oh, yeah, just like into this moment. I'm here with you. Right. Wow. So that's just one example.
Kitty Davidson 18:28
That's just one example. That is just one example of what I teach my clients to do. What you did was, when I asked you to do the deep breathing, I had you activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which is your counterbalance to your sympathetic nervous system or your fight or flight. And when we feel really stressed out, when we're feeling really anxious about a performance that we are about ready to engage in, sometimes that sympathetic nervous system comes up. And it makes us fearful, or it makes us want to clam up faint. And then the cortisol from gets released from your adrenals. And then you're that's the whole stress response. When you activate the breathing when you becomes when you become still. And you're focused on the things like your five senses, it takes you like you said, it takes you away from the outside influences, and you go inward, because you're trying to find things to suit this body. And when you suit the body, you suit the mind. And the more that you are able to do the deep breathing, the more that you're able to bring that sense of calm, it will change your brain. And it will change the way that you see things in your reaction to certain stimulus. It's a practice every day. And that's something that we have to remember is that all the techniques that I give my clients There's another one too with bilateral stimulation because I teach people how to activate their left and their right brain. Um, yeah, I
Michael Rosenberg 20:08
was gonna ask if you could just define what that means bilateral stimulation, in case? I mean, I don't know. Yeah, just tell tell me what it is. I have no idea. I'm sure people don't know some people do so perfect I can I can make what it is I can make an inference of what it is I would rather have you just share exactly what it is so that there's total clarity.
Kitty Davidson 20:32
And I'm going to teach you how to do it too. Okay, so my goodness, yeah, you're gonna like it, you're gonna like it. Okay. So it's, it's one of the besides doing that exercise that we just did, the bilateral stimulation is one of the things that will drop you into a sense of calm, okay, with practice, and it'll do it quite quickly. You have your left and your right side of your brain, right, the logic part and the emotion part. And then you have something in the middle of your brain called the corpus callosum. And that connects those two sides of your brain. Okay? When we're feeling stressed out, when we're feeling anxious, those two sides of your brain they're not working so well together. We need them to work well. Okay,
Michael Rosenberg 21:20
so Okay, and or, yeah, sorry, I was gonna say something just like very silly, but just like, so the right brain and the left brain are supposed to work together,
Unknown Speaker 21:31
Kitty.
Kitty Davidson 21:33
Yeah,
Michael Rosenberg 21:34
oh my god. And if they're not, if they're not working well together, then you're not gonna feel call. This is blowing my mind. Okay, go on. Hello, Kitty.
Kitty Davidson 21:43
Okay.
So what we want to do in order to get those to talking, especially when we're under stress, and anxiousness and fear, we can tap. Easy. So you take your hands, there's two different tapping things that I can teach you. So one of them is called the butterfly hug. And you just kind of cross your arms. And you have one hand on your right shoulder, one hand on your left shoulder. And what you're going to do is you're going to tap left, right, left, right on your shoulder. So that's one way to do it. And the other way.
Michael Rosenberg 22:22
Uh, huh. Oh, does it matter if your right is your right hand, man to be underneath your left hand doesn't matter.
Kitty Davidson 22:28
It doesn't matter, okay? It doesn't matter. Or if you're sitting down or if you're standing up, palms on your thighs, or Hands on your thighs, and you're going to tap left, right, left, right, and it's just the steady, left, right, left, right. It's not a drumbeat. And I don't know if you can see me, but it's like this. Okay,
Michael Rosenberg 22:54
okay. Okay, so there's not a rhythmic, doesn't really have rhythm. It's just back, right? Back and forth,
Kitty Davidson 23:01
back and forth, back and forth. So I taught this to a lot of my PTSD clients to help them be in a sense of calm and meetings and that kind of thing. My war veterans, I've taught them this, and it has brought their sympathetic nervous response down. Okay. So what you're going to do, just start tapping on your legs, left, right, left, right. Take a deep breath in through your nose. And slowly release it out through your mouth. take a nice deep breath in through your nose. And slowly release it out through your mouth. And how about one more deep diaphragmatic breath and just keep tapping. And that's all you really have to do. Now, when I work with people in my sessions, I teach them a visualization that goes along with this. So I'm taking you down into probably alpha wave, brainwave, when I do this, so you're in a more focused sense. But you can still do this during the day when you're sitting at your desk. If you feel anxious. If you're in a store, you're feeling a little anxious walking around, it helps. I have the people that I've taught this bilateral stimulation to they've gone into meetings where they feel super anxious, or they've gone into where they're going to do a presentation. And they started doing the deep breathing and then the bilateral stimulation or the tapping and they have told me that they feel calmer
Michael Rosenberg 25:00
Yeah,
Kitty Davidson 25:01
well what a anxiousness leaves.
Michael Rosenberg 25:04
Yeah, what it what it? what it reminds me of is I can't remember if it was Jay Shetty that I heard say this, or maybe it's Brendon Burchard. But it's like, what, why breathing is so powerful is because you take like, the your external body? Well, what it's like you take your external body and your internal mind are moving at two different speeds. And by doing the breathing with this bilateral work, you're moving them into this, like singular speed. And not only that, like I know, for me, you know, there's sometimes like all this anxiety about kind of other people's actions, right, which I have no control over. And when you do this exercise, it's definitely like, oh, like, well, like, I'm in complete control of my body and my mind and my breath. And so that gives me I mean, just in this moment, is giving me more of that sense of calm? Is that kind of like, right? I don't know that that's obviously not how it works. But like, Is that is that what is that what I should be taking away from this,
Kitty Davidson 26:12
that's a great thing to take away from it, because it does, it takes your mind off of off of the external stimulus. And it gives you your control back. I mean, that's one of the easiest ways to put it. Because what happens with anxiety and triggers and those kinds of things. When we get into the anxious mode, our brain is starting to remind us of other things that have happened to us that we've had no control over, especially if we haven't processed through those things. And, you know, and done the healing work or whatever there might be from the past. Hence, why the anxiety and the trauma and the triggers come up. And this helps the brain process through what is going on right here and in the moment. So there's some other things that are going on in the inside of your brain that we don't have a lot of time to talk about. But with the tapping, it helps your brain process through that stimulus that you're going through right now, which is probably just the reaction to some of the stimulus that is that you've had from past performance. Yeah. And it happens to everyone.
Michael Rosenberg 27:41
Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for sharing that with me. And sure, letting me know that I'm not alone. Everyone that's listening, you're not alone.
Kitty Davidson 27:51
And now you're not alone?
Michael Rosenberg 27:53
Yeah. I really appreciate you sharing that. And like the, I mean, personally, I love that the tangible, like, let's take action and do something, right now stuff. And then I love that it's all backed up with biology and science and like, you know, research, and etc.
Unknown Speaker 28:15
Yeah,
Michael Rosenberg 28:15
I am curious. Is there? Is there anything that you wish that you could I don't, we're pretty much gonna wrap up the interview Pretty soon, pretty shortly. And I'm curious if there's anything that you haven't had a chance to share, that you want to share about that you want people to know about the work that you do?
Kitty Davidson 28:45
Well, I would like people to know that I'm there for you. I've started the new. It's called integrative performance and wellness coaching program. I have different tiers of programs that I work with. And I also do on site trainings and that kind of thing for people. And I know, with COVID, it's a little harder. But I do online coaching with individuals for anxiety performance. I know that there's a lot of people that might feel stuck right now trying to transition into the next phase of their life, because that's what I have recognized with a lot of things right now is that this has the current atmosphere that we're in it's, it's caused all sorts of fear and anxiety with regards to where am I going to go to next. And I just want people to know that I am out there and I am ready to help them overcome their anxiety so they can be the best version of themselves. So I want to, I just want to let people know that that I'm, I'm there for you and I can help walk through this path with you because it's important and I believe, I believe Believe in people and I believe that people are important. That's why I do the work that I do.
Michael Rosenberg 30:05
Yeah, I love that. You can share the full thing. I know your I know your moto. moto on here the
Kitty Davidson 30:13
full moto. Are
Michael Rosenberg 30:14
you very good out in post? What should
Kitty Davidson 30:18
I do the work? I do? Because I believe people are fucking important.
Michael Rosenberg 30:24
Yeah,
Kitty Davidson 30:25
I do. I believe that people are fucking important. And it makes me teary when I think about that. So I'm like, yeah, people are fucking important.
Michael Rosenberg 30:35
Yeah, I feel that. And I agree. And I want to say thank you for all the work that you do to help people live into their best selves and be connected with their power. And yeah,
Kitty Davidson 30:51
thank you.
Michael Rosenberg 30:52
I do have I think one more question is okay. What is your vision of your work? What is your vision of your, this world that you're creating, that you're putting in work to create in the future?
Kitty Davidson 31:10
Well, I hope that I am creating mindful leaders, is what I'm hoping, you know, I work with a bunch of people who go out there, and they feel like they're not leaders in their community or families. You know, I do work with leadership. But I want to create people that are empowered, or I want to help people feel like they are empowered to, you know, to be in their communities to reach this their highest level of whatever makes them feel important. Does that make sense? I
Michael Rosenberg 31:52
think so. So let me make sure I heard you correctly. So really, you want to create mindful leaders, whether that be a leader in your family and leader in your community and leader in your business or your work community? Let's do that people are empowered to do what's ever important to them.
Kitty Davidson 32:14
Yes, yes.
Unknown Speaker 32:16
Yeah.
Michael Rosenberg 32:18
Well, thanks so much for being that person who's going to do that, and creating that for the world and making that available to people. So how do you Where can people find out more about you how to get in touch with you how to work with you how to partner with you and to create this future where people are living into the most important things that are in their life?
Kitty Davidson 32:45
Okay, well, you can find me on Facebook. That's one place that you can find me it's kitty Davidson. I think I'm the only kitty Davidson on Facebook.
You can
Michael Rosenberg 32:57
I know. I covered it. Right there.
Kitty Davidson 33:00
I think I think it is.
Michael Rosenberg 33:02
Because look out Michael Rosenberg, because you won't find me.
Kitty Davidson 33:09
You can find you can google me. You can find me at my my website, which is Katy Davidson. lpc.com. I have a coaching website that is under progress right now. So I do have that you can you can call me You can message me on Facebook, you can definitely reach out to me on Instagram. I'm a little Buddha kitty. Or you can find me. Yeah. At my at my coaching address, which is kitty Davidson. coaching@gmail.com.
Michael Rosenberg 33:47
Amazing. Kenny, is there any parting wisdom, insights or advice that you'd like to give the listeners
Kitty Davidson 33:59
I would say every morning when you get up, give yourself five minutes to meditate. Five minutes to do breath work to get yourself centered for a good day. I tell all of my clients that and then ask yourself one question. What is one thing that I will let go of today? And actually, it's two things.
Michael Rosenberg 34:25
Yeah. What do you mean when you said like, what was one thing that I'm gonna let go of today? What do you mean when you say like, oh,
Kitty Davidson 34:31
maybe it's I'm going to let go of control. Maybe it's I am going to let go of the anger that I have towards the guy who cut me off yesterday. Some people still stew about it, even though it's it happened yesterday. What is one thing you're going to let go of that you know will bring you a sense of ease and calm. That will not cause you any anxiety that will help you perform better today?
Michael Rosenberg 35:07
Well, thanks so much for being on Here, kitty. If you've been listening, Come, take action and meditate. Do the bilateral exercises we talked about reach out to Kitty, and just enjoy the rest of your day. You've been listening to the entrepreneurs connection show