Episode 201: Reduce Stress with Meditation and Comedy with Paula Jane Newman
You know that feeling when something just feels right and there’s no other way to explain it?
It’s almost like your mind and your body say, “Ahhh yes. Finally! This is it.”
That’s how Paula Jane Newman felt when she experienced meditation for the first time. The rest is history! Erin and Paula Jane talk about everything from what it means to develop a meditation practice to how humor can really be the best medicine.
If you’re looking for a remedy for the everyday stress that creeps up and a few deep belly laughs along the way – this is the episode for you.
More about Paula Jane Newman: British Paula is known as the “Real Deal.” She couldn’t be fake if an Oscar depended on it. As a comedian and trained theater actress in Los Angeles, Paula initiated the first Carnegie Mellon West Coast showcase. She was quickly cast in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, but sustained a repetitive strain injury doing office work and investigated meditation to deal with living in chronic physical pain.
Paula investigated methods outside of opioids to deal with pain and studied over 6,500 hours to become a recognized Vedic Meditation teacher and the founder of Aware Meditation – a non-profit to help others gain healing with meditation and leap off the pain medication cycle. She has worked in over 60 TV projects, film projects, and video games. She’s performed stand-up internationally including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Sydney Comedy Club, and Happy Endings Sydney.
ICYMI – Your Post-Episode Homework: Complete Gabby Bernstein’s Positive Energy Meditation.
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Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
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Episode 201 Transcription
Erin (00:01):
Improve it peeps, welcome to today's show. Today's show is gonna make you laugh. It's also gonna give you some tangible, so I want you to sit back, relax, because you're gonna hear from the comedic hilarious Paula Jane Newman. So Paula is known as the real deal. She couldn't be fake if an Oscar depended on it. She's a global clean comic mc event host, inspirational motivational speaker, voiceover improv artist, theatrically trained actress, meditation instructor and nonprofit founder. Her clean comedy is infused with wisdom, inspirational gems, various voices, silliness, and acts out that do deserve an Oscar. Today we're talking all about how meditation can help you reduce stress and how Paula Jane has infused this career with comedy and meditation together. It is a fantastic show. It's here to guide you. It's here to give you some more tips and tricks in your tool belt.
Erin (01:03):
My friends, this show is dealing with our theme for August, which is all about health. So this is our final show for August. And so I want you to take out a notebook and pen and get ready to improve it with Paula Jane Newman. Hi, new friend. I'm Erin Diehl, business improv edutainer, failfluencer, and keynote speaker who is ready to help you improve your it, it being the thing that makes you, you. So think of me as your keeping it real. Professional development bestie who is here to help you develop yourself into the best version of you possible so you can develop your team and lead with intentionality, transparency, and authenticity. Oh, and did I mention we are improving your IT through play? That's right. I am an improvisational comedy expert who uses experiential learning to help you have your aha haha moments. Those are the moments when the light bulb goes off and you're laughing at the same time. So grab your chicken hat, your notebook in your inner child, because I'm going take you on a journey that is both fun and transformative. Welcome to the Improve It Podcast. Oh my god, Paula Jane, thank you so much for coming on this show. You are a delight. I'm already ex I'm like, you know, when you can feel people's energy, you've just already like given me a a shot of caffeine. I've taken an expresso shot. I'm feeling good. You feel like a warm hug. I'm here for it. Thank you so much for coming on.
Paula (02:46):
Oh, my pleasure. Thank you for having me. That's that's my specialty. Igniting a spark in you. Right? A a true teacher doesn't, isn't dogmatic. True. Teacher finds something that just ignites a spark within you. And I'm glad that's right. When people have their own spark lit up, then I don't have to do most of the work actually, <laugh>. That's right. That's right.
Erin (03:13):
And I gotta tell you my cheeks already. I'm like, I feel my face. I'm like, this is a good workout for my face. 'cause I'm smiling from ear to ear. I am so grateful that you're bringing your spark to the show. I want to set an intention for the audience for you. So what's one word that you want to give to our listeners today?
Paula (03:35):
I'm gonna take a moment actually, because something didn't come in right away and then my head got involved, right? Like the conversation of what words should I say? What words have been said, what hasn't been said? Do you need to be different? And I need a moment to be quiet and just see what comes up for the betterment of this recording. Hang on one second. Light.
Erin (04:00):
Mm. You know what I love about that? That you called attention to that inner dialogue too, because that is, that is amazing because that goes through everyone's mind and sometimes we think that we have to say things a certain way, but you actually set that expectation. Like, hold on, I need a minute. And then the word act that came to you was beautiful, and I feel like you're already giving us that light today. So thank you. And I feel like I needed your spark and light today. Paula, I, Paula, Jane, I needed you. So lemme say this,
Paula (04:37):
The inner dialogue right now, my inner dialogue was, what a disappointing word. Anything more lame? Seriously. Paula Light. What?
Erin (04:52):
<Laugh>.
Paula (04:53):
Well, I love
Erin (04:54):
The word light. It. I honestly light love. You have love on your sweater if you're, you can't, no one's watching this most likely, but they're hearing this. She has the word love all over sweater. Watch
Paula (05:06):
It. Watch these smiles from ear to ear. Mine is a very cheesy grin, <laugh>,
Erin (05:13):
It's a beautiful grin and I am super here for it. And I'm also super here for this conversation because you take the things that I love in my own life and why people tune into this show comedy and you use it to help others. You are a chronic pain warrior for over 20 years, and you sought meditation after experiencing a work related injury due to repetitive computer and office work. And you did that as an alternative to long-term pain management without using pharmaceutical drugs. I'm just, I'm telling you our audience, this, I know you know this about yourself, but you also took, you trained over 6,500 hours, including spending time in India and you're a vinyasa trained yoga instructor. I, all of these things just blow my mind because you take everything that I love and you've combined it into this impactful career filled with light. So I wanna start with how you made the connection between your teaching method and comedy healing. How did you, how did you get to this place?
Paula (06:25):
It wasn't a, first of all, I think you should be my cheerleader because that person you introduced is phenomenal. I think I need to record that every morning for when I wake up. Yes.
Erin (06:35):
Just, yeah,
Paula (06:36):
But I will tell you it was not an, a fast path. The fast path was not happening because no one had trained me. And I believe as a collective consciousness, we we're not training people to learn how to listen to your own calling and your own path. It's very much a fear-based orientation of get educated, get a career, find someone that fits in with that, maybe have a family, oh dear, that doesn't work out, but did you have savings? Do you have a backup plan? Oh, you're sick. Oh, I wonder why you're sick. That's the, the constitution of like the collective of how you survive in the 20th, 21st century. And so the path that I found, I will honestly say came out of aversion rather than charm because I was doing the deal. You know, I came out of drama school.
Paula (07:40):
We were the first year to ever go to Los Angeles. I got myself in a movie. I was in the first Pirates of the Caribbean, and I was hurt right before I had this movie. And I was in a relationship that I thought, that's what you're supposed to be in. Someone who was pursuing the arts with me. They were like the writer director, and I was the performer. And we've been dating for a while. And I thought, well, that's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to lead towards the whole long-term thing, arm in arm with the career. And everything came crashing down. I got sick to my body. I couldn't put my arm out straight. I took sit up for a period of time and a relationship that wasn't really going any further. Not because of who we were, but because it had served its purpose.
Paula (08:32):
It was what it was. And, and that person was my best friend before we sort of started dating. And I, in my brain, I was like, oh, well maybe this is how it works. Like, I was still trying to figure love out in my head rather than in my soul. Right? And anyone who's been around the block enough will know that love doesn't deal with the head. But that's what we've been trained for. Someone must fit into my circumstances. Somebody must fit into my lifestyle. Yes. That, that's great. You're more likely to meet someone that way. But what is something that shows the test of time has got nothing to do with material matter at all. The longevity of a relationship is something that's connected within. And this isn't answering the question at all,
Erin (09:23):
<Laugh>. It's interesting though. I'm loving it. But tell, okay. So wait, let me pause you there because I like what you said. You're, you weren't listening, you were listening to this fear-based path that you thought that the society tells us that we must go on. You were listening to essentially your mind, not your soul. So tell us how you started listening to your soul.
Paula (09:47):
Great. Well, the first thing I had through circumstance, I found meditation. I'd heard meditation helps with pain, right? And I was too young to be living on these medications. And what was occurring was, the more meds you gave me, the more my body had a tolerance for it. And it would just my mind out for a bit, not too much. Or I'd pass out and I wasn't functioning. And I was going back to the fear. I was like, how am I gonna retire? How am I gonna meet anyone? I'm too young to have this. No one will like me. So I was seeking various meditations to help deal with my mind. And I knew the only way to really get free of this anxiety mind was I had to put everything down that was masking it and be willing to look at the stuff that simply came up.
Paula (10:40):
Right now we're in a more aware consciousness of anxiety, but I had this sort of I dunno if it was like of a dream or sort of a vision, whatever you wanna say. But I always thought, well, what if I was in a place where I had all the money in the world and I had everything at my disposal because I thought, oh, if I had more money, I'd have better healthcare. Right? Or I can make myself look better. I can, you know, 'cause in America, only certain things are covered and a workman's comp, it's hardly anything. And I had this idea of what if I was Queen Paula? You know, what if I was back in more of a renaissance time? And those of you who are looking or see, I look like I walked right out of an English period film <laugh>. I had that shape, you know? Which was not cool in England growing up. It's supposed to be like a big skinny, big boobs, flat belly, no squish at all, and blonde straight hair. And I'm like, nah. And what if I was Queen Paula there? You know? And what if I had all the jewels and riches? I, I had this moment of I would still be in my chamber complaining to my lady and waiting, right. I would be complaining that, oh, the jewels are just so heavy, you know?
Erin (12:05):
Yeah. And
Paula (12:06):
You can go and, you know, have it away with anyone. I have to be betrothed to Lord. Ugh, bubba, blah, blah, blah of what's a face? Right? Yeah.
Erin (12:15):
Please
Paula (12:16):
Just go forth and get my opiates.
Erin (12:19):
Yeah. <laugh>. So, okay. What did you put down, what did you have to put down to see through this mask? Well,
Paula (12:28):
I had to put down all of the prescription medication. I had to put down all of the alcohol that I was using. Any, any you know what, we'll now people use gummies or they smoke weeded or whatever. I had to put all of that stuff down and be willing to take a hard look at whatever emotion came up, what was my part?
Erin (12:52):
Mm mm
Paula (12:53):
Right? And how I'm carrying that in all of my life right now. So, for example, something silly. The light is blinking that I have a message when I don't, you know, so it does it on the phone. You're like, has one message and you're like, there's no message there and it won't get rid of it. Why am I losing my mind over this notification that's not there? Why am I taking energy and doing that? And it seems so small. And at the time you know, there wasn't so much, you know, Bluetooths going around and whatnot, and I was just blinking light and we were still using glam lines as much as, you know, <laugh> cell phones. And it really was able to come and underneath it, like, why does it bother you? The flashes? Oh, it reminds you there's something you're supposed to do.
Paula (13:46):
It reminds you that it's a landline and you don't have a headset that works. Right? Because I can't hold a phone up. I still can't hold a phone up for extended periods of time. And right now no one does anyway, so it doesn't actually matter. But back then it did. Oh, you can't hold it up for extended period of time. What does that mean? That means that you're gonna look weird. That means you have to explain yourself again. Oh, I have to explain myself like I did all my childhood. What, where did that come from? Oh, you had to explain yourself when you got accused of doing something wrong that you didn't, no one believed you. Why did no one believe you? Oh, the other girl was prettier. Oh, she looked the way it's supposed to. And it just kept unpacking and unpacking, unpacking, unpacking. And I was like, because of a blinking light.
Erin (14:27):
Mm. Yeah. And when
Paula (14:29):
That started to, I started to see it was never about the light. And I started to viscerally have a connection to why the light bothered me. Not an intellectual thing. I was able to start to be removing my emotions and my self worth from the blinking lights. Like it would still affect, or I then had the space to be, I know what a thought would come, let's just unplug the sucker and see what happens. But it was like, I have got to win over the light.
Erin (15:10):
Yeah.
Paula (15:12):
Rather than let's just check out why it's doing that and removing all of these emotions that are in my body about this thing that's occurring.
Erin (15:22):
Totally. Okay. Can I ask you a personal question? Are you still sober? Are you, do you still not use alcohol or any type of pharmaceutical?
Paula (15:34):
Yes. It'll be about 20 years in September.
Erin (15:38):
Congratulations Paula. Jane. That is amazing. That is amazing.
Paula (15:44):
Everyone is at the effect of something. And, and let me say this, I'm not against pharmaceutical drugs. I am not against using alternative. It is the consciousness of the person that ingests whatever is happening. Right? And so I still try different modalities 'cause science is, you know, coming up with new elements. But more importantly for me to have a clear mind. And even then I do silly things and I say stupid. Whats, its all the time <laugh>. I'm in such a habit of what's my part or owning. If I don't feel like owning my part, I don't want be respond. No, no. Yeah. And, and and reveling in that and then realizing, oh, that does not feel good in my body.
Erin (16:32):
Yes. Can I tell you something? This is, I always believe in, I believe in the collective consciousness and I believe in universal love. And I believe in all the things that you're saying. And I feel like you or and I were supposed to meet right now, I I am dealing with post-concussion syndrome. I have, I had a concussion. I'm dealing with just the aftermath of that. And I always believe things happen for you, not to you. And I gotta tell you, one of the biggest things that I've taken away from this experience is how much I was polluting my mind and my body with things that I thought like alcohol, CBD, like putting things in my body that I thought I needed to let go or to be more social or to show up in a different way. And I've actually realized that I am more aligned in my own self and my own highest good without those substances.
Erin (17:36):
And it has been an eye-opening experience because socially we are conditioned to drink socially. People are go, you go to a bar, what do you want to drink? You go to a restaurant, what do you want to drink? I mean, I can't tell you how empowering it has been to realize that I don't need these substances to make me feel whole. And also how much clearer and how much less anxiety I know I have because I'm not putting those into my body. I also don't want it. 'cause My head hurts all the time. So, you know, but like, that is so refreshing to hear. And it sounds like it sent you down this path of mindfulness and meditation. And I wanna ask you about that. How this, this chronic pain led you to meditation. What did your meditation practice look like in the beginning? And now? What does it look like today for somebody who is interested in becoming more of mindful? I wanna start at the beginning and then share where you are now.
Paula (18:42):
Wonderful. I love that. Yeah. My, it started with what I had. I had done years in like drama school and yoga, like, you know, breathing out through a sphincter, trying to sit quiet you know, counting, you know your breaths. I remember I found a tree one time. I was like, someone told me tree is grounding for the earth. And I, I put my back to the tree. It was, it was back in England where it was beautiful, crisp. Early morning. I wrap myself up and I remember, okay, just breathe. Can't breathing. I remember like I would breathe in, I'd go one, then I'd breathe out and then I'd start with like two breathe in and I'd breathe out. And then the mind started, you know, the mind would be like, wait, are we counting on the inhalation or the inhalation and the inhalation? Mm-Hmm.
Paula (19:33):
<Affirmative>, are we at six? Are we at six or are we now at seven? Because I'm breathing while I'm thinking about, I'm breathing. Oh wait, my foot hurts. What's that crawling on my ankle? And you know, that's how I would start. Right? And then I listened to apps, you know, I mean, who nowadays, I mean, goodness. If I listened to something like the calm app, you know, I'd put on Harry styles and I'd probably get like a couple of seconds in and my brain would go, wait, I wonder what dress he was wearing when he was recording this <laugh>.
Paula (20:07):
Right. And I'll start thinking. And so I started on what I call all the general things that are out there now. It's beautiful because there's more of an awareness of if you meditate, you're not a weirdo. There's enough celebrities that do for forms of meditation, but none of that was getting to the core of what I needed. I'd already tried it. And what I found that made a difference, and I didn't know this was a technique, it is a technique that can give the body two to five times deep rest, more than sleeping. And the idea is that when we say we're sleeping, we're not actually getting that deep rest. And I had to find a teacher who showed me. I knew I needed someone to show me something. And of course I didn't believe anything would work. This was the last house on the block as it were.
Paula (20:55):
And I went down into a neighborhood in Los Angeles just around what's called, what was known as the jungle. It was a little bit scary for, you know, I was like, this is the day you die, Paula. You can't defend yourself. Right? You're driving in your car. And I'm like, white face, like lost, right? I'm like, oh, this is it. This is it Paula. And this woman sort of did this little ceremony and she whispered a sound and she said, now do the meditation and then I want you to go home and then you're gonna come back and I want you to try it on your own. And I was like, oh, this is it. You've gone to the flipping Moonies cult at this point. <Laugh> lost it. And I sat down at home, I still have the clock. I looked at the clock.
Paula (21:37):
I imagined like 20 minutes. I closed my eyes, had this sort of like sound thing she gave me. And I had 20 minutes. I had like pillows under my arms and back of my neck. And I was slowly over my eye at the time. It went so slow, so slow. I laid down and I thought, well that was blooming <laugh> doing that again. And then I lay down for what was my regular three hour nap because I couldn't sleep at night, so I wasn't getting full sleep. And within about five minutes or so, I was trying to make my body go to sleep. And my body was like, nah, we don't need this. And so I sat up and it wasn't until a friend said, so how did it go? And I told them this and they sort of flipped out and said, do you realize you've just done meditation 20 minutes and 20 minutes, that's 40 minutes and you don't have to sleep for three hours.
Paula (22:41):
And because they pointed that out to me, I thought, this has got nothing to do with what's going on in my head. Something deeper is going on. I don't understand it, but I suppose I should go back for the next session. Yeah. And more. And it was through that experience of it didn't matter what was going on in my brain in this 20 minutes, this was beyond my immediate comprehension. And something was happening on a deeper level physiologically. And then as a result, I got to the point with, well what can I do to make a living that's not body dependent? And I thought, well, and this is like basically my thoughts. Like I'm not this amazing like naturally enlightened person. I was like, well, I could be an old lady on a hill with my walker gray hair and an English accent teaching meditation and be considered wise
Erin (23:52):
<Laugh>.
Paula (23:59):
Knew in my soul that every time when I was younger we sort of mentioned we were gonna talk a little bit about divergency when I was younger studying for exams. And I was very much in a time period of school where there wasn't really much coursework. 'cause It was very much academic environment and it was about learning. And, and I would have to be in my room and I would have to learn it as if I was standing up and teaching it. So I'd have to speak it and I'd have to really understand the subject. And I went from a c student to like a top a student because I figured out that's what I had to do. Except for math. You cannot be walking around talking about math. Like, that doesn't make no sense to anyone. It's just numbers
Erin (24:40):
You write. Yes. But what I
Paula (24:43):
Did do was I got a problem that, you know, they regurgitated back then probably do now certain questions that always come up on tests. And I walked around and I learn a couple examples of questions and would you believe it the day of the exam, a couple of them showed up. And I'm sure that's the only reason why I passed math <laugh> maths because mathematics shortened
Erin (25:09):
Yes.
Paula (25:10):
About that. But that I knew from my experience that if I really wanted to have the extra level of learning about what this meditation was, I was gonna have to learn to become a teacher of it, for me to really grasp what I'm doing. And then the actual spiritual principle of if you really want to keep something, you have to give it away in some form for it to nourish yourself. Like we are reminded. And so that's how that all came about. Not because I thought I can look great in you know at tunic.
Erin (25:53):
Yeah. <Laugh> on top of a hill. Yes. <laugh>. That's a very visual picture and I'm here for it. Okay. So I love this. And I think exactly what you say, you have to, in order to fully understand, you have to teach. I feel the same way about what we do here. I feel like sometimes I have to go through certain things in life because I'm supposed to teach them. That's what I think I'm going through right now. But for somebody who has never meditated, who wants to become more mindful, how would you tell them to start? What is one easy action item for them to do?
Paula (26:36):
The first thing is, is tell yourself you are not trying to meditate. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. Don't try to meditate. You are following an idea of what you think you are supposed to be doing. And then find a place and create a routine where you take some quiet time and you sit down. And even if that's you closing your eyes and let your mind wander all over the place, do that regularly. Ultimately I would say, you know, people can always go to you know, the nonprofit website. We have a free information session. We do online every week to talk about the difference of the practice that I do. And then if you have you know, don't live near where I am, I can or where I go, I can recommend, you know, teachers are in that area to talk more about it. But the key element is not trying to make yourself be something you aren't. Right. Like sometimes I, you know, when I travel it's hilarious. It says, you know, oh, the right around the corner coffee shop that I go to is gonna take me two hours and 20 minutes because it thinks that I'm somewhere where I was. And this is how we are. When we approach meditation often we think, oh, we're at this place. I'm going to, I'm going to try to acquire material matter. Right? Yeah. And we're trying to do something and I say, let's stop trying to do and connect to the true human being.
Erin (28:06):
Mm.
Paula (28:07):
Being, and we'll get closer to who we are authentically. And when we do that, we'll find people are attracted to us. You know? Yeah. I have a young children who are free. Why people love them so much is because they're living the life that they wish they could live. And that is a life where they're free with their emotions. Yeah. And they're, and they're okay with who they are.
Erin (28:34):
Amen. Yes. Oh my god. Paul chain. I know. I just thought of like two children right away that I just, I'm like, yes, you're free spirits. You give zero FSS and you show up authentically as you. And I'm like, yes, yes, yes. And I gotta say my old son, sometimes I watch him and I'm like, how do I give zero of those fss? Like how do I do that? Like that? Because it's so authentic to watch. And I think that's exactly where you're going with starting with meditation, is you go into your higher self, whatever that version is for you. And I wanna talk to you too about stress management because you have a pretty interesting way of thinking about negative, I'm thinking about negative thinking. So you have a pretty unique take on that. What is your take on negative thinking? So
Paula (29:23):
There's this whole movement of I've got to think positive, right? So let's flip that up upside down. Why do you have to think positive? Because there's a natural disaster neurological pathway. It's okay for in the moment when people say it's gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay. And my brain is like up yours, I don't care about, it's gonna be okay. I wanna know how I make myself okay right here, right now because that's what's gonna get me using drugs and alcohol. Yeah. Crazy situation. Yes. Negative thinking. It's not a negative thinking then washes me in my brain as a complete utter disaster. Like anything that enters my brain is wrong and I've got enough. Oh, just be a good girl. Behave right. You are, you know, be a good per. No, it's a negating thought. It's a thought that has something. But how many times have I been like, this is a bunch of rubbish.
Paula (30:28):
I don't like it. I'm gonna go off and create my own thing. And through it we've connected to creativity. We have more and, and we find out we're aligned with who we think we are. People who get divorced are like, oh, but I got married. What? Okay. That served its purpose and then recreate themselves. These are the things that movies are made out of. Right. So a negating thought, right? So the negating thought is coming from usually some expectation that you think you're supposed to appear in the world. So for example, at the beginning I was like, I have to take a moment. I have all this run-on brain. And then what came out of my mind? What did I do? Acknowledge the thought of, I think that was such a lame thing to come out of my mouth. And then we laugh and we move on and we forget it. Right. Often when we're trying to do positive thinking, we are simply negating experiencing the emotion of what's happening right here in this moment. Mm. And this is where the joy of young children are. I'm feeling sad.
Paula (31:32):
Oh, okay. And that the adult figure will be like, oh, we have to stop them from seal it feeling sad rather than why what's happening? Yeah. And they're like, address it and be like, yeah, I feel sad about that too. Mm-Hmm. And more like, however we can't do anything about it. Or can we And you take an action either way, take an action and then you move through it because it's okay to feel sad and still get stuff done. In my mind, I can't do anything. I'm too overwhelmed. Everyone needs to just stop until I figure this one thing out. And that's not what the consciousness is nowadays. Especially after covid, we're expected to be we have to do everyone else's job for them because if you do get through to someone in customer service, you can guarantee they're just trained of how to get you off the phone. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. Did you fill in the form? Oh, well they'll get back to you soon. Well, I'm getting back to you because they haven't got back to me. Well you know what? I'll go ahead and fill in another form. So how is our service today? What would you rate it out? Five. You're like mm-hmm.
Paula (32:39):
You don't have the capacity to serve the problem because you are just here to basically find us a way to go away.
Erin (32:46):
Yeah. So you're saying, you're saying too, when you think that negative thought, give space to that negative thought. Give it time to simmer and ask yourself like you would ask a child, well why are you sad? Get through that. Be okay with those negative thoughts and that actually helps us move forward. Versus trying to replace it with a positive thought immediately and moving on.
Paula (33:12):
Yes. I love that you use that word for clarification immediately, right? Yeah. 'cause immediate, we don't wanna go down that rabbit hole and we wanna understand that we can feel sad and have, you know, emotions that aren't like happy go lucky and still be in the world. Yeah.
Paula (33:28):
And then, you know, yeah. I'm feeling sad with it. Okay. What action do I want to take, take? And maybe I'm just gonna get on with my day and know that I feel sad. I will guarantee you may, may more is getting accomplished than you realize. Yeah. Because you're getting on with it. And sometimes you have to do that, pull you up by a bootstraps. But unless one has acknowledged that feeling like this is the great art with comedy is one can have a joke, one can have a set, one can have a know that it works. But if you don't acknowledge in the moment, well that one didn't fly, then you have the audience. Why? Because they are with you in that moment. And you are having a shared, shared experience of an emotional truth.
Erin (34:15):
Yes. Yes. Oh, I love it there. It's full circle. Back to the comedy. I love it so much, Paula. Jane, I think the work that you are doing is transformative. I think the power that you've brought to your own life, the light that you've brought to your own life through this work and through finding clarity by getting rid of substances in your life that don't serve you. They could serve some people but they don't serve you. And finding your truth through the higher consciousness of yourself is so beautiful. And then sharing it with others. So thank you.
Paula (34:52):
You're very welcome. And the comedy element, people sort of get scared about it. What we're moving forward and through with all of who I am, the compassion of someone who's lived with something chronic pain, who's had to turn the life around, who's got the meditation training, listen to an intuition. Then with all the performance, when we get business people, regular people, you can come and take the sort of course online learn and actually break through huge, huge barriers in their life by learning. Just simply doing a comedic set that's performed. Yes. And often we have people, we have people talk about their trauma. People talk about what's going on. Even if it was the bully at five years old. Yes. There is a huge healing for the person involved. And when there's the event, there are the people there to support them. And we, what's happening, that person is allowing people to support them.
Paula (35:50):
'Cause They might be, but on a deep emotional level, not on please support me and like, and share, please support me with. Yeah. Can you emotionally support me of coming up on stage, whether it's on Zoom or in person, be there. And then when the person does a great job, because they all do, because of how I teach this because I'm not doing what everyone else is doing. They're blown away. Oh my God, I had no idea. I knew you were kind of witty. But they're also learning something about, in a way it's not, and it's not the quagmire of I'm the suffering comic. I'm such a loser. It's a regular business person. It's a busy mom, it's a, oh my gosh, there's formula and breast milk all over the table and I have to pee. I don't know which orifice liquids are coming out of. It's like really expressing your truth. Speaking your truth. And we are in a culture and consciousness where we are repressing that. Yeah.
Erin (36:56):
Yes. And
Paula (36:57):
So doing this in a way where we can laugh, we can overcome it. And being in a collective group where we're all laughing together. And then once someone says, I'm so scared, I completely forgot my joke. Everyone bursts out laughing and they are, they're like this, they are with you more than any major Netflix. Yes. Special. Any major comedian. Okay, go ahead. Fluffy in your stadium. Go ahead Karen Hart, Kevin Hart in your stadium. We're gonna sit and watch you make me laugh. It's like this. Wait, what's happening next?
Erin (37:29):
Yes. Yes.
Paula (37:31):
And that is a communal experience. What people will say the best part of honestly was when you forgot your, forgot your joke.
Erin (37:39):
Yeah. Truth and comedy right there.
Paula (37:41):
The next thing you said was hilarious and the whole room is now with you. And at the end of that set you'll get the biggest round of applause. 'cause People had an experience of connecting to another human being. Yes. And of course the laughter, scientifically proven healing. When you do laugh, I'm taking it next level of what the healing is, is when you perform it.
Erin (38:05):
I love it. Okay, Paula, tell everybody where they can find you. If they wanna know more about this course, if they wanna find out more about your work, give them all the thanks.
Paula (38:16):
Perfect. Well initially the first drop is paula jane newman.com and that's just like, you know, Paul Newman, that's the spelling
Erin (38:26):
<Laugh>,
Paula (38:27):
Right? Paula Jane Newman. J a n e. And then you can also go to aware meditation com and on that front page will be a link to rise up comedy rise up comedy through there. You can see some of the videos of regular people. And then you can reach out to you know, if you want to take one of the courses, we do them on Zoom or if there's enough people in a certain city, we do it where there's a performance in the city and we mix it in with professional comedians as well, so that you have people get to see a great show. And also so that the professional comedians who are not exposed this kind of healing and human spirit. 'cause It can be a very lonely path going from city to city on your own.
Erin (39:11):
Yeah.
Paula (39:12):
They have an uplifting healing experience. They're part of something different that isn't only about them trying to make people laugh and be funny and look at them and they're like, status goes up higher, but it fills their souls as well. And it's all, it's all cleanish comedy because we want everyone to be included. And I love it requires stronger writing as well. Yes,
Erin (39:38):
It does. Yes it does. Well, I'm so thrilled that we have you here. I will make sure all these links are in the show notes. Thank you for sharing your light with us today. I really mean that you're doing good work out in this world using something that we love comedy to help others heal. It's such important work. I know that our improve, that peeps got so much out of today's show. I got so much out of today's show. So thank you Paula Jane so much.
Paula (40:04):
Well thank you. And I did as well. <Silence>
Erin (40:15):
Improve it.
Erin (40:17):
Paula Jane is a light that that intention was true. She is a light. And I hope that today helped you think about your own levels of stress and how you can mitigate those by incorporating meditation into your day-to-day. She has a great course online that you can look into if this is something that you wanna put into practice for yourself. Let me say this. I myself was skeptical of meditation as a way to reduce stress when I first started my meditation practice. It was in 2017. As I was going through my journey with I V F and, and trying to conceive, I will tell you for free that if I did not start becoming more mindful, I would have never become a mother. I had to learn how to mother myself before I could become a mother to somebody else. So starting with just five minutes of meditation today can help you feel more calm, more present, more grounded in your body.
Erin (41:23):
And as you can see with Paula Jane, she has taken this to new heights. She has used it as a way to manage her chronic pain. And she has used it as a way to help heal others. Pass on today's show if it speaks to you, to somebody who needs it, that is my one ask. If today's show inspired you to meditate, pass it to somebody else. And here's your homework. I want you to go online and just Google five minute meditation. I have a great one to share with you from Gabby Bernstein. She is one of my favorite spiritual leaders and I'm gonna find that for you now. Do you hear me Googling? It's called Positive Energy Meditation. We'll put that in the show notes for you. It's five minutes. Just gives you a dose of positive energy to start your day. Start there and see how you feel for a week. Five minutes of meditation can go such a long way. I'm so proud of you. And prove it peeps. You know what I'm gonna say? I want you to keep failing. Keep improving because this world needs that very special it that only you can bring. I'll see you next time.
Erin (42:37):
Hey friend, did you enjoy today's show? If so, head on over to iTunes to rate and subscribe. So you never miss an episode. Now, did I mention that when you leave a five star review of the Improve It podcast, an actual team of humans does a happy dance? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. That's right. So leave a review for us on iTunes, screenshot it and send me an email at info at learn to improve it.com. I'll send you a personalized video back as a thank you. Thanks so much for listening. Improve It Peeps. I'll see you next Wednesday.