Episode 360

full
Published on:

2nd Apr 2026

YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE

On this episode of The Karen Kenney Show, I talk about why ​"you can’t get there ​from here​."

​Especially when​ "there" is a new way of thinking, being, and doing and “here” is you clinging to your same old ​stories, ​beliefs, and behaviors.

Telling a ​tale about a snowy dead-end street​ in my hometown, showing a ​fun stick-figure drawing​ that I did, and sharing some down-to-earth spiritual tools​...

I dive into how taking tiny baby steps, developing some self-awareness, and committing to a simple ​Daily ​Spiritual ​Practice​ (DSP) can help you ​to finally let go of what’s familiar ​- so you can actually become the person you say you want to be​!

KAREN KENNEY BIO:

Karen Kenney is a writer, speaker, podcaster, certified spiritual mentor, and coach.

She’s known for her dynamic storytelling, her sense of humor, her Boston accent, and her no-bullshit approach to spirituality, self​-development, and transformational work.

Karen helps people to navigate this whole “being human” experience using practical tools, universal principles and stories, and a variety of resources.

KK has been a yoga teacher for 25+ years, has been giving Thai Yoga Massage since 2008, and began teaching it in 2015.

She's also a Gateless Writing Instructor, and host of The Karen Kenney Show podcast.

She coaches clients individually in her 1:1 program THE QUEST and via her HEART-TO-HEART DAYS using Voxer. She also leads a group program and community called THE NEST.

CONNECT WITH KAREN:

Website: http://karenkenney.com/

Podcast: https://www.karenkenney.com/podcast

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karenkenneylive/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenkenneylive/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KarenKenney

Transcript
Karen Kenney:

It's the Karen Kenney show. Hey you guys.

Karen Kenney:

Welcome to the Karen Kenney show. I'm so excited to be here

Karen Kenney:

today, and today I have, like, visual help, helping aids. Just,

Karen Kenney:

just buckle, buckle up for safety. I'm going to tell you a

Karen Kenney:

little story. I got some visual aids, and hopefully I'm going to

Karen Kenney:

share something today that is helpful to you and that you can

Karen Kenney:

apply to your life right away. That's one of the things about

Karen Kenney:

this show, is besides just trying to spread a little more

Karen Kenney:

love in the world, I'm also trying to either, I always say I

Karen Kenney:

want to either educate or elevate or enlighten or

Karen Kenney:

entertain, create some sort of emotional connection. You know,

Karen Kenney:

everybody's got shit to do. Nobody wants to waste their

Karen Kenney:

time. So if you're tuning in, I want to make it worth your

Karen Kenney:

while. So we're just going to start off just by diving into

Karen Kenney:

the title of this sucker, which is, you can't get there from

Karen Kenney:

here. So recently, I was down in Lawrence mass, which is my

Karen Kenney:

hometown. It's where I grew up, lawtown and and it was snowing

Karen Kenney:

out. It was just like a shit show. There was like so much

Karen Kenney:

snow everywhere. And if you've ever driven in, like a small,

Karen Kenney:

little city or whatever, and there's a lot of snow, and the

Karen Kenney:

snow banks get all pushed up, and there's nowhere to park or

Karen Kenney:

whatever. So I was driving, it was dark, I was in a little bit

Karen Kenney:

of a rush, and I was trying to get to a certain place, okay?

Karen Kenney:

And as I was driving, all of a sudden, I looked and I was like,

Karen Kenney:

Oh yeah, that's the street I want to take. And what I had

Karen Kenney:

forgotten, because I hadn't driven on this road in a really

Karen Kenney:

long time in, like, because, like, I'm talking like probably

Karen Kenney:

35 years, if not more, is that there were two streets right

Karen Kenney:

after each other that have the similar name. One is like

Karen Kenney:

reservoir terrace, the next one is like reservoir road, or

Karen Kenney:

whatever, and I banged the left, unfortunately, onto reservoir

Karen Kenney:

terrace, which was a dead end street. It's a tiny little

Karen Kenney:

street I just saw when I was driving reservoir, and I like

Karen Kenney:

whipped in there. And, of course, all right, so imagine

Karen Kenney:

all the snow, all the houses are like, like duplexes and triple

Karen Kenney:

deck is and there's barely any driveways. There's no place to

Karen Kenney:

turn around, and it's a dead end street, so I'm going down, and

Karen Kenney:

I'm lined on each side by cars, okay? And then in front of me is

Karen Kenney:

a car coming towards me. When I realized this is a dead end and

Karen Kenney:

I also realize I have no place to back up. And I'm like, oh my

Karen Kenney:

god, I'm gonna have to, like, throw my arm over the back of

Karen Kenney:

the seat, you know, over the passenger seat, and, like, back

Karen Kenney:

up, like, in the dock, in the snow while there's a lot of

Karen Kenney:

traffic coming up April Street. I was like, Oh my God, thank you

Karen Kenney:

baby Jesus at the very end, because I was like, I'm gonna

Karen Kenney:

have to back out into this busy intersection. I don't know how

Karen Kenney:

I'm gonna do this, but fortunately, right there was a

Karen Kenney:

driveway I could like, you know, back up into and then the guy in

Karen Kenney:

the truck could go right past me. But one of the things I

Karen Kenney:

realized, and that I heard in my head, is that I knew where I was

Karen Kenney:

trying to get to, but I could not get there from here because

Karen Kenney:

it was a dead end street, and I had gone down the wrong road.

Karen Kenney:

And it made me think of this old kind of like story, like, and

Karen Kenney:

it's, I don't know why, it's always usually given like an old

Karen Kenney:

main farmer, like some farmer from Maine, and there's a couple

Karen Kenney:

like, driving out, you know, in the, you know, in the land or

Karen Kenney:

whatever, and they're driving, and they stop and out, they see

Karen Kenney:

this guy, and they on his tractor or whatever, and they

Karen Kenney:

stop and ask him for directions. And they're like, Hey, we're

Karen Kenney:

trying to get to so and so. And he's like, I Yeah, but you can't

Karen Kenney:

get there from here. That's how it is sometimes, and I want to

Karen Kenney:

apply this to our everyday lives. And here's the thing, we

Karen Kenney:

often want things, whether it's actually physical things,

Karen Kenney:

whether it's internal things. And we'll get more specific in a

Karen Kenney:

moment, right? We often want new things, better things, different

Karen Kenney:

things, whatever it is. And the problem that most people have is

Karen Kenney:

that they're trying to get there, but they cannot get there

Karen Kenney:

from here, from where they're coming from, what they're doing,

Karen Kenney:

what they're thinking, right? And one of the things is, is

Karen Kenney:

that they aren't willing yet. And I always like to say yet,

Karen Kenney:

because I believe in the power of the capacity for change, is

Karen Kenney:

that we have to be willing to let go of what's familiar. We

Karen Kenney:

have to be willing to let go of the here to get to there, and

Karen Kenney:

you can't hold on to the familiar, the known, the

Karen Kenney:

pattern, the habit, the way that you've been thinking and doing

Karen Kenney:

and speaking and behaving. And expect to get the new different

Karen Kenney:

better thing, the new different, better experience or feeling or

Karen Kenney:

outcome or relationship or whatever it is, we're not going

Karen Kenney:

to be able to get there from here if we insist on holding on

Karen Kenney:

to the way we've always done things, the way we've always

Karen Kenney:

thought, the way we've always believed the stories we insist

Karen Kenney:

on telling about ourselves, our own capacity, and others, the

Karen Kenney:

world, etc. And the challenge is, is that the brain right?

Karen Kenney:

Just the chemistry of the brain. The brain likes the familiar.

Karen Kenney:

That's how it finds safety. And the nervous system is always

Karen Kenney:

seeking safety. So if you have a brain that likes what's

Karen Kenney:

familiar, that's how it learns. That's how it kind of imprints

Karen Kenney:

on everything around it's always in comparison and using what

Karen Kenney:

we've already experienced, what we already think, what we

Karen Kenney:

already know, believe in the stories we tell, the identity

Karen Kenney:

that we have. And it's like going into the new that's why

Karen Kenney:

people are like, you know, their comfort zones, they often don't

Karen Kenney:

like to leave them, because even though there might be a better

Karen Kenney:

opportunity, a better relationship, a better

Karen Kenney:

situation, a better feeling, a better outcome, over there, they

Karen Kenney:

cannot get there from here. So we have to be willing. And so

Karen Kenney:

this is where, like, the little visual comes in. I did this

Karen Kenney:

little drawing, and my sweetie and I were talking about this

Karen Kenney:

the other day, and he was demonstrating this. It's so fun.

Karen Kenney:

This is a little drawing of my sweetie. So those of you who are

Karen Kenney:

listening and not watching, I'm going to describe what's on this

Karen Kenney:

piece of paper that I drew, I used to love to draw stick men.

Karen Kenney:

This is a whole that's a whole other story, and we're back. So

Karen Kenney:

I used to love to draw stick men to do things. Okay, so I'm going

Karen Kenney:

to show you there's a little stick man, and he has his arms

Karen Kenney:

reached out in two different directions. Okay, now his left

Karen Kenney:

arm, and if you're watching this, the left hand is the one

Karen Kenney:

with the red arrows right, and with his left hand, he's holding

Karen Kenney:

on to these old things, right? And it's old thoughts, old

Karen Kenney:

patterns, old beliefs, old stories, old behaviors and an

Karen Kenney:

old identity. And he's holding on to it tight. He's got a good

Karen Kenney:

grip on it. But in his right hand, his right hand is

Karen Kenney:

reaching, and it's like trying to reach across the divide. And

Karen Kenney:

on the right side, I just drew some symbols that might, you

Karen Kenney:

know, just symbolize some things that a person might want. They

Karen Kenney:

might want more time, they might want more love or a better

Karen Kenney:

relationship. They might want this little happy face. So

Karen Kenney:

there's like a little clock for time. There's a hat for love,

Karen Kenney:

relationship, whatever. There's a little smiley face for more

Karen Kenney:

happiness, right? Then there's a money sign. Maybe somebody wants

Karen Kenney:

more money or more savings or more income or whatever. And

Karen Kenney:

then there's, there's a peace symbol. Maybe somebody wants

Karen Kenney:

more inner peace, or wants more compassion, or whatever it might

Karen Kenney:

be, right? I also almost drew a muscle like, maybe somebody

Karen Kenney:

wants more health or fitness or whatever it is. But, you know,

Karen Kenney:

there's a gazillion things I could have drawn here. But the

Karen Kenney:

point of this little visual is, I want you to think about it.

Karen Kenney:

This person is so like insisting on holding on. I'm tapping it

Karen Kenney:

over here. They're so insisting on holding on to these old ways,

Karen Kenney:

this old thinking, this old behavior, this old way of being

Karen Kenney:

and believing. And they're saying, right? They'll say like,

Karen Kenney:

Oh, but I can't reach it, I can't have it, I can't be it, I

Karen Kenney:

can't do it right? And I'm like, You're right. You can't. You

Karen Kenney:

can't do it, not if you're insisting on also holding on to

Karen Kenney:

these old things, these familiar things, these former things,

Karen Kenney:

these former versions of you, these former ways of thinking

Karen Kenney:

and being. And a lot of times, what people really want, and my

Karen Kenney:

sweetie and I talk about this all the time is they want the

Karen Kenney:

new thing without letting go of the old thing. They want

Karen Kenney:

outcomes without doing the work of change. They want

Karen Kenney:

transformation without

Karen Kenney:

actually doing the things that they need to do, thinking, the

Karen Kenney:

things they need to think, becoming the person they need to

Karen Kenney:

become. Everybody wants change, but most people don't want to

Karen Kenney:

change, and so we just want to be able to keep doing the same

Karen Kenney:

old bullshit, but have a different outcome, but you

Karen Kenney:

cannot get there from here. We have to be willing. We have to

Karen Kenney:

be willing to let go of those old ways. Ways of being. We have

Karen Kenney:

to let go of the old version of you. You gotta let go of what

Karen Kenney:

you've known and what you've done. And you know, that's that

Karen Kenney:

thing where you hear people say, Well, that's the way we've

Karen Kenney:

always done it, that's the way it's always been. That's just

Karen Kenney:

the way they are, that's just the way I am. And I'm like,

Karen Kenney:

that's fine. We can, we can say that, and we can keep things

Karen Kenney:

just as they are, but you cannot get there to that new place that

Karen Kenney:

promised land, that new outcome, that new way of feeling, that

Karen Kenney:

new relationship, more money, all those things, if you insist

Karen Kenney:

on staying here doing the same old shit. And so I kind of broke

Karen Kenney:

it down into like these two sentences that I think can be

Karen Kenney:

very helpful. People will say so at the end of this, just like

Karen Kenney:

fill in the blank, right? But the first sentence is usually

Karen Kenney:

this, I want to be the kind of person who fill in the blank,

Karen Kenney:

and the second response of the response is, well, then you have

Karen Kenney:

to stop being if you want to start to be the kind of person

Karen Kenney:

who fill in the blanks, then you have to stop being the kind of

Karen Kenney:

person who fill in the blank. I will give you an example. You

Karen Kenney:

might say, I want to be the kind of person who starts getting up

Karen Kenney:

at 5am I would say, then you have to stop being the kind of

Karen Kenney:

person who stays up until midnight, scrolling on their

Karen Kenney:

stupid phone, because you can't be both, or you can try, but

Karen Kenney:

you're going to be exhausted because you're not going to get

Karen Kenney:

enough sleep. You know what I'm saying? Or you might say, I want

Karen Kenney:

to be, I'm making these up. I want to be the kind of person

Karen Kenney:

who stops complaining so much, stops whining so much, right?

Karen Kenney:

Well, then you have to stop being the kind of person who

Karen Kenney:

appreciates what they have. You might be. Need to be the kind of

Karen Kenney:

person that practices a little more gratitude. You know, it's

Karen Kenney:

like, okay, I want to be the kind of person, because they

Karen Kenney:

always tell you, you want to have three to six months of

Karen Kenney:

savings, and in your emergency fund, in your savings, right?

Karen Kenney:

And you might say, Okay, I want to be the kind of person who has

Karen Kenney:

an emergency savings fund of like, at least three to six

Karen Kenney:

months. Okay, well, then you have to be a person who makes a

Karen Kenney:

plan or makes a budget or stops buying shit you don't really

Karen Kenney:

need. This is about becoming and this is about though baby steps.

Karen Kenney:

Because a lot of times we think, oh, I want to make this change.

Karen Kenney:

I want to have whatever it is, more health, more peace, more

Karen Kenney:

love, more money, more fill whatever it is, right, more

Karen Kenney:

success, right? I want to have more strength. I want to have

Karen Kenney:

better cardio. I want to have less high blood brain. I want to

Karen Kenney:

have better blood pressure. Or I want to lower my cholesterol.

Karen Kenney:

Yeah, you want to lower your cross cholesterol. Stop eating

Karen Kenney:

all those dead animals in the in the byproducts of animals,

Karen Kenney:

right? That's one of the fastest ways to start to change that.

Karen Kenney:

Okay, so, but it's about taking baby steps. We can't usually

Karen Kenney:

just swoop in and, like, go cold turkey and do 100% now, there

Karen Kenney:

are certain things you want to go cold turkey on right? If you

Karen Kenney:

want to be somebody who is not, let's say that you're somebody

Karen Kenney:

who has, you know, substance use, with substance abuse or

Karen Kenney:

substance overuse or whatever, with alcohol or whatever, yeah,

Karen Kenney:

those situations going cold turkey might be really, really

Karen Kenney:

smart, but with personality and just patterns and ways of

Karen Kenney:

thinking and believing, right? Sometimes we just might want to

Karen Kenney:

start or going to the gym or saving more money, right? It's

Karen Kenney:

not all of a sudden, like you're just gonna pull like $10,000 out

Karen Kenney:

of your ass. You might have to, like, little baby steps. You

Karen Kenney:

know what I'm saying? So it's about becoming, it's about baby

Karen Kenney:

steps, and it's also, here's the big one, becoming the kind of

Karen Kenney:

person who baby steps, like, build on those tiny little wins,

Karen Kenney:

set little goals so that you can actually accomplish them, and

Karen Kenney:

then you feel victorious, and you get like, Yes, I can do

Karen Kenney:

this. And you kind of build on your little victories and your

Karen Kenney:

successes. And then it's about being able to pause long enough

Karen Kenney:

to recognize that you're about to think, say or do the old

Karen Kenney:

pattern. That's one of the biggest things. It's all great

Karen Kenney:

and fine and dandy to say, I want a thing. I want to be the

Karen Kenney:

kind of my hair is like crazy right now. I want to be the kind

Karen Kenney:

of person who, or I want to be able to, or I want to stop, or

Karen Kenney:

stat, or whatever the thing is. But if you can't catch yourself

Karen Kenney:

in the act if you're not even aware that you're about to do

Karen Kenney:

the thing at some point, we have to be able to have the

Karen Kenney:

awareness, enough awareness to be able to pause and observe our

Karen Kenney:

thinking, our saying. In our doing or are about to do. I

Karen Kenney:

mean, ideally, if we can catch it before we even do it, before

Karen Kenney:

the words leave our mouth, before the the HO, HO gets in

Karen Kenney:

the mouth, before the whatever, the thing that you're about to

Karen Kenney:

say, think, believe, do you know that's ideal. But even if you

Karen Kenney:

can catch yourself in the act and stop yourself, pump the

Karen Kenney:

brakes, hit the pause button. That's like, really, really,

Karen Kenney:

really big. And if we can put a pause in your pattern, right,

Karen Kenney:

your patterns of behaviors, or your patterns of thinking, you

Karen Kenney:

can put a pause in your mind so that you can make a different

Karen Kenney:

choice. That's like a superpower. And so much of this

Karen Kenney:

just comes down to again, so often, you know, when I think

Karen Kenney:

about why I talk about having a DSP and a daily spiritual

Karen Kenney:

practice, why it's so important, because one of the components of

Karen Kenney:

at least the way that I talk about, in and teach and share

Karen Kenney:

about having a DSP is that some of the first steps are number

Karen Kenney:

one, like slowing down, like helping you and your nervous

Karen Kenney:

system so that you can start your your mind, your body, so

Karen Kenney:

it's like your brain, your body right, your breathing, all these

Karen Kenney:

things so that we can start To slow down, so that we can

Karen Kenney:

actually experience, like a pause. We can we can get in that

Karen Kenney:

place. So if we learn how to slow down, if we learn how to

Karen Kenney:

deepen our breath, because when we when we change our breath, we

Karen Kenney:

change our physiological state right, which also, over time,

Karen Kenney:

will help our mental state right. And this is why I'll talk

Karen Kenney:

about, like having a DSP, because learning how to slow

Karen Kenney:

down and learning how to meditate, and we often think

Karen Kenney:

that meditation is just like quieting all of my thoughts, and

Karen Kenney:

I have to silence myself, and I have to sit very still. Yeah,

Karen Kenney:

there are forms of meditation where you do sit still, where

Karen Kenney:

you do get quiet, huh? It doesn't mean all your thoughts.

Karen Kenney:

We're not trying to silence the mind. Good luck with that,

Karen Kenney:

right? We want to quiet it a little bit, turn it down, the

Karen Kenney:

volume a little bit. But the mind is going to mind. The brain

Karen Kenney:

is going to brain. It's going to do what it does, which is it

Karen Kenney:

thinks thoughts, right? Does all kinds of things. But one of the

Karen Kenney:

things it does, it thinks thoughts, right? But if we can

Karen Kenney:

start to slow things down, and we can start to get a little

Karen Kenney:

more self aware, so that there's a pause so we can choose who and

Karen Kenney:

how we want to be. Right to me, meditation and having a DSP,

Karen Kenney:

these are the things that lead to freedom and happiness. Being

Karen Kenney:

able to train your mind, train your senses, it's such a

Karen Kenney:

powerful thing, okay? And there, like I said, there's, there's

Karen Kenney:

1000 ways to meditate. I have some very simple ones that I

Karen Kenney:

teach people. One of the main ones is like passage meditation,

Karen Kenney:

which was taught to me from eknashwaran, which is like

Karen Kenney:

meditation on a passage like, it's like memorizing, let's say

Karen Kenney:

the prayer of St Francis, right? Make me an instrument of thy

Karen Kenney:

peace where there is hatred, let me sow love, etc, etc, right?

Karen Kenney:

For some people, it might be the Serenity Prayer, whatever it is

Karen Kenney:

you meditate on that passage, the Buddha is said to have said,

Karen Kenney:

right, that we become what we think we become what we meditate

Karen Kenney:

on, if we want to be more more peaceful, then we meditate on

Karen Kenney:

that peacefulness, right? If we want to become more loving, not

Karen Kenney:

only do we meditate upon it, but we also practice it, right? We

Karen Kenney:

want to become more like I said, more patient, more loving, more

Karen Kenney:

kind, whatever. So passage meditation is really powerful.

Karen Kenney:

Repetition of a mantra can be very powerful, a very simple

Karen Kenney:

meditation where you're keeping your awareness on your breath.

Karen Kenney:

And you can just start with like, five minutes, 10 minutes.

Karen Kenney:

Maybe I'll do a whole little maybe I'll do a whole other

Karen Kenney:

episode on just a little quick little meditation practice, but

Karen Kenney:

learning how right to just kind of sit your ass down and again,

Karen Kenney:

I know for some people, that's sitting still, but there's

Karen Kenney:

walking meditation, there's mindfulness, right? Walking with

Karen Kenney:

being mindful, or just even throughout your day, having

Karen Kenney:

these little moments of mindfulness and connection can

Karen Kenney:

be a really big thing, okay? And we'll get into that. But so much

Karen Kenney:

of being able to change, right, is actually being aware that

Karen Kenney:

you're doing the thing that you actually don't want to be doing,

Karen Kenney:

that you're doing the the here, when

Karen Kenney:

you're trying to eventually get there. And I'm all into be here

Karen Kenney:

now, but part of being here now is recognizing, right, what

Karen Kenney:

you're doing in the here, what you're thinking, what you're

Karen Kenney:

saying what you're believing. Okay, now here's one of the

Karen Kenney:

things people will often say to me, like, but it's so hard, it's

Karen Kenney:

really hard. Like, like, being vulnerable is hard, or being

Karen Kenney:

honest sometimes is hard, or speaking my truth is hard. Or

Karen Kenney:

what? Don't fill in the blank, right? We know that when we try

Karen Kenney:

to change behaviors, we'll often say, but it's hard, and I'll

Karen Kenney:

often say, like, and this was something that you know,

Karen Kenney:

Marianne Williamson used to say at her lectures, and it always

Karen Kenney:

made me laugh. And I'm like, Yeah, as if being miserable is

Karen Kenney:

easy, as if being in that old pattern and way of being is

Karen Kenney:

easy, as if your suffering is easy, What's hard is it's not so

Karen Kenney:

much. I would say that the easier that you can let go.

Karen Kenney:

Right of the old things come back to this picture, the easier

Karen Kenney:

that you can just take your hand off the wheel, take your hand

Karen Kenney:

off it. Stop doing the old thoughts and patterns and

Karen Kenney:

beliefs and stories and behaviors and identity, right?

Karen Kenney:

The easier you can just let it go. The easier the next thing

Karen Kenney:

can come in. The easier that you just let go of the past, right?

Karen Kenney:

The previous the former. The easier it is for the new you,

Karen Kenney:

the new version, the new behavior, the new belief, to get

Karen Kenney:

wired in, to have a new experience, right? To have the

Karen Kenney:

thing that you actually want. It's not often that it's hard,

Karen Kenney:

it's that it's unfamiliar. It's new that seems scary, that's

Karen Kenney:

valid, but it's not that. It's actually usually hard. And I

Karen Kenney:

tell this story, right? So I do this exercise with people. I've

Karen Kenney:

done it when I've, when I've, you know, had speaking gigs and

Karen Kenney:

stuff in the past. I'll often bring people, or a person up on

Karen Kenney:

stage, and I do this in yoga class sometimes too, and I'll

Karen Kenney:

have them hold a yoga block, and I have them stick their arms out

Karen Kenney:

straight, straight off their shoulders, like straight off

Karen Kenney:

their body, like they're walking like a zombie, right? And or

Karen Kenney:

they're hypnotized, or whatever. You know that old, the old

Karen Kenney:

Scooby Doo hypnotized when your arms are out in front, okay? So

Karen Kenney:

their arms are out in front and between their two hands,

Karen Kenney:

probably about like, six inches, or whatever, a pot they're

Karen Kenney:

holding a thick yoga block, and I have them hold that block out

Karen Kenney:

in and they're just holding on to it, and they're squeezing.

Karen Kenney:

And I have them do this for like five minutes sometimes, but I'm

Karen Kenney:

talking to them through the whole time, right? And I'll say,

Karen Kenney:

no, no. So how is this? How's holding this? And in the

Karen Kenney:

beginning, it's not too bad, right? And then over time, their

Karen Kenney:

arms start to get tired. Their arms start to shake. Because

Karen Kenney:

I'll say, no, no, keep holding on, hold on harder. Hold on

Karen Kenney:

harder. Right? Of course, the block is symbolizing whatever

Karen Kenney:

the belief, the story, the history, the thing, the habit,

Karen Kenney:

whatever it is the addiction, whatever the thing is, you know,

Karen Kenney:

symbolizing for them, representing for them. And I'll

Karen Kenney:

say, no, no, keep holding on to it. And their arms are starting

Karen Kenney:

to shake, and their face is getting all like, ah. And I'll

Karen Kenney:

say, and after doing this for a long time, and I'll say, Okay,

Karen Kenney:

now let it go. And they finally drop it, and I'll say to them,

Karen Kenney:

how was that right? I'll say, which was harder holding on to

Karen Kenney:

the old thing or simply letting it go. And there has to be a

Karen Kenney:

certain amount of willingness, right? There's a temptation to

Karen Kenney:

hold on to the old thing, because we think we're safe

Karen Kenney:

there. We think we're safe there, because we know this,

Karen Kenney:

even if it's a hell, you're like, I know this brand of hell,

Karen Kenney:

right? We're too we're too afraid of like, an aspect of

Karen Kenney:

something new. It's what we call the there's the unsafe known,

Karen Kenney:

the thing that you know, even though it may not be good for

Karen Kenney:

you, versus the safe unknown. That thing might be safe, but

Karen Kenney:

you and your nervous system don't know it yet. Don't believe

Karen Kenney:

it yet, can't trust it yet, right? So even though the thing

Karen Kenney:

over there might be better for us, the person, or the

Karen Kenney:

situation, or whatever the job, whatever it is, might be better.

Karen Kenney:

We don't, you know, it can be a little little hard, but when you

Karen Kenney:

hold on to that visual, and you can even do it for yourself,

Karen Kenney:

just get something and stick your arms out and try to hold on

Karen Kenney:

to it and squeeze it and get tighter and tighter, like, you

Karen Kenney:

know, and then, and then, I'm like, and now drop it well,

Karen Kenney:

letting it go is actually easier, but mentally, we put all

Karen Kenney:

these attachments onto it. But remember, the easier that you

Karen Kenney:

can let go, the easier it is for the new thing, the new pattern,

Karen Kenney:

the new behavior, the new belief, whatever, the new story

Karen Kenney:

for it to come in. And it's not hard, it just requires a little

Karen Kenney:

bit more willingness, it requires a little bit more

Karen Kenney:

focus. It might require a little bit more effort, a little bit

Karen Kenney:

more commitment or consistency, a little bit more

Karen Kenney:

accountability, right? That's the thing. It's not hard. It's

Karen Kenney:

simply unfamiliar. It's simply new. And this is why I said we

Karen Kenney:

go back to the baby steps. It's about becoming, right? It's

Karen Kenney:

about practicing. It's about those baby steps, those little

Karen Kenney:

wins. And whether it's like, you know, as somebody who does Thai

Karen Kenney:

Yoga massage, right, people will say to me, Oh, I'm so tight, you

Karen Kenney:

know, so. Tight. I really need to stretch more. And I'll be

Karen Kenney:

like, well, you can, you could always just start stretching on

Karen Kenney:

your own. You could always come to one of my yoga classes. You

Karen Kenney:

could always come and get a Thai Yoga massage. But if you insist

Karen Kenney:

on just keep doing the same old shit, which is not stretching at

Karen Kenney:

all, and then you wonder, why? Oh, my hips hurt, my back hurts,

Karen Kenney:

my neck hurts, my my jaw, everything, everything's tight,

Karen Kenney:

right? My glutes are tight, my calves, everything's tight.

Karen Kenney:

Everything hurts when I stand, when I move. I'm like, Well, are

Karen Kenney:

you doing any movement? Are you doing any stretching? Are you

Karen Kenney:

doing any flexibility or mobility work? Right? When

Karen Kenney:

people like, oh, I can barely carry my grocery okay, I use

Karen Kenney:

strength training at all? Do you know what I mean? It's like,

Karen Kenney:

people might say like, oh, I want to be stronger. I want to

Karen Kenney:

be more fit. Or, you know, you hear it a lot with like, as

Karen Kenney:

folks are aging and they're getting older, and they're like,

Karen Kenney:

I have grandkids now, I can't get up off the floor. I can't

Karen Kenney:

even put my socks on without sitting down. I'm like, Okay,

Karen Kenney:

you can keep doing what you've been doing. You can keep telling

Karen Kenney:

yourself that story and look, I'm not saying people don't have

Karen Kenney:

real physical limitations. Of course, sometimes you do. You

Karen Kenney:

have an injury, you have a situation, whatever. I'm just

Karen Kenney:

saying whatever. The thing is, when you say, I want to be the

Karen Kenney:

kind of person who and you fill in that blank, saves money, goes

Karen Kenney:

back to church, starts donating more, makes more money, whatever

Karen Kenney:

your thing is, right? Then you have to stop being the kind of

Karen Kenney:

person who fill in the blank whatever the old behavior is.

Karen Kenney:

But you cannot get there from here without some shit changing.

Karen Kenney:

And whether that's the way you're thinking about it, the

Karen Kenney:

way you're perceiving it, the way you're going about it,

Karen Kenney:

right? Your willingness to stop doing the old behaviors, or to

Karen Kenney:

start doing, you know what I'm saying. So I want, I want to

Karen Kenney:

just share this to help you think about it. Because, and I'm

Karen Kenney:

holding up the picture again. I know so many people who say they

Karen Kenney:

want, I'm pointing at this, the peace symbol, the money symbol,

Karen Kenney:

the happiness, the connection, the love, the intimacy, more

Karen Kenney:

time, more patience, whatever it is they say they want it, but

Karen Kenney:

they're not willing to stop doing the other things. They're

Karen Kenney:

not willing to be a little more brave or a little more

Karen Kenney:

courageous, and not willing to be bad at something like to try

Karen Kenney:

and to make mistakes. They're not willing to fall on their

Karen Kenney:

face. They're not willing to, like, go for it and show that

Karen Kenney:

they really want something, because what if they get

Karen Kenney:

rejected, or what if the other person's not doing their part,

Karen Kenney:

or what if blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, I'm like, Look, all

Karen Kenney:

we can control is us and what we're doing and thinking and

Karen Kenney:

saying and believing. I can't change the rest of the world. I

Karen Kenney:

can't forcibly, like, make those things change, the way that the

Karen Kenney:

world slowly changes is enough individuals doing the work on

Karen Kenney:

themselves and with themselves right to create different

Karen Kenney:

experiences within themselves where maybe right. They're more

Karen Kenney:

happy, they're more peaceful, they have more energy, they have

Karen Kenney:

more patience. They have more compassion. Sometimes they have

Karen Kenney:

more more. They're listening better to their own internal

Karen Kenney:

rage, right? They're acknowledging and honoring their

Karen Kenney:

symptoms and their feelings. They're not trying to fix

Karen Kenney:

themselves into oblivion. They're not thinking, Oh, I'm

Karen Kenney:

fucked up, I'm screwed up, I'm broken. They just might be aware

Karen Kenney:

that there's been some things, but sometimes those things that

Karen Kenney:

we don't like about ourselves. This is a whole other episode.

Karen Kenney:

You know, people. I'll just go here. I'll take a tiny, tiny,

Karen Kenney:

tiny right detour. If you tell somebody that they shouldn't

Karen Kenney:

feel angry, they need to get rid of their anger right now. I'm

Karen Kenney:

not talking people. I'm not talking people who are going out

Karen Kenney:

into the world and inflicting harm on people or themselves.

Karen Kenney:

I'm just saying, you know, sometimes people don't like when

Karen Kenney:

women are angry. They call angry women. Sometimes women need to

Karen Kenney:

get fucking angry so that we'll stop putting up with nonsense,

Karen Kenney:

right? Sometimes that anger is theirs, because when you were a

Karen Kenney:

kid, somebody put their hands on you, and you couldn't say no,

Karen Kenney:

because you didn't have any power, because you were a little

Karen Kenney:

kid, and that anger is going to be the thing that allows you to

Karen Kenney:

now use your voice or say no or say stop, or to make a change or

Karen Kenney:

to end the relationship or to leave, or whatever the thing is.

Karen Kenney:

So we'd like to pathologize everything and label things

Karen Kenney:

good, bad, whatever. I'm not saying that all the old things

Karen Kenney:

are horrible that you need to change everything. But if

Karen Kenney:

certain things are causing you pain and suffering and they're

Karen Kenney:

getting

Karen Kenney:

in the way of you having these things over here on the right

Karen Kenney:

that you say that you want, then there has to be a willingness.

Karen Kenney:

And I'm pointing back to that hand with the red arrows that's

Karen Kenney:

holding on to the old ways. Right? You cannot get here,

Karen Kenney:

right? Or you cannot get there. I'm pointing at the new ones

Karen Kenney:

from here. By doing the same old, same old, there has to be

Karen Kenney:

some willingness to change. So I hope this has been, I don't

Karen Kenney:

know, helpful in some way, beneficial in some way. And if

Karen Kenney:

it has, share it with somebody. Share this. I. Episode with

Karen Kenney:

somebody, right? And just maybe take a few moments to get clear

Karen Kenney:

with yourself if there's some part of you that's trying to

Karen Kenney:

become if there's some part of you that wants to be a new way,

Karen Kenney:

or think a new way, you know, these are all the things that

Karen Kenney:

like we do in the nest. We talk about meditation, we talk about

Karen Kenney:

daily spiritual practice. We talk about just the whole being

Karen Kenney:

human experience, and what are some really good resources and

Karen Kenney:

tools for creating change and transformation in our life?

Karen Kenney:

Should we need it and want it? And here's the thing, when

Karen Kenney:

you're trying to make change, you want to put yourself in

Karen Kenney:

environments where change is already happening, where change

Karen Kenney:

is the normal thing. But if you want, if you want to become

Karen Kenney:

somebody who wants to become more patient, you don't go join

Karen Kenney:

in. You don't go and join the impatient people's group. You

Karen Kenney:

know what I mean when you're trying to make change? This is

Karen Kenney:

why, like, if you're trying to make change. And yes, of course,

Karen Kenney:

if you're self motivated, you can work out at home, in your

Karen Kenney:

basement, buy a whole gym, do all that stuff. But if you're

Karen Kenney:

somebody who wants to create change in your physical capacity

Karen Kenney:

and your strength, your cardio, whatever, that's why people join

Karen Kenney:

gyms. They go to the place where that new behavior is normalized.

Karen Kenney:

It's already happening. You can be influenced. You can be

Karen Kenney:

inspired, right? So if everybody that you hang out with are

Karen Kenney:

negative Nellies and you're trying to have more positivity

Karen Kenney:

and gratitude or whatever in your life, right? You might want

Karen Kenney:

to, like, find a place where that's happening. And the nest

Karen Kenney:

is one of those places where change work is going on. So I'm

Karen Kenney:

saying, and if you want to learn more about the nest or any of

Karen Kenney:

the stuff that I do, just go to Karen kenney.com right? It's so

Karen Kenney:

easy to find all the things that I'm up to, yoga and Thai Yoga,

Karen Kenney:

massage and the nest. And my hot to hot days, my hot to hot days

Karen Kenney:

are really fun. It's just like having a coach in your pocket.

Karen Kenney:

It's like three hours of coaching over Voxer, a Voice

Karen Kenney:

app. It's so easy. You don't even have to put on makeup, get

Karen Kenney:

on a call, do anything, right? You can just talk to me through

Karen Kenney:

the phone. It's so much fun. All those things are on my website

Karen Kenney:

right the nest, and coaching and Thai Yoga, massage, all that

Karen Kenney:

shit, so you can find it all there. So you guys, I love

Karen Kenney:

spending a little bit of time with you today. I hope wherever

Karen Kenney:

you are and whatever you're doing, you're having some sort

Karen Kenney:

of fun. It is. It is insane out there. It is insane out there,

Karen Kenney:

but there's always hope. We just saw this past weekend that there

Karen Kenney:

was a shit ton of people out for the no kings protests, and it

Karen Kenney:

just feels good to know that there are a lot of people out

Karen Kenney:

there that care about themselves, care about justice,

Karen Kenney:

care about what's right and what's fair, and they care about

Karen Kenney:

their fellow human beings in the environment, etc. And so that

Karen Kenney:

that was hopeful. All right. Well, thank you so much for

Karen Kenney:

tuning in. Wherever you go, wherever you go, may you leave

Karen Kenney:

the animals and the people and yourself and the planet in the

Karen Kenney:

environment better than how you found it wherever you go. May

Karen Kenney:

you and your presence and your love and your energy be a

Karen Kenney:

blessing. Bye. Hey. Thanks so much for listening to the show.

Karen Kenney:

I really love spending some time together. Now, if you dig the

Karen Kenney:

show or know someone that could benefit from this episode,

Karen Kenney:

please share it with them and help me to spread the good word

Karen Kenney:

and the love. And if you want to be in the know about all of my

Karen Kenney:

upcoming shenanigans, head on over to Karen kenney.com/sign up

Karen Kenney:

and join my list. It'll be wicked fun to stay in touch.

Karen Kenney:

Bye. You.

Show artwork for The Karen Kenney Show

About the Podcast

The Karen Kenney Show
Karen Kenney is a certified Spiritual Mentor, Writer, Podcaster and Coach. She’s known for her dynamic storytelling, her sense of humor, her Boston accent and her no-bullshit approach to spirituality, self development, and transformational work.

She’s been a yoga teacher for 25 years, is a Certified Gateless Writing Instructor, and is also an author, speaker, retreat leader and the host of The Karen Kenney Show podcast.

A curious human being, life-long learner and an entrepreneur for 20+ years, KK brings a down-to-earth perspective to the spiritual principles and practical tools that create powerful shifts in people’s lives, relationships and businesses.

She works with people individually in her 1:1 program THE QUEST - and in her group program THE NEST.

Her approach brings together tools that coach both the conscious and unconscious mind. She combines Brain Science, Subconscious Reprogramming, Integrative Hypnosis, and Spiritual Mentorship to help clients regulate their nervous systems, remove blocks, rewrite stories, rewire beliefs, and reimagine what’s possible!

Karen wants her clients to have their own lived experience with spirituality and to not just “take her word for it”. She encourages them to discover and deepen their own personal connection to Self, Source and Spirit in tangible and actionable ways.

Her “Your Story To Your Glory” process helps people to shift their minds from an old thought system of fear to one of Love - using compassion, empirical evidence and humor, her work is effective, efficient, and wicked fun!

KK’s been a student of A Course in Miracles for 30 years, has been vegan for 20+ years, and believes that a little kindness can make a big difference.

KK WEBSITE: www.karenkenney.com

About your host

Profile picture for Karen Kenney

Karen Kenney

Spiritual Mentor and writer Karen Kenney uses dynamic storytelling and humor to bring a down-to-earth, no-BS perspective to spirituality and self-development.

Bringing together tools that coach both the conscious and unconscious mind, Karen also helps clients deepen their personal connection to Self and Source, in relatable, practical, and actionable ways, so they can discover their unique understanding of spirituality.

Her practice combines neuroscience, subconscious reprogramming, Integrative Hypnosis, somatic work, Spiritual Mentoring, and other holistic modalities to help regulate the nervous system, rewrite old stories, remove blocks, and reimagine what’s possible.

A passionate yoga teacher for 25+ years, a longtime student of A Course in Miracles, and a Gateless Writing instructor, Karen is also a frequent speaker, podcast guest, and retreat leader. She coaches both individuals and groups via her programs The Quest and The Nest.

With The Karen Kenney Podcast, she encourages listeners to shift from a thought system of fear - to one of love, compassion, and personal responsibility.

CONNECT WITH KAREN:
Website: http://karenkenney.com/
Podcast: https://www.karenkenney.com/podcast
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karenkenneylive/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenkenneylive/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KarenKenney