Women's Digital Health

Integrating Technology and Coaching for Mental Wellness with LaShonda Walker

• Women's Digital Health • Season 2 • Episode 17

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Have you ever wanted to tell yourself a different story about your past? A story that embraces challenges, restores joy, and stops you from reliving past trauma over and over again.

My guest today is LaShonda Walker, the founder of A New Life Story Coaching Service. Despite checking all the societal boxes of success, LaShonda found herself exhausted and unfulfilled. Her turning point came during the pandemic, which led her to embrace the Adult Chair Model and eventually become a coach to help others navigate similar struggles.

This model involves looking at life through the lens of three different chairs: the inner child chair, the adolescent chair, and the adult chair. By exploring past experiences and focusing on the present moment, individuals can uncover their authentic selves and make positive changes in their lives.

In our conversation, LaShonda also discussed the impact of social media on mental health and how individuals can navigate external influences while focusing on their own well-being.

Topics include:

A description of the three phases of the adult chair model, and how exploring them can help you to change your story 

  • The way that technology can enhance well-being and provide resources for clients to use in between coaching sessions
  • The first step to take in order to stay present and address overwhelming emotions
  • Recognizing the legacy of generational patterns and shame on mental health
  • Where to find out more about LaShonda and her work

Throughout the episode, LaShonda provides valuable insights into how technology can enhance the coaching experience, making mental health support more accessible and effective. She encourages listeners to take small steps, like a minute of deep breathing, to start changing their life and legacy. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

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Disclaimer
The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment.

The personal views expressed by guests on Women's Digital Health are their own. Their inclusion here does not constitute an endorsement from Dr. Brandi, Women's Digital Health, or associated organizations.

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Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
What if I told you, you could tell yourself a different story about your past? One that embraces challenges, but restores joy and heals. Now for some of us, we'd say, yep, I can do it right now. I do it every day, Dr. Brandi. But for some of us, the emotions tied to trauma and pain, we either consciously or unconsciously relive over and over again, sometimes taking over our current present life. Let's say you reach a major life milestone that you've worked so hard for. You got that highest job promotion. Maybe you're making more money than you've ever done in your life. Maybe you found that life partner, or you just started growing your family, and when you get there, you feel like, ugh. If I was honest, I should be happy, but something's still not right. Well, perhaps the feelings are rooted in the story you've told yourself, and there's good news. You don't have to stay there. My next guest supports people who feel, in her words, stuck, lost, and overwhelmed. LaShonda Walker is at heart a communication expert. Okay, okay. She holds a master's degree in communications, but naturally, she's one of the easiest people to talk to. And LaShonda checked all the boxes. She was an officer in the U.S. Air Force as a public affairs expert. She climbed the corporate ladder as a communication specialist. She got married. She had the kids. But you will hear how even with all the boxes checked, she hit the wall. In this episode, we will explore how she reshaped her story using the adult chair model. And number two, you will learn how she uses technologies like telehealth or virtual care and mental health apps to enhance the life journey of her clients. Stay tuned.

Dr. Brandi Sinkfield (intro):
Welcome to the Women's Digital Health Podcast, a podcast dedicated to learning more about new digital technologies in women's health. We discuss convenient and accessible solutions that support women with common health conditions. Join us as we explore innovations like mobile health applications, sensors, telehealth, and artificial intelligence, plus more. Learn from a board-certified anesthesiologist the best tips to fill in some of your health experience gaps throughout life's journey.

Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
All right, before we get started on this interview, I just want to say that I've really enjoyed this interview because of what it symbolizes. You know, the first part of season two was all about talking about, you know, the technology part. We talked about telehealth and mental health and artificial intelligence. But I really enjoyed these human experiences, these life coaches and other experts that were interviewed, because now we get to put it all together. You can really see how using both coaching or, you know, exploring mental health professionals along with these other forms of digital health can really enhance your well-being overall. And speaking of well-being, it's time to check in again. You know, in January, we hosted our Set Your Health Care Goals for 2024, and it's time to check in again. And so most people think that, you know, you start a health care goal or New Year's resolution only at the beginning of the year, and that's it. And that's just not true. You can set a health care goal whenever you want. If you've attended any of my previous workshops you know that it can be pretty helpful to check in with others and you know I'm here to support you to making you know 2024 the best health care year ever. So as we hit the mid point of 2024 it's time to check in again. And maybe you're asking, well, Dr. Brandi, how do I even find out about these workshops? Well, to get the future workshop dates, you need to subscribe to the newsletter. So go check out that newsletter link on the website. Make sure you subscribe to the newsletter. We can even, we'll put the link to the newsletter in the show notes so you can get the most up-to-date announcement of our future workshop. where we can check in on those healthcare goals and make 2024 the best healthcare year ever for you. And with that, enjoy this episode.
Hey, LaShonda. How are you? I'm good. How are you, Dr. Bradley? I'm doing great. I'm doing great. Today's a great day. I have LaShonda Walker, the founder of News story coaching service and she is someone who like quite frankly off camera we can talk for hours. Forever. We can talk for hours. Some of the things that we have talked about has to do with our own personal everyday life. And, you know, I was telling her that I am like on this mental health journey in the podcast, talking about how technology shows up and how you can use it. But I think at the core of this is how do we put this all together? How can we find a coach like LaShonda to step in and say, I need you to meet me where I'm at. And I need you to help me walk through this journey, answering some questions that I sometimes don't know if this is the right or wrong answer. And how can I use those tips with her along with technology? So that's why I reached out to you. That's why we're having this conversation. Just before we press record, we were talking about the time of this. The time of this of this recording, it is Friday and LaShonda had to tell me you know today. We just found out.


LaShonda Walker:
We just found out. So just out here living Okay, we were out here living somebody asked us what we were cooking on Sunday, why are you asking me that what does that have to do with right now.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
So if that gives you any context as to where we are and it does not have to be perfect, you do not have to fix it yeah you.


LaShonda Walker:
Absolutely. It's about giving yourself grace and space, right? Like you just said, we didn't know what day it was, right? We were probably just living in the present moment. I was when we scheduled this. I was just living in the present moment, like, okay, well, that day works and there's nothing on the calendar. And so you do, you just have to give yourself grace and space and flexibility to move as things come. Yes.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
LaShonda, tell me how you got to this point. Like, where were you coming from and how did this whole coaching service come to be what it is?


LaShonda Walker:
So I am probably like so many women who were raised in the 80s and the 90s, where we were doing all the things from what 12, 13, 14, we were just raised in this mindset, in this culture of work, do, grind, be, put your head down, check all the boxes, whatever they tell you to be, right? Whatever black culture tells you to be, whatever church culture tells you to be, what, that's what you do. You check the boxes. And so I did that, you know, I played by the rules and I, you know, I, I call it, um, cause I work in story writing and storytelling. My background is in communications. I often put it in the context that I play the character. I play the character that they asked me to play, right? And I did that, and I was really good at it. I was really, really good at it. On the outside, people were like, oh, her life is great. But I found that as I climbed my corporate ladder, I made it to the top, I got to the top, and I was like, what is this? What? This is what they hyped me up about and said, this is the golden peak of where you're supposed to reach. But the biggest thing on top of all of that, getting to that place was I had just a place of exhaustion, like literally just complete exhaustion. And I was, I just had this place where I said, there's a lot of things I can do, but I can't keep doing this. I really can't. And like myself, I think like so many other people when the pandemic hit, that's really when reality set in that I can't keep doing this, like this is not sustainable. And what I mean by this for me, it was playing that character. Yeah. Prior to the pandemic, I had already kind of started been doing some personal work through therapy. I was really to podcast because, you know, in our culture, we don't really talk about therapy. If you're going, you really, you know, back then you didn't really say anything about it. You definitely didn't say anything about it to family because that was the Yeah. Guaranteed side eye. So a lot of my work started listening to podcasts. Yeah. Listening to podcasts. And I was at work doing it. I mean, that's literally how I got through work and found this wonderful program, this model. It's called the adult chair model. And from just doing it, from listening to the podcast and doing it on my own, I found these tools so helpful for me in surviving. And I said, oh my gosh, I've got to help other people with this. And it just completely changed my life. And one of the first things for me that it started with was slowing down, was literally slowing down. And so I became so passionate about it that I just was like, I think this is where my life is now asking me, you know, life was saying this isn't it anymore. But really, I was beginning to have, I don't call it a midlife crisis, I would say it was a midlife awakening as to where life was really calling me to in this next stage and phase. And that's how I ended up here. And it's been such an amazing experience, the greatest work I feel like I've ever done.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
I love this idea of an adult chair. I was listening to actually several of your podcasts because they're so relevant to you know, you as a woman or even myself as a woman, as I'm like literally managing things like motherhood, my professional career, where I'm going next. And I was walking through kind of this adult chair with you as you're explaining what that is. And I have my own sort of like, you know, reflections that I have with this adult chair model. I want you to share what the adult chair model is. And then we'll kind of get into like, how this could show up for someone who's dealing with XYZ situations. So please tell us what the adult chair model is.


LaShonda Walker:
Sure. So the adult chair model was created by a woman named Michelle Chalfant. She's the woman who trained me in how to use it. And I have taken the foundation of that, applied it to my own life. So the way it looks is you take your life and you look at it through the lens of three different chairs. So the first chair is what we call your inner child chair. So that is typically zero. So from when you're in utero to age six. And so, you know, you're hearing a lot of talk in the culture around inner child work. Some people might call it shadow work. That's what they're talking about. They're talking about that phase from zero to six, which is where our most authentic emotions are. I liken it to, if you want to know what real emotions look like when people just have emotions, just look at a child. A child, they don't hold back their emotions. If they want to fall out, they'll fall out. They don't care what's going on, who's looking, right? And then they have the emotions for 30 to 60 seconds, sometimes 90 seconds, and then they're over it, right? But then as we get older, And we move into what we call the adolescent chair, which is seven to 24. That's when we start to get out of that childhood phase. And usually about age seven, we're talking, I'd like to help people understand like first grade, late kindergarten, first grade. That's when we begin to realize that our world is not just this small place with our caretakers. And we have this world that's expanding that we have to belong into and fit. And then usually that's where We don't connect with our emotions anymore we whatever emotional stuff was not supported oftentimes when we talk about emotions culturally we don't deal with emotions when that is not developed in a healthy way. People don't know who these children are. When you turn seven and on, you start to look at the world around you and you start to say, Oh, okay. Okay. So I can't have these emotions or I can't, who do I need to become to fit in this world? For me, I use myself as an example and the work that I've done on myself, I've learned that I'm a natural impact. I was a highly sensitive child. Like I was the type that I'll cry if I cry, you know, My parents were like, look, we ain't got time for all that crying. We got time for your feelings, girl. But what do we tell ourselves? You better dry it up, right? You get spanked. Dry it before I give you something to cry for. Well, wait a minute. Help me. Wait. So what we do is I looked at my world as I was growing up and I was like, OK, they want me to be tough. I'm supposed to have the skin. okay, I have to be perfect, I have to have these grades, that is the expectation from my culture, right? My background, mother's Caribbean, father from the South, okay, you got to get these grades, you got to look a certain way. So I began to learn at an early age how to play these characters. And as your world gets bigger and you go into different stages, you go into elementary school, middle school, high school, young adult, every world you go into, you're like, who do I need to become to fit into this world? And so many of us without even realizing it, because a lot of times we're unconsciously doing it, we create these characters. And then what happens is these characters and the beliefs that we developed during that phase, oftentimes run our life all the way to adulthood. and we don't even know it, right? And it's not until we get into adulthood for many of us, where many of us are right now, where we've hit this wall that we're like, this isn't giving what it's supposed to give, this isn't working. And so that's when you start to get into the adult chair. So we say that's usually about 25, because typically about 25, sometimes for males, 26, 27, what happens? That's when that prefrontal cortex, is fully developed, right? And culturally, we are not taught these things. We're not taught development, you know, child development. A lot of us, we were just being raised based off of tradition, right? So 25, that's when that prefrontal cortex closes. That's where your executive functioning is now fully online, which is where you can make cognitive decisions and really think through things. When you're in your adolescent, you'll have the ability to do that, right? So you're just making up stuff. But then once you get into that adult, you're a fully grown adult, that is that phase of life where you're able to slow down, ask questions, get fact and truth. And so when I'm working with my clients, what we typically do is I let my clients come to the table with whatever's coming up. Doesn't matter what's coming up, right? Most of the time, I think the most recent thing I've seen is clients coming in, it's overwhelming work. right, just overwhelmed, stressed, exhaustion, and not knowing what to do. So for me, in the work that I've done and in the space, particularly with communities of color, I have shaped out with what I do, what I call explore, heal, and transform. Whatever's coming up, we got to explore your past because whatever's coming up today didn't just happen today. You're not just overwhelmed at work today because work is overwhelming. We're back in that adolescent, some character came on that said, you can't slow down. You can't, you gotta be, you gotta do. So what I work with them on is bringing them into the present moment to find out what is fact and truth for me today. And it's Brandi, Dr. Brandi, it's such a beautiful process. To go through because I said so many of us, we are just playing characters that we picked up years ago. And now we're getting to these stages were like this character isn't working well, because that's actually not who you are right. Yes, well, you are so yeah so that's just kind of a little bit of how the chairs work is we look at your life in three different phases, and then we look at little pieces at a time to say okay in your adult what do we know to be fact and truth. And it's so simple that once you really begin doing it, you start doing it in so many areas of your life that you will be amazed the things that you unpack just from the small steps in this model.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
I love this idea of chairs because, you know, chairs can be moved. Chairs can, you can change who sits in the chair and how long they sit in the chair. And you can do so many of these different things with the chair model but now let's add technology and more specifically social media because I think this is the element by which sometimes you could regress or you could go back to a chair because there are external factors and I'm not going to just target social media I think in general that's the life of a person is that there are certain influences in our life that shape which chair we're in. But can you tell me more about how someone who is coming to you is managing all of the influence of social media as they're navigating these other stressors in their life?


LaShonda Walker:
How does that show up for them? Sure. So social media is instrumental, I think, in increasing a lot of anxiety in people, a lot of stress in people, because what's happening is that social media, oftentimes when you look at it, I liken it to being back in high school. Everybody's competing with each other. Who do I fit in with? who, okay, they have this, but I don't have that, right? We start these comparisons, which when we look at again, it's exactly what you said, when you look at the chairs, okay, you might be in your adult, you might've just gotten off work, right? And you accomplished all these things at work, right? You have a house, you're living in a house, got a great car, and then you hop on social media and you're like, oh, well, this celebrity has this, and their outfit is like that. Ooh, I'm always very transparent when I believe in, you can only take people as far as you've gone. And so I'm always doing my own work. And I had a personal situation, literally not maybe last week, I guess it was, and it was around weight, right? From the time I was younger, there's always been this thing with my weight. I grew up in communities being a military kid where not a lot of the kids look like me. A lot of the girls' bodies did not look like my body. I'm very much, I'm muscular, I'm built different than most. always struggled with my weight, right? And from, I literally, Dr. Brandi can remember this started as early as I want to say I was fourth or fifth grade when I started on this thing, right? So then I've been fine recently. I'm like, okay, I'm working out. I'm good. I'm eating right. And then I got on social media and I saw, of course, you know, there's all this talk around the latest medications and all the things.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
And I'm like, well, I don't, I don't look like, and I don't,


LaShonda Walker:
Right. But then I go back to the tools that I use. I'm like, wait a minute. Like literally, I could, and you know, you feel your energy shifting, you start questioning yourself. You're like, who am I? And I had to slow myself down. I was, you had mentioned this 30 day challenge that we've been doing with some of my clients of taking 60 seconds to slow down and check in with yourself. Yes. I literally, literally, as I was feeling that and I was beginning to feel bad about myself, I was like, okay, let me just slow this down. I love it. And I had to say, okay. And that's okay. What is it? Okay. How old do I feel right now? Yeah. And I'm like, oh my God, I feel like that little fifth grade girl whose body little black girl who was around predominantly white girls. And my body is completely different. And I'm feeling, I was like, oh my fifth grade.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
It's great. So you were able to identify the chair and everything like you.


LaShonda Walker:
Yes, I was. And that's how this works. Like once you start using it and you start checking in with yourself, you're like, wait a minute. So then what I had to do is I had to come into the present moment. Yeah. Right. Yeah. How do you come into the present moment? Just simply slowing down. Yes. and taking some deep breaths and saying, OK, what is fact and truth about my life? First of all, am I in fifth grade anymore? Like, you have to tell yourself, girl, you are fully grown. Yeah. yeah two children yes and life has changed and your body has changed and and even give more facts down to the food systems have changed right yeah the world that we live in has changed you know and so that's how we do that we bring ourselves back into the present but most of the time when people are in social media and most of it is being run by people sitting in their adolescent chair right yeah


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
I told it I'm laughing because as I'm listening to you talk about that I had to remind myself like, yeah, you know, actually use was shot as an accomplished certified coach, you know, she's accomplished so much, and her to right I think that is like. Those moments that sometimes get missed, I think, in social media is that someone with your expertise got here because they've walked the journey. They're not telling you this stuff without having some personal experience with it. And they're relating to you because they know kind of where you've been and where you can go and that you can actually come out a better person with these tools. And this is just based upon life experiences that I think shame enters the room a lot.


LaShonda Walker:
You know, shame is usually running the show. And I think culturally for us, shame is absolutely running the show and not just shame in the present moment, but one of the things that I definitely work in the spaces is generational patterns. When we look at things generationally, oftentimes when we are repeating cycle, we're doing things, right? Oftentimes when you begin to start to slow down, you realize, Where is this coming from? And then you start, you like, that's why I tell people, you got to explore your past. Where did you learn to be an overachiever? I mean, I've worked with clients that literally, you know, women of color that were like, well, I watched my mother do it. Yeah. And then I watched my grandmother do it. Okay. That was then. Yeah. Right? One of the things that my grandmother said to me before she passed, and it has stuck with me for so long. And I think now that I'm a fully grown woman, I understand it to the extent, number one, she was from that generation of, you better go get your education. You better make sure, you know, those, those side conversations that grandma had with us. Right. But then there was also this, this message of, we put up with it because we had to.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
Right.


LaShonda Walker:
Right. That's the past. That's going back to a time that doesn't exist. But when you're in your adult, you've got to look at life as to what is fact and truth for today. Absolutely. They put up with it so that we don't have to. We have this new space. And I think as women, Kind of like what you were saying, but like, she has these credentials. We do that all the time. She's got these credentials and she's got this and she's got that, that we really just need to give each other space, right? Just hold space and say, sis, when we really look at that story at the end of the day, we all made it. Right. It's true. right we all made and we're all you know in our own lane but it is it is it we we so quickly go into comparison and that shame which often you've got to go back generations yeah generations we carry that shame but I love the space that we're in particularly in the area of mental health, mental wellness, conversations, particularly around communities of color, you're beginning to see this surge in the conversations around mental health, where now I feel like there's this energy where we're saying collectively, we can't keep doing this.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
No, it's not sustainable.


LaShonda Walker:
it's not sustainable right, and we have come so far that I think sometimes we forget to sit in that adult with fact and truth and our credentials to say look how far we've come it's okay. We can take a break. And that's a lot of the clients that I work with. That's really where we are, where we're looking at these things. And it's like, oh, my God, I'm still carrying this thing because this is what grandma did. OK, well, maybe that worked for grandma. And then they start to say, no, she didn't like it either.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
Yeah, she's a human.


LaShonda Walker:
So it is, it is about, we are really in this space where we're giving each other. And that's one of the biggest passions for me in the work that I do is sitting and holding space for us. Okay, what old luggage do we want to let go of?


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield (midroll section):
Hey listeners, it's Dr. Brandi. Thanks for listening to this episode of Women's Digital Health. Subscribe to Women's Digital Health on your favorite podcast platform. If you want to know even more about how to use technology to improve your health, subscribe to our newsletter on womensdigitalhealth.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Enjoy the rest of this episode.

Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
Speaking of that transition of generations, technology is probably, I think, the biggest difference between what our grandparents and, you know, definitely our great grandparents had in terms of resources and tools. Everything was in person. Everything was, you know, basically about who you know. But with technology, we have access to different apps. We have access to telehealth. We have access to, you know, now artificial intelligence is starting to reveal itself in terms of its role in mental health. How do you talk about technology and how do you, you know, offer resources to your clients or even yourself personally? How do you you know, balance the coaching aspect of it, that in person, get to the meat of what's going on and be connected to someone versus what they're doing in between coaching sessions with you.


LaShonda Walker:
Yeah. So I'm a, I'm a lover of education. So one of the biggest things I do with my clients and they'll tell you, they always get homework. I mean, There's always homework. But where the technology is, it's also, the biggest thing I love about technology is on some levels, not completely, because I understand that there's economic disparities across the board, as well as access to things like internet and things like that. One of the ways in which it is assisting is, particularly where economics is concerned, is that there's so many new things out there that you can access emotional wellness apps and resources without having to pay somebody or go into, you know, see a therapist. Because some people are not ready to even talk about it, right? Like we talked a little bit about shame. They're not even ready to admit that there's a problem. Right? So we might start as something as simple as I'm overwhelmed. Or I'll even say this, Dr. Brandi, sometimes they don't even know the language of overwhelmed, right? Or their feelings or their emotion, which is why I always go back to what's coming up right now. And usually when I start talking with my clients, one of the first things that happens is they'll just start rattling off stuff. When they finally get comfortable. Right. Okay.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
Take a breath.


LaShonda Walker:
Take a breath. That's uncomfortable for us. Or if I'm getting them to slow down, okay, close your eyes. If we are not praying, ma'am, we don't, you know, we just don't feel comfortable. So one of the things that I do is I do my best, particularly to gauge where they are, but I like to start them off slow and just simple things like breathing. Simple, simple things. And there's a lot of great apps out there that are available. And there's different ones depending on my clients that I'll refer them to. So for example, if I know my client is already kind of has an understanding of things like breath work or meditation, I might refer them to a particular app. If I'm, for example, sitting with a faith-based client that I know that client is faith-based, there's an app that's called the One Minute Pause app, where it's literally, it's an app, they unload it for free, and at any point in time during the day, they can get on their phone, and they can choose one minute, five minutes, ten minutes, they hit play, and then they walk you through a quick breathing exercise, bringing to the present moment, and then it's kind of like this meditation, usually it's a scripture. So that's usually typically where I start and just getting them into the practice of slowing down. Yeah. Once I get them to slow down and getting into that habit of slowing down, I just tell them to ask themselves one simple question. What do I need right now? Yes. right because oftentimes and the adolescent in the adolescent chair I talk about this with my client usually that adolescent is running to the past is in fear of trying to prove like okay something happened in the past I didn't quite understand it so I'm trying to prevent that yeah or they're rushing to the future they're never in the present moment okay never Very rarely is the adolescent, the adolescent is even back or forth. So it's bringing them into the present moment, slowing them down to find out what do I need in this present moment? And initially sometimes some of them, when they're new to it, they're like, what? So I'm like, just try it. And then they'll tune into themselves. I'll get them to slow down. And then you'll usually I'll get, oh, where'd that come from? It came up. Well, I'm tired. Okay, I need some water. Okay. I just, I don't need to do this. Right? So they're learning to tune into themselves in the present moment. So we might work through some things in the session and then afterwards I'll give them homework. Let's get into the habit of slowing down to see what do I need right now? Right? Because that present moment embodiment will answer so many questions for you in the present moment. And sometimes because we have so many things going on and pulling us in different directions, and usually it's outsourced for others, we miss ourselves.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
I love it. I love it. You know, I would love to hear more about other technologies that you recommend. I mean, I'm assuming that you're using telehealth to connect with some of your clients. Tell me about like that experience for your clients. Have you found that as a great way to connect with people who otherwise or tell me more?


LaShonda Walker:
Yes. So I do, I do virtual sessions with clients and I do in-person sessions and I do virtual sessions. And sometimes I think when they first come in, they're really not for sure about, you know, can they really get as much out of it virtual? of my sessions, it is, I wouldn't say interactive, but I oftentimes have the client move around and do different things. So I literally, like, I'll just, for example, like in your office, if we were working on something, I would say, okay, there's something right there to the right, go ahead and grab that. And that is this, right. And they're, you know, they're just like, what? But The reason why I love that option, that ability to meet with them virtually, because they are in their own space, right? I give them an example of how to work through something. We will even do chairs. I've worked with clients where I'll have them bring in another chair and I'll have them move to the different chair. What is the energy of this chair feel like? What does the energy of this chair feel like as you work through this? And then after we're off, because they're in their own home and then they're in their own space, when they find themselves in that moment again, they get to see they're already in their home and in their own space to then practice walking themselves through it. So that's one of the beautiful things about being able to meet virtually. And I'm a traveler. I love to travel. But that's one of the other beautiful things that I love about this virtual space is that it reduces lack and it reduces access that it's like okay if you can get to if you can get online, you and I can meet so I'll meet with people in all kinds of states sometimes internationally depending on where they are. When the people are ready to do their work they're going to show up and do it, but I love the virtual option because. When their home and in first and foremost it creates a safe space for them, yes, and I think that also helps to bring down those walls of resistance. yeah mind them know you are in your home, you are in your space, and so we want to. begin that practice of making that your safe space. And then a lot of my clients will say, this is actually the same place that I come back to when I just need that moment to center myself or to calm or to remember how you walked me through that exercise. So I love the virtual option. I love that it's even available. Telehealth, we are seeing that way more now even in the medical field. I just had a personal experience not too long ago with telehealth at a family. situation and I was like oh I'm gonna have to fly all the way to Arizona for this meeting and they're like oh no you can actually we're just gonna get online with the doctor. It's like there you go. So I love that these options are available because it is giving more access and you're not just limited to the limited resources that might be in your area. You can expand and reach out beyond that limited ability. So I Oh my gosh, I absolutely love it. I absolutely love it.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
LaShonda this has been wonderful. I think that you are just a wealth of resource and knowledge and expertise and you provide a safe place for people. And so I want to thank you for having your coaching service and really explaining the chairs and giving people that 60 seconds permission to take that time for themselves. If there is like one tip that you would want our listeners to take away from the coaching that you offer and things they could do today, what would that tip be?


LaShonda Walker:
Oh, I always say it takes one person to change a legacy. Takes one person to change a legacy and you can start to change your life and your legacy one minute at a time. literally one minute at a time. Don't get overwhelmed by, oh my gosh, it's too big. No. Simple. I always go back to it. Slow down and breathe. Slow down and breathe. Find out what you need. And then from there, you can then go and serve once you have served yourself. So just slowing down and breathing, changing your life and changing your legacy.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
Thank you. Thank you, Coach LaShonda. Where can we find you? Give us your socials and your website.


LaShonda Walker:
Yeah. So you can find me online. My website is anewlifestorycoaching.com or I'm on Facebook and Instagram at anewstorycoach. And then, um, also if you want to learn more about the chairs, you can check out my podcast, which is a new life story where we are consciously uncovering our authentic self. So any one of those, and I would love to hear from y'all.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
We would love to hear from you too, LaShonda. We hope to have you back on Women's Digital Health. Thank you so much for your knowledge and expertise.


LaShonda Walker:
Absolutely. Thank you, Dr. Brandi. Great seeing you.


Dr. Brandi Sinkfield:
All right, that completes episode 17. I hope that you've enjoyed this podcast. This has been a great, great segue into learning how you can put it all together. We learned from LaShonda that the story you tell yourself really shapes your current state and you can use these chairs and Go back to your child, go back to your adolescent, and even reshape the story that you're telling yourself as an adult to really change your current and present thinking. And we also learned from LaShonda how she uses different technologies like telehealth or virtual care as well as mental health apps to really enhance the experience that her clients have in between visits. So definitely check out LaShonda if you're interested. We'll put all her links in our show notes. And if you really enjoyed this episode, please give us a five star review wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Check us out on social media. I've been posting a lot about hiking and some of the challenges I even had with hiking. So if you want something fun, something motivating, check that out. We're on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok. We're on all of those. So bye for now. Although I'm a board-certified physician, I am not your physician. All content and information on this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice and it does not establish a doctor-patient relationship by listening to this podcast. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you heard on this podcast. The personal views of our podcast guests on women's digital health are their own and do not replace medical professional advice.