Rural Venture Collective
Supported by the Victorian Government, this is a podcast about women living their lives in rural East Gippsland. Connecting business women across the region by telling their stories - their challenges, their achievements, their everyday lives.
This podcast is proudly brought to you by EGMI (East Gippsland Marketing Inc) with funding by the Victorian Government. Episodes are recorded at the James Yeates Studio, Bairnsdale.
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Rural Venture Collective
From Rock Bottom to Rockstar: with Caz Sanderman
Ever felt like the weight of the world is perched squarely on your shoulders? Caz Sanderman, an inspiring emotional well-being practitioner from Lake Entrance, joins us to share her transformative journey from stress-induced breakdowns to becoming a beacon of resilience. As we navigate her personal story, Caz unveils the process she has developed, a revolutionary approach designed to help parents, educators, and community leaders alike recognise and manage their stress. She's not just healing individuals; she's igniting generational healing to foster resilient communities and enrich the lives of future generations.
Follow Caz Flow Wellbeing on Facebook or visit her website Flow Wellbeing Bowen Therapy & Stress Management (flowwellbeingandresilience.com.au).
Or even better drop into her studio in Lakes Entrance - Breathing Space 2|239 Esplanade.
For all your yoga, reiki, sex, love and relationship coaching needs visit Julia Wolfram, the Breathing Space's co-founder website at www.juliawolfram.com.
Welcome to the Rural Venture Collective podcast, the show that celebrates the string, innovation and resilience of women across East Gippsland. Whether you're a local resident or someone curious about the unique spirit of East Gippsland, this podcast is for you. Together, we'll explore the triumphs, the lessons learned and the dreams that fuel these East Gippsland women. Through this podcast, we'll dive into the heart of East Gippsland and shine a spotlight on the incredible women who are shaping business, creating art, nurturing the land and fostering connections across this vast region. Get ready to be inspired, to learn and to be a part of a collection that celebrates the shared experiences that make East Gippsland more than just a place but a home. So grab a cup of your favourite local brew, find a cosy spot and tune in as we embark on a journey of connection and discovery together. I'd like to acknowledge the Gunai-Kurnai people as the traditional owners of the land on which we are gathered and pay my respects to their elders, past, present and future. Welcome to the Rural Venture Collective, the podcast that connects women across East Gippsland. Today we've got a great guest again. Another great guest, kaz Sanderman, is joining us and there's a little bit of some story about Kaz and how we connected.
Speaker 1:We're exploring the beautiful Lake Centrance yesterday and we popped into a well-being business to speak to the owners that were there and we were met by the delightful Kaz and we were totally moved by her passion and her connection to what it is that she does in our region. So we've invited her in to have a chat and so we can let you know what it is that Kaz does. Welcome, Kaz, thank you. Thanks for having me. Well, it really is our pleasure. Brooke and I were delighted when we met you yesterday. We were really blown away by your passion and your knowledge about the well-being space and what it is that you do. So can you tell us a little bit about what it is that you do up there in Lake Centrance?
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. I am an emotional well-being practitioner, really a stress management coach, but I think that sounds a little bit abrasive. People don't really necessarily want to think that they are stressed. So emotional well-being practitioner it is. I'm also a boon therapist and I am absolutely passionate about generational healing and making sure that adults, community leaders, educators can become aware of their own stress habits and stress responses so that they're not passing them on to the next generation.
Speaker 1:Right. So that's generational healing, just repairing yourself and leading by them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, basically it's just becoming more aware. So this all started 20 years ago. I have my own breakdown, if you like. I've had two stress breakdowns and that's purely just because I didn't know how to understand and manage my own stress and I can see the impact that that's had on my children. And now I have a grandchild and I can see how he's picking up his stress habits from the people around him and I'm just passionate about really supporting parents and educators and everyone really to understand and manage their own stress responses, because, a it gives you the most incredible quality of life once you do and, b, because we want to make sure that the next generation are resilient. So if we can work towards this as a community and create community resilience, we're much better off as a whole.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right. So what is the difference between stress management and coping strategies for general pressures?
Speaker 2:of life, it's the same.
Speaker 2:So basically, everybody has stress, and stress is a good thing in its place.
Speaker 2:So the problem arises when we don't understand our stress and when we get stuck in reaction.
Speaker 2:So stress responses can be learned right from childhood, and I will often find so I also do what's called self-directed healing, and I will often find that most people's challenges and limiting beliefs come back to you between the ages of one and ten, so that's when kids are like a sponge and it's before their conscious brain is fully developed and their reasoning brain is fully developed, and so that's when they're just taking everything in and they're trusting the people who are telling them this is correct and this is true and this is the way the world is, and so they take that on board. And so if someone says to you you're not good enough, or you're never right, or you're stupid, or you're going to believe that and that carries through. I've worked with so many people over a hundred people so far just helping them release those limiting beliefs and recognise that those stress responses are from the past and we can learn to manage them, create new standards and strategies for ourselves and move forward.
Speaker 1:And how hard is it to create new strategies? I'm assuming that you need to have a relatively open mind to come in and see you and go down that path Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So there's a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. So I support people to just to start breaking up that fixed mindset and to open up more awareness. So self-awareness is everything. I've called it the arm-end process, so it just goes through a number of different areas, so awareness, healing, mindset, emotional intelligence and then new beginnings, and so that's a five-step program that I work through with people to support them to really take themselves. I call it from rock bottom to rock star.
Speaker 1:Right, I love that. There's your slogan.
Speaker 2:Well, that's what I've done myself. So you know, I literally was at breaking point. I was chronic fatigue, clinical depression. They thought I had MS because my body was totally depleted of cortisol, adrenaline, all the things I needed, because I had been stressed for so long and I hadn't done anything about it. So I was feeling all these ways but I was externalizing, looking for external reasons for that, and it wasn't until I had that absolute breakdown and couldn't do anything and they thought, yeah, well, you've got MS.
Speaker 2:And I thought, wow, this is my responsibility and I have to do something about it. I'm not just going to take medication and I want to do something about it. So I became a life coach and along that life coaching study journey I learned so many tools and strategies and then I've just never stopped learning. It's become my passion. So I've done somatic stress relief with a Canadian psychologist and osteopath and just so many different things because I want to support people to understand and manage this and do you think through supporting other people, it helps keep you on the straight and narrow as a word.
Speaker 1:It helps keep you focused on your stress response.
Speaker 2:I think I have been practicing this for so long that it's actually just become my auto response now. So I literally wake up every morning and I just am so grateful for the sunrise just part of who I am, and because I'm continually learning and growing and evolving, I think I'm only going to get better and better and better. So I am very mindful, though, and every day, I take time out to pause and have a look at where I am, and because I am a very busy buzzy girl, so I take a lot of time to pause and say, okay, are you stressed right now? Let's dial it back. Do we need to do some meditation? Do we do some yin yoga or constantly just being aware?
Speaker 1:So you're talking about being at rock bottom yourself, and on two occasions, the lady I met yesterday was 100% rockstar. Like just after we left your premises, we had a lighter step where you had such an impact on us. So what was it? It's a very first step. So you're suffering with chronic fatigue, depression. You've had this devastating diagnosis. What was the very first thing that you did?
Speaker 2:Look for information. So the first thing the doctor said was I want to put you on antidepressants. And I said no. And I understand that there are many people that needs those and I'm not saying that they're wrong, but for myself at the time, I didn't want to take that path. So it was self education, personal development. I went to the library and borrowed because the internet wasn't really a thing then and I borrowed every book I could find on improving your self esteem and taking responsibility for your life. And so it started with books, and this is why I want to create this now. This is why I've created my business flow, well being, because I want to give people all of the tools that I was looking for that it took me 20 years to find. I want to give them those now. So it started with that looking for personal development books. Then I did the life coaching course, then I became a personal trainer, so I'm also a qualified personal trainer. I did somatic stress. Really I have done, beyond blue courses, so many courses on depression.
Speaker 2:So it's just that that commitment to self and that commitment to being the very best version of myself and then really loving myself along the way, like you find yourself on that journey and you say, wow, I did that and I'm so proud of that.
Speaker 2:And then you do something else and you go, wow, I did that. You know, I do have these strengths and just because I am forgetful and I am scattered sometime and sometimes I in the past was a people pleaser and it was really hard to go from being a people pleaser to having boundaries and to enforce those when people were saying why don't, why can't you just be the way you were before? And I would say, but I don't like the behavior that I was tolerating before and so it's up to me to enforce my boundaries. And so the more I've done that, the more I've loved myself again. It's just this ever and ever evolving thing, I guess, of you building yourself up and going, hey, I love who I am and I can honestly say I look in the mirror every day and just like I am the rock star, like I love myself and I want that for other people. So that's the journey.
Speaker 1:That's fabulous. So you start with your own development and then you let that flow out and impact on your surroundings and you allow it to impact on your surroundings and you allow it to you last certain people in. You don't allow other people in. That's the trick, isn't it? So flow well being, which is located in Lake Sancton and that was where we met you yesterday. You've got great facilities there. Can we talk a little bit about some of the services that you offer? You were talking before about the different types of yoga. Can you walk us through a couple of the different types of yoga and what they they are and how you practice them?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I actually am not the yoga teacher there, so I run a Bowen therapy and then a class called Medi-Bow, which is a cross between meditation, guided visualization, and each tool each week will have emotional well being tool. So people are learning and growing and evolving in that class. Plus they get a little bit of foundational Bowen therapy because that deactivates the stress response.
Speaker 1:So tell us a bit about what Bowen is.
Speaker 2:So Bowen therapy is physical modality. It's not like massage, because we're not manipulating structures from place to place. We work with receptors on the muscles, tendons, ligaments and nerves and those receptors send messages to the nervous system, telling the nervous system there's no threat that can turn the stress response off, and the results that I've been getting are just amazing. It's blown my mind because I actually only took that on as part of a stress management toolbox, but it's really just been incredible. But the people I share the space with they do yoga. We have Yin yoga, which is a form of relaxation and it's almost kind of like a meditating yoga. It's beautiful. Then we also have another lady coming in doing Vinyasa yoga, which I think is a bit more of an active yoga, but that's not my area of expertise so I can't tell you exactly what it is.
Speaker 2:We have empowerment people coming in. We have women's circles, just about a women's circle. A women's circle can be run by in varying degrees. So in my sense, I've run women's circles with regard to self esteem and confidence. I know there's another lady who runs women's circles just with regard to connection and spirituality. So each person, I guess, who runs a women's circle has a different theme for that, sir, and people will come along depending on what they're looking for.
Speaker 2:So it's an extension of the person leading the group really Well they will determine what they think the community needs or what their community needs, and then they'll put an offer out there and people who are interested in that will come in.
Speaker 1:It sounds very traditional women's circle. Do you sit around in a circle? What?
Speaker 2:physicality does it take? Okay, I'll give you an example. So at the end of every year I do something called the final edit and basically it's a workshop where we go back through the year, reflect on the year what went well, what didn't go well, what challenges did we face, and are they things we've faced before? So we're really looking at behaviours and habits that we have that are not really serving us and also ones that are, and then we take those ones that are through into the next year. But part of that workshop is we did a beautiful connection practice in the beginning where we all read affirmations of support and connection to each other whilst one person was holding a bowl full of crystals and then each person would take a crystal and they'd hold that crystal and it would be infused with the energy of the women in that group and there were tears. It was beautiful. People felt really connected in that moment.
Speaker 2:So that's one example of the circle for connection, and at the end of that session we danced together like crazy women because we wanted to actually just be liberated and be free and be able to just be ourselves. And part of that song was I'm a Rockstar.
Speaker 1:It does sound liberating, and these women's circles are hosted at your premises in Lake St Trent.
Speaker 2:There's another lady who runs the Katara Sky. I believe her name is. She runs them once a month.
Speaker 1:Okay. So, Kaz, I notice on your card it talks about the fact that you do community and organisational workshops. So you'll actually go out and do team building workshops as well.
Speaker 2:I can do whatever people need. Basically, I just want to support whatever an organisation needs. So I have been part of the Empower Women's Group locally and done talks for them with regard to stress management. So I was actually on the committee for them and that was amazing. There are so many brilliant people in this community and it was amazing to get together with all of them and to be able to offer just all different modalities to show people. Okay, maybe you don't gel with this kind of way to improve your wellbeing, but maybe this person is better for you. So they're all the sort of things that I'm more than open to doing.
Speaker 1:Fabulous. So can you give us some practical tips? What are some things that we can do, we can implement right now and we can start doing every day to improve our mental health and our physical wellbeing?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the biggest thing that I would say to people, and the biggest thing that works for me every day still is feel as a sensation, not as a story. So how often do you find yourself feeling a certain way like you're breathing up in your chest, which is a stress response, your tummies gurgling or you've got butterflies, or you're feeling a certain way, maybe you're teary and you're immediately looking around, for you blame it on the partner or the children or the job, or the boss or the being, but rather than just immediately respond like that, take a step back. So I call it a power pause. Take a step back and say be curious, hmm, my body's feeling this way. What's going on in my body? You look around, is there a threat? Because if there's a threat, obviously run or look, fight or do whatever your natural response is.
Speaker 2:But if not, what is my body responding to? Because basically, what's happening in your body is when you are activated, when a stimulus comes from outside, your body releases adrenaline and cortisol and all the things for you to take action. But if it's just something that's in your head, if it's just a thought you've had about Charlie last week who yelled at you and you've just thought of that, you've reactivated that energy in your body. So it's not anything that's happening in this very moment that needs to be addressed, it's the energy in your body. So in that instance I would say go for a pow or walk, rub your hands together, tap your feet on the ground, do something physical to move that energy through your body whilst you're thinking about that thing, but thinking about it in a positive way. Okay, that's the past. I know that happened. I'm going to set some boundaries so that that doesn't happen again and I'm going to move this energy through my body so that I feel better about it.
Speaker 1:Does that make sense? It sure does. A great strategy. Tell us a little bit about how we find some details on flow well-being for people who are keen to come and take part in one of your sessions or sign up. More about what you offer, sure.
Speaker 2:So I do have a website. It's wwwflowwellbeingandresiliencecomau, which is a lot, but they can find me on Facebook, just personally, on CAS Flow Well-Bean. So C-A-Z SPACE Flow, f-l-o-w SPACE Well-Bean. I do have a Facebook group called Flow Well-Bean Bolland Therapy and Stress Management, and that's often where I'll jump in. I'll go live, I'll talk about what I'm doing in the Medibo session each week, because so, for example, this week in Medibo we did a Radiance Energy Guide of Visualisation, which it was interesting. You said you know that the energy that we radiate out that's something that I'm really passionate about teaching people is the way you think, feel, believe, speak and act radiates out to everyone. So if you can manage those things and start radiating out confidence and high self-esteem and love and joy of life, you're going to attract people who are the same or people who like that. So then you're going to really surround yourself with beautiful people.
Speaker 1:That brings us right back to where we began, which was generational stress and managing that. If you're projecting that positivity and that good energy, then people around you learn to do the same.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know, no one's perfect. We all have stress that we don't manage, I still react. But then I apologise as soon as I started to recognise that, because I can really see how my stress habits have impacted my kids. And I talk to them now about it and I say, hey, you know, I can see that you've taken on this self-protective response in relation to my past behaviour. Be mindful of that now and in the future, because you're going to attract other people who will treat you that way or who you know.
Speaker 2:So we all create these self-protective patterns from whatever has gone on in our life in the past, our experiences, the people. We create these patterns so that we feel like we belong, so that we feel like we're loved, so that we feel like we're safe. And you know, it's really important that as we grow and evolve ourselves, we go back and we say to the people who may have been impacted by our stress responses hey, I can see how this may have impacted you. And I want to say I apologise firstly, and you know how can I support you if you've created a behaviour that's not serving you from that.
Speaker 1:Wow, powerful stuff. Hmm, it's been a really great conversation with you, kaz, and I think we've learned lots and you've given us lots of strategies. Flow Wellbeing is your business and we can find you on Facebook. We can find you via the website, which is flowwellbeingandresiliencecomau. Yep. Thanks for your time today. I feel empowered. Yay, I'm so excited.
Speaker 2:Thank you, and please come see us at Lakes Entrance. So we have a well-being studio called Breathing Space and it's at 2.239 Esplanade in Lakes Entrance. So please feel free to come and see us in Lakes. We would love to see you there. I'm there on Tuesdays and Wednesdays all day and Friday mornings and I would absolutely love to see people come on in and have some bowl, or even just come and have a cuppa and a chat Like more than happy to do that too.
Speaker 1:Brilliant and as thank you so much, bye. Well, that's us for today. Thanks for joining us on the Rural Venture Collective. Remember to like and subscribe so you'll be updated when our next podcast lands. Most importantly, stay connected and get out there and enjoy our beautiful East Skips Land Bye. This podcast is brought to you by East Skips Land Marketing with the support of the Victorian Government, recorded at the James Yates Studio, binsdale.
