The Wellness Upgrade on Elevate Springfield featuring Dr. Kelly Neumann: Elevating Through the Power Fueling the Soul

Summary

In this conversation, Robert Ferriell and Dr. Kelly Neumann explore various themes surrounding personal growth and the importance of nurturing one's soul. They discuss  the significance of filling one's soul cup, and the role of empathy in therapy. The conversation delves into the mind-body-soul connection, the impact of personal trauma, and practical ways to feed the soul through family connections and nature. They also touch on the miracles of life and the journey of self-discovery, emphasizing the importance of understanding one's purpose and the healing process.

Takeaways

• Filling the soul cup is essential for mental well-being.
• Empathy plays a crucial role in effective therapy.
• The mind-body-soul connection is vital for holistic healing.
• Personal trauma can significantly impact professional life.
• Finding time for self-reflection is crucial for personal growth.
• Engaging with nature can enhance wellness and connection.
• Family interactions can be a source of joy and healing.
• Spirituality can play a role in the healing process.
• Self-discovery is a continuous journey that requires effort.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Welcome to Elevate Springfield, where we'll dive into strategies and stories that help you rise to your full potential. Each episode, we'll talk about how you can take intentional steps to elevate your life and your business while making a meaningful impact on those around you. Along the way, we're gonna bring in the change makers from our community that are already elevating. We'll bring the actionable strategies, you bring the discipline and follow through, and together we can elevate Springfield.

SPEAKER_03 0:32

Alright, let's go, Springfield. Time to 10X, time to level up. Hey, you are listening to the Elevate Springfield Podcast, coming to you from the Big Dog Construction Studio in Beautiful Downtown Springfield. Robert Farrell here, certified 10X coach, speaker, and mentor. Here to bring you actionable strategies. You bring the discipline and follow through.

SPEAKER_04 0:58

And together, we're going to Elevate Springfield. Play you are listening to the wellness upgrade on Elevate Springfield, where we're going to bring you specific strategies to help elevate your health and wellness. Say, if you're not elevating your health and wellness, you're not going to be able to elevate in all other areas. This is the baseline. You know I'm passionate about it. And you know that's why I brought this segment to elevate Springfield. We want to thank our friends over at Shudokan Karate Club here in Springfield. Sensei Dennis and his team over 50 years in the Springfield area. Traditional karate teaching self-discipline, confidence, community, traditional, powerful, real. That's Shudokan Karate Club here in Springfield. Check them out. Shudokan karate springfield.com. We're going to get right to our guest after the break.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

When I first walked into Shudokan Karate Club, I was just looking for a way to get stronger. But what I found was so much more. Here we train in traditional karate, the real stuff. Passed down through generations. Every punch, every kata has purpose. I've learned self-discipline, confidence, and how to protect myself. Not just in class, but in real life. It's not about being aggressive, it's about being prepared. This is more than a club, it's a way of life. Join us at Judocon. Traditional, powerful, real.

SPEAKER_04 2:34

Alright, and we are back for another edition of the Wellness Upgrade Familiar Face, Dr. Kelly Newman. How are we doing today?

SPEAKER_01 2:42

Good. How are you?

SPEAKER_04 2:43

Uh for anybody that maybe this is their first time listening to the show and they've never seen you, you know, tell them a little bit about what you do.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

My name is Dr. Kelly Newman. I am a physical therapist. I specialize in sports and orthopaedic um movement literacy. I'm kind of reviving it now. I like it. You know, we're always movement literacy because it's it's more of learning and understanding. Um, the recovery room is all about servicing um ways to the community as an outreach, um, trying to just evolve um our practice as physical therapist as a whole, together, united as one.

SPEAKER_04 3:30

Love it. I love it. Mission to move. Here we go. So, what's the topic today? What are we gonna talk about?

SPEAKER_01 3:35

We are talking about our soul.

SPEAKER_04 3:37

Soul. All right.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

We're talking soul power. We can throw in some resilien, like resiliency. I feel like those kind of go hand in hand as well.

SPEAKER_04 3:47

Love it. So when you say soul power, what do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Everyone has that that flame, right? We we have that flame that burns inside of us, or we want to. We want to know what it is, we want to feel that. Um that in itself is is, I believe, is your purposeful, you know, attribute to your way, you know, your what what God needs you to do, right, you know, in life. And so, but I didn't know how to do that. Um, well, we all know that it's it's important to pray, it's important to help others, it's important to be part of a community. And when we lose sight of that, we lose sight of the bigger picture. For me, feeding your soul is very important. We had just discussed all of my um my my morning adventures. Um, because part of what I do is is ministry work. I feel like most therapists are are ministers of medicine in some in some way because they're learning to teach the body how to be a body again. You know, it's it's really cool that physical therapist is awesome. But to understand that the nervous system plays a big part in in fueling that, finding it. And that and there are times that trauma or other other experiences or obstacles have come and maybe have led you to another way, a brain path. That's your neurology. That's that can play games on you. That's what I call that back and forth. That is different than that's from experience. When you start tapping into your soul, that's your internal fire that everyone has in them. And I I truly believe their neurology is specifically set for that, is to understand that. Now, as therapists, we're lucky because we're able to teach the reconnection of the mind and the body. If it doesn't work, we can get it working. It might not be as to what everyone's standards might be, but you know, the appreciation of the body is where it all starts. And um, so for me to do that, how do you do that? Is I'm still learning. I think we all are, but the more we share about experiences and not being afraid to talk about them is when we learn to listen again.

SPEAKER_04 6:32

Yeah. So you mentioned that neurology tapping into your individual nature type of thing. I mean, what do you mean by that? Dig into a little that a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

It's a feeling, you know, it whether you close your eyes, whether you internally find that mindset that you're more than what you think. You're you're it's it's a purpose, it's a passion, and it's only for you to find. It's all like instilled in you, no one else. And, you know, so as a sports and orthophysical therapist, like it's always been really important for me to educate parents on instilling that the sport is just a side of what the kid loves, you know, and it's what's supposed to do, fuels him, you know, what gets those endorphins going. Everyone's endorphins go on different, it doesn't have to necessarily be a physical task, but movement in itself is a way that we can kind of understand our body, our mind, our soul, and really put it together. But like you said, it takes that time that you have to put away for yourself to think about, you know, and likes to dig through, you know, their their past. I get it. It's easier to put it in a closet, close the door, scoop it under the rug. But in my experiences, I was missing out on so much, you know, and that what I was missing out on is then reduce that that fuel. And it almost was like I was using my empathy as a clinician to fuel that fire, as opposed to that true internal burn that didn't take my empathy, no matter what obstacle got in my way, because that was the hardest thing as a clinician, is to not have it affect you. We're talking neurology, we're not just talking knee pain. You know, people assume, or maybe not, that if a physical therapist doesn't fix it, then they didn't do their job. There's an expectation there. It doesn't work like that with the body. Like I hate to break it to um, but you have to appreciate. I'm, you know, talking overall care with post-stroke. How do you continue working on these coordination patterns like Parkinson's disease, ALS, all of these different neurology-based patterns? That's what they are. That's that's our brain and understanding it. That's when it gets hard is when you start doing applying it clinically and still seeing it so significantly impact their life. They can't put their shoes on.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

They can't, they can't wipe their own butt. You know, these are things that people just assume, oh, that just the first couple weeks. No, it total, I mean, and it's it's not just orthopedic, you know, total shoulders. It takes months to be able to wipe your butt again. And these are all things that um play an impact on our neurology and our mental health. You can't take care of yourself, it's gonna tear you down. That is seeing that and not being able to help and still being able to be patient with the body to build it back up and keep them motivated to keep going, that takes power and strength. And for me, it burned my personally, like that it were, and I needed a way to feel that and not let it burn, no matter what. And the only way I was able to do that is to truly understand our cups, right? Wellness cups, bringing mindfulness to mind, body, soul. It has to happen, it has to have that connect. And we've talked about before, like you can find your different connections that that fuel it, but it's a feeling. You'll know. You know, you when you tap in and you just give it up, you will find more answers than you will ever know.

SPEAKER_04 11:03

Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

And that's I think the the coolest part.

SPEAKER_04 11:07

No doubt about it. You think when you were talking about your flame kind of going down a little bit, you think it was because you were putting your all into all your patients, building up their flames that you weren't paying attention to your flame?

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Oh, yes, yes. I mean, there's so many ways. It's like one of my favorite things to break down my own brain and be like, get out of there. That that's a thought process because it's normal. That's what's supposed to happen. Um so for me, yes, it definitely clinically impacted me, but I was able to understand and recognize, right, that there was a problem. And for me, that was just years after because my initial, like I was able to go. So my sister passed away. Hers right out of school, I was doing research on recovery, research on injury prevention for athletes because she had gone through so much. She's an athlete, ACL, then it was like hip, and then it was this. And she couldn't go and be a runner, and then it was, you know, there's other components to it. But all in all, that led me, that that fueled me, right? That fire, that that her story, her after I lost her. I think it was in 16, it was I dove into more research. And then I was one of the clinicians that stayed on during COVID. And there was a time with COVID that it was just, it was awful from a healthcare perspective, like just seeing mental, how different things are gonna impact us in the future, and being like, crap, what are we gonna do? And just knowing that that's something that we're gonna have to put on our bucket list of things to do. But when I started diving real deep into it, after I started noticing my flame go down, I wanted to know why. Because I was still loved what I did and I was still passionate about it, but it was gone and I felt it emotionally, my mindset, everything gone. Um, and I needed that back because I knew I was meant to do something. So I used science to get my head straight. And it was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. And every day I wake up and there's going to be a moment that I look and I look at myself and I say, I'm not enough. Or I say, um, I didn't get this done or I didn't get that. And that's okay to say that. But you got to know that it wasn't meant to be at that time then, and move on. And what can you do? And what can you you, what do you have control of that will help?

SPEAKER_04 13:48

What you just said right there, my daughter, she's 15, and she said something very, very similar to that. She said it, you know, it's like it's okay to have the to have those thoughts. Aren't they just let them be okay in your mind and then push forward? Our kids are so smart. Right. Our kids are so smart.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

If we would listen to them more, I think we'd have a little bit, and then I definitely think they'd be talking better. And I wouldn't have to build a bot to make them talk to me.

SPEAKER_04 14:14

Right, right. So when you came in today, we were talking about your Wednesdays are all focused on the soul. The mission. The mission. Yeah, soul power. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Okay. So for me, it is an intentional action that I know that I have to, in my schedule for my mindful and wellness model, I need, I need to go to church on Wednesdays. And that's just a lot of times, like I still make sure that I I read my Bible in the morning. Theology is something that has become very interesting to me as a scientist and a researcher. Understand when you, you know, I I know a lot of it had to do whenever I um gave my dad CPR. And um there was a feeling, it was it wasn't a miracle. It was undeniable. And when you experience that and you understand what's actually happened to you and what how God has literally changed your life, and you may have not even recognized it, but he had your back. Like that's when it's undeniable, and you just put your put it down and say, tell me where to go.

SPEAKER_04 15:29

You literally had to revive your dad using C did CPR.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

So um it was 2020, Thanksgiving. My dad dropped in cardiac arrest. Uh it was 12 minutes. I gave him CPR for 12 minutes. Um, my husband started, I was on um uh breaths, and then he was on compressions. Um, he actually separated his AC joint from an old soccer injury uh during that. So it was 12 minutes of just seeing my dad. I had his life in my hands. If I would stop, he was dead. And and knowing that I that was a clinician mode, I didn't even, I saw him go down, and the clinician in me just kicked in. And we stayed focused, we stayed, you know. I mean, my family around me was losing it. Like, I mean, we had Hail Mary's, we had our fathers, I had my uncle Kevin. He was he was negotiating with God and we look back and God gave me a blessing because he said, You need to learn, you need to learn more from him.

SPEAKER_04 16:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:33

And so to me, and you have, right?

SPEAKER_04 16:36

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

So just to continue understanding that there are little miracles that happen, we just need to just keep remembering, even if there was trauma, because there was trauma with that. Of course. So I forgot about it. Like I was just like, we moved on, let's go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:53

Wow. And side note to that, if you've never done CPR, never taken the CPR training, 12 minutes of CPR is no joke physically for the person doing that. That's that's a long time to be given CPR. You tire out quickly when doing CPR. 12 minutes is a long time.

SPEAKER_01 17:11

It made me realize that um those you hear about those stories that they're the moms that like lift cars to get the sal or something like that. I get it. That like, but I also, that soul, that like to keep going, let stamina to keep going, that that that was my engine. That fuel, that fire that we talked about, that was what gave me the strength to do that. I you feel it. And we talk about athletes drive and all of that. But if you teach a kid how to do that, that's the most that precious gift you could ever give your child.

SPEAKER_04 17:48

No doubt about it. So let's dig in just a little bit, maybe some things you do with your clients, or just for anybody listening to the show. What are some other ways, some practical things they could do every day to help feed that soul? We touched on it a little bit earlier, but what's some of those practical things they could do each day?

SPEAKER_01 18:03

It sounds crazy. Um, every every um family is gonna be different. Uh ours includes touch. We wrestle. My my daughter and I like a lot of it does have to do with um that connection, like, especially now that they're older. I don't feel like they get that that they need, you know. So uh using their our bodies to be like little playgrounds. You know how they used to fly in the air and do different things like that. Oh yeah. Do that with your kid and tell me your something up here doesn't light up, you know. Yeah, you might be tired or not, yeah. You might be like, gosh, I don't move like a used. Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 18:46

They're so big now.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

I can't flip through. Try and hold me. And then you start seeing this. And now my son, who is as tall as me and weighs just as much as me, is I can now jump on his back. And he's now supporting his mom. And it might not be the way of his brain, but his body knows that he, and that's that's neurology too. His body knows he is strong enough to hold his mom. You know, over the summer, that's when I really bonded with my kids and studied them and understood how I could be a better mom in a time of disconnect and to and how to integrate it in a fun way. Feeding your soul that way is is that's a way. That's a way because God gave you those children and that's precious. And you don't have to believe in God to know that that child is special for a reason. And it is our job to find out what they're supposed to do, and um, it's from their gifts and their talents. And if we steer them into a direction of our will, then we won't ever fully tap into our children's greatest gifts. And that was hard to also wrap my head around as a parent. Yeah, you know, because I definitely could see myself pushing my kids towards different things that of my interest.

SPEAKER_04 20:14

Yeah, it's easy to do as a parent. So if you're not careful, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

About me, and now I've learned about horses, we're volunteering, so uh catching, like all of all of that. It's just different ways that you can find to tap back in. Go on nature walks with your kids, hikes.

SPEAKER_04 20:34

Those are great, aren't they?

SPEAKER_01 20:36

Hikes, go on hikes, go walk, do a book club and walk, like just keep advancing your brain. You know what I did today? I walked with a book. Why? I don't know, but I wanted to see if I could motor myself, read a book, comprehend it, and still take it in. You know, those are little things that you start taking advantage of as you just expect them just to stay. After 30, we start declining. Like that's natural, but we have to take responsibility to the fact that there are things that we can slow this process down and being mindful is you're gonna be your like steroids.

SPEAKER_04 21:20

Yeah. No, I've done that before, walking with the book, either outside or also like a treadmill at the house. If I'm just wanting to get some steps in, yeah. And read read while you're doing it.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

Do not tell our parents that though, because my mom doesn't work on her ankle mobility enough. So she tripped and and she didn't want to tell me. And I was like, ah, you could have fractured here. She was trying to hide it. I was like, okay. No, that's another. I would take that on the neck.

SPEAKER_04 21:51

We'll do that on the next episode. Yeah. And I mean, the the nature walks, you know, Springfield's not known as being the nature mecca, but there's so many places to go around here. People don't.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Realize we need to get this where it's at the where where it's a set. There's this place. I could name six places right now that I go to here where you just take it in. Like they're they're beautiful, they're all around, but it's a process of finding time. But I guess that's why they have us to tell, to tell them this is where you go. This is where you go.

SPEAKER_04 22:25

And we might have to do a couple of on-location nature walk podcasts. That'd be fun. That'd be fun. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

We can also do one on the bikes. Because I like, so there's a navy pier, which is one of my go-to. Like I start at my house and I go shink and I go all around over by UIS campus, Lincoln Land, over there. It's just gorgeous. It's this little hidden gym.

SPEAKER_02 22:49

Right.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

And for me, I really um that's just especially at Lincoln Land. Like that's my venture. Like I always ventured just for different interventions that we can do that didn't require equipment. I was tired of athletes always thinking they needed equipment. Like, no, let's go clean up.

SPEAKER_04 23:07

Let's just go outside and let's go do some stuff. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 23:10

So I think integrating more of that nature. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:14

Like we might have to do that. Because yeah, I don't know if you ever listen to Ben Green, Ben Greenfield, his podcast, he's always walking or doing something. You can hear you can hear it in his voice. By the end of the podcast, you could start feeling hearing him getting a little more, a little more breathy toward the end because he's been working out the whole time. And pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 23:31

So that's because that's what I do. Like in the morning, I word vomit to my phone. And um, but now I started word vomiting to that to the to my GPT. And I was like, she's so smart. But um it's it's cool because but then I was like, I can't post this because I'm like hey, physical therapist that's talking her her like mind out and walking and now sound like I need cardio.

SPEAKER_04 24:00

Right, right. Yeah, we'll figure that out. We'll go, we'll we'll do an on location at one of these nature spaces.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

We'll we'll remember to breathe, be like, hey, yep.

SPEAKER_04 24:09

There we go. Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:11

But I love it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:13

Well, so much great stuff today. We're gonna have you back as always. So remind everybody where they can go if they wanna work with you between now and then.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Between now and then, head to my website, www.kinematicswithkelly.com. Um, you can find me on Facebook, all the socials. The website is fully updated. Um, there's a lot of free stuff on there that just is trying to motivate that that mission to move. So um there's a wellness free ebook on there. Yeah, there's the the bot or bot. Well, she was fun. She was fun. She was good. She's gonna turn into something.

SPEAKER_04 24:44

She was good, yeah. So I just I tried to catch her up with a couple of follow-ups and she she got it.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

Also, um just encourage anyone to go on there and um check it out. It's not perfect, but it's it's definitely something that will bring us a little bit more like cheer to this.

SPEAKER_04 24:59

Absolutely. We'll appreciate it as always.

SPEAKER_01 25:02

It was great to be on here. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_04 25:06

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 25:07

And I want to do one at my recovery room. Yeah, we can. How great would it be if I treat you during a session? Wait, yeah, yeah. I saw um, because there's you know how they have those um what to expect and in therapy or whatever like that. Oh my gosh. In a true therapy recut like session, it's hilarious. It's one of the best conversations you'll ever have. That's one of the best parts of my job, is just talking to like the people like why I work on them. Because I'll just unload and you just fix their joint.

SPEAKER_04 25:42

We'll just we'll just do that. We'll we'll schedule that one out. That'll be fun. That'd be awesome. All right. Well, Springfield, feed that soul. And we're gonna let Kelly get back to elevating Springfield. But for the rest of y'all, we'll be right back. Hey, Springfield, when it comes to reliable, high-quality roofing, you don't want to leave things to chance. That's why you should reach out to Acosta Angeli Roofing, your local roofing expert serving Springfield and surrounding communities, from quick, dependable repairs to full replacement, from residential to commercial. They are your trusted pros. Call them today at 217-993-2748, or visit their website to book your free quote and inspection. Don't wait. A little leak now could lead to major damage later. Trust the local experts, protect your home, and get peace of mind with Acosta Angeli Roofing.

SPEAKER_03 26:41

Well, thank you for joining us today, everybody. Appreciate you making us a part of your day.

SPEAKER_04 26:45

Hope you're enjoying these quick hits of actionable strategies here on the wellness upgrade on Elevate Springfield. Thank you again to Shudokan Karate Club. A take what you learn today. You bring the discipline and follow through it together. That's right, y'all. We're gonna Elevate Springfield. Be great. Looking for expert tree care with hometown integrity? Look no further than Sangamon Tree Service. They're your trusted local pros, delivering quality workmanship, exceptional customer service, and fair, honest pricing. Every time. Whether it's trimming, removal, or storm cleanup, their team brings professionalism and care to every job, big or small. Call the name your neighbors trust, Sangman Tree Service, or visit them today at SangmanTreeService.com. Sangman Tree Service, rooted in quality, built on trust.