From Trauma to Triumph: Navigating the Messy Middle of Healing and Writing (w. Amanda Kate)

On episode #173 of The Author Factor Podcast I am having a conversation with kinesiologist and author, Amanda Kate.

Amanda is a kinesiologist and Intuitive Life Coach based in Melbourne Australia. She helps people to regain their vitality, smashing through their internal glass ceiling and limitations to find new levels of health, vitality and abundance.

Her latest book is Divine. Messy. Human.: A Spiritual Guide to Prioritising Internal Truth over External Influence.

Learn more about Amanda by visiting www.AmandaKate.com.au.

For more details about our short, helpful book publishing program, visit BiteSizedBooks.com.

Transcript

Mike Capuzzi

 Welcome to another profitable episode of the Author Factor podcast. I'm Mike Capuzzi, and I want to thank you for joining us. My guest today is Amanda Kate. Amanda is a kinesiologist and intuitive life coach based in Melbourne, Australia. She helps people regain their vitality, smash through their internal glass ceilings and limitations to find new levels of health, vitality, and abundance. Her latest book is Divine Messy Human a Spiritual Guide to Prioritizing Internal Truth over External Influence. Amanda. Welcome to the author factor podcast.

 Amanda Kate [00:00:35]:

 It is so good to be here. Thank you for having me.

 Mike Capuzzi [00:00:38]:

 Thank you for waking up early. We have quite a time difference, but I appreciate it. Thank you very much. So, Amanda, let's jump in. I always Mike, to find out more about my guests. So why don't you describe a bit of your background, how you've gotten to where you are today and then what you're doing today, how you're serving others.

 Amanda Kate [00:00:56]:

 Yeah. So I think most people that enter their I guess they call them the healing arts, although I truly believe that everybody who comes to me has their healing within them, and I'm just there to facilitate that and draw it out of them. But anyone who enters the healing arts tends to do so because they've had a lot of trauma in their background. And I was in an emotionally abusive marriage. I have had numerous other traumas, griefs, all sorts of, I guess, life events, big life events. And that really did lead me to being very, very sick with chronic fatigue. And modern doctors just weren't able to find what was going on under the surface for me. They kept saying, well, you look pretty healthy. You seem healthy, according to blood tests. And then they'd try and hand me antidepressants and go, off you go, out of my office. I don't know what to do with you. And so in that process, I found natural therapies. And I started off with neutropathy and then moved my way through I can't even tell you how many now. But the main one that sort of really just I felt changed my life was my first session of Kinesiology, whereby the kinesiologist said to me, you have no idea how emotionally abused you are, do you? And she was the first person to really hit on the fact that my issues were not to do with physical health. It was mental, it was emotional, it was psychological. It was those things that had been constantly chipped away at by other people in my life that had caused the issues. And kinesiology hit on mind, body, and spirit. We weren't just looking at the physical vessel, we weren't just looking at the spiritual. It was all of it together and working on bringing that into alignment and harmony, and it changed my life.

 Mike Capuzzi [00:02:44]:

 Wow. So much so that and you entered that as a career or at least.

 Amanda Kate [00:02:49]:

 Six months from my first session. I was sitting in the classroom. Because even though I still hadn't yet left my marriage, I had realized it was making such a drastic difference in the way I felt, in the way I interacted, in the way I understood myself. And I'd started studying. And then I think it was another four months after that that I finally left my marriage.

 Mike Capuzzi [00:03:13]:

 Wow. So I know you've written a couple of books. Your most recent Divine Messy Human. I love that. Tell me a bit more about that, Amanda. Why you decided to write yet another book? And who is it really written for?

 Amanda Kate [00:03:29]:

 It's interesting. Divine, Messy Human. I think it just sums up my life journey. I'd lost my connection to the Divine. I was trying to hold up this facade of perfection and not let anybody know about the mess that was certainly my marriage, but also the mess that I was becoming through that. And it made my human existence really, really challenging. Whereas as I've moved through this journey of personal and professional development, which really started a few years before I found Kinesiology, kinesiology was just this thing that tied everything together and accelerated my growth. But the more I connected back into my Divine, the more I recognized that we all have the Divine within us, the more that I recognized, accepted and honored all of the messy parts of myself, all of the unresourceful parts, all of the parts that were not picture perfect and instagrammable and all of that. The easier my human existence became, and so this book, realistically, I guess, was written for me back at the beginning of my journey, five to seven years ago. I started Kinesiology study in 2015. So was that nearly eight years ago now? So the main bulk of my journey has happened since then. But I really started a few years before that, just diving into a bit more of that personal spiritual development. And the book really encompasses that journey. But I've had people who've been on the path and who have done more work than me say, oh, my God, so many useful reminders in there, because it is stuff that we all know. But I work from this place of really keeping it simple, because I know when I was stressed, I didn't have the bandwidth to do all of the complicated stuff that I was given to do. And if I didn't do my home reinforcement from sessions, I'd start to get stressed because I haven't had time to do that or I forgot to do it. And so I try and keep things simple. Doable I try and link it in with people's everyday activities so that it makes it easier for them and so that it's not adding more stress to their already stressful lives.

Mike Capuzzi [00:05:55]:

 That's great. And in this day and age, God knows if you could help people in that way, it's kind of the same way we help folks publish books. We have a whole different approach that makes it a lot easier and faster because God knows it can be a grueling experience. So, Amanda, thinking of your ideal reader for the book and that some of them may be listening right now, can you share three ideas or three tips from your book fairly quickly, just to give a kate of what your book is about?

 Amanda Kate [00:06:30]:

 So I go into a lot of the psychological and more scientific reasons of why we behave the way that we do. And I give a bit of that background, just not in detail, it's not the thickest of books, but in enough detail that people then understand what's driving their behaviors. Because I found that really useful for me. I still find it very useful. But I talk about balancing those aspects of ourselves, the archetypal, masculine and feminine, within ourselves, because we all have both. And if we can balance it within ourselves, we can operate at a much higher level externally. I talk about our intuition, how we tap into it, what it is, because our intuition, if we go in first, we get answers and can tune out a lot more of that external noise. And that subtitle of the book is Prioritizing Internal Truth over external influence. So I give a lot of ways that we can tune into and turn up our internal guidance systems to turn down the noise outside.

 Mike Capuzzi [00:07:36]:

 So I know the book is just about a year old, right? 

 Amanda Kate [00:07:40]:

 Yeah.

 Mike Capuzzi [00:07:41]:

 Congratulations. So let's shift gears a bit. And I'd love to hear about ways you're using the book. What have you done to kind of get your book out there in front of your ideal reader? So can you share in the last year, what's your number one strategy for getting your book in front of an ideal reader?

 Amanda Kate [00:08:01]:

 For me, it's very much been podcasting so that I can reach that wider audience. I've found that then being able to have deeper conversations about different aspects of the book because what I cover covers a broad range of life. It affects business, personal. None of it is, I guess, put into silos and containers. If we go into business, we have to bring our whole self to that. And so I've been able to hit a number of different podcasts and bring different messages in different ways to that from the book, which has been amazing, and I've gained clients from that, which has been incredible. I have also backed myself by entering Book Awards and that terrified me when I first put my book out. So I didn't actually even do that until the end of last year. So you'll notice I actually have two little stickers on the front of my book already and I've just received an honorable mention in another book, Excellence Awards and I've got two more that I'm waiting on results for. So that was a scary process because it's truly backing yourself. It's backing your work and allowing yourself to say, I actually think this is good enough to do something here. And so that was probably the scariest one I've done. I've spoken at local networking events, so I've spoken for the Frankston Business Collective, I have spoken for our We Rise networking locally, and a couple of others, which has been amazing. Again, getting that experience standing up on stage and being able to address peers with my work. Often when I've been in more business mike settings, I've hidden that more spiritual side of my work, whereas that gave me the confidence to stand up and go, this is why spirituality is actually really important for your business. And again, it was scary to do so in a room full of business people. And also it landed so much better than I thought it would. So there's lots of different ways. And again, I met a new yoga teacher and she just resonated and I gave her a copy. So I will often give people copies when I meet them and I go, you need this book.

 Mike Capuzzi [00:10:31]:

 I think podcast guesting is a great strategy for you. I mean, you're an expert at it with all the podcasts you've been on, and I also know you shared that you're now starting your own podcast, correct?

 Amanda Kate [00:10:43]:

 Yes, I am. I've finally bitten the bullet and taken that leap and again, done it before. I'm ready. And I think that's been, I think, scary. But again, I said it in my first episode, I'm learning. So I will get better. That's all I can promise.

 Mike Capuzzi [00:11:03]:

 I do the same thing. I'm a guest, I'm a host, and as I mentioned to you, it's a little easier to be a guest. But can you share? Are you okay to share your podcast? If not, that's okay. What's the name of your podcast?

 Amanda Kate [00:11:15]:

 It's the Divine. Messy Human. The podcast. So I've kept it the same, I think, because that is our life. Our life is learning how to connect more to the divine, accepting our messiness and being okay with it. So I find that trauma is when we're rejecting our messiness and we're trying to be something we're not. So the more we can embrace it, the more that it can sit beautifully within us, and the more we can make that unresourcefulness more resourceful, the easier our human existence is. And I really want to tap into that aspect of being human because so many people want to talk about the shiny endpoint where they've achieved what they've achieved, and we so often miss out that messy middle part.

 Mike Capuzzi [00:12:01]:

 And if someone's listening, Amanda, that might be a good guest for you, but you always have to be looking for quality guests. Just share some information in case someone is listening when they think they would be a good guest on your show.

 Amanda Kate [00:12:15]:

 So what I want is to really dive a bit deeper as you can probably tell from the subject matter. I'm not one to swim on the surface. I want people who I want to know why they've done what they've done, how they're doing it differently. What about their divine, messy human experience has enabled them to connect the way they do with their clients. So I want to go deeper than just what do you do, because what you do is important. But that's not why people go to you. People go to you because of who you are. They go to you because of your heart and soul and the way your heart and soul speaks to them. And that's why we will lose clients. That's why we will gain clients, because not everybody's ready to work with somebody who is advanced. Not everybody is ready to work with somebody who's less on the journey. It's really a personal thing. I've worked with brand new kinesiologists who are still studying, and they are incredible. And I've worked with ones who've been around for a lot longer, and I've been disappointed, but it's because I match differently with them. And so I really want to hit into the why people are doing it, because I think that's the magical thing of what they can bring to the world.

Mike Capuzzi [00:13:35]:

And I know you're going to share your information at the end of our interview, but if someone does want to reach out to you about possibly being a guest, what's the best way for them to do that?

Amanda Kate [00:13:44]:

 Again, everything is on my website. So it's Amandacate.com Au and there's a connect contact me button. Absolutely.

 Mike Capuzzi [00:13:52]:

 Good luck with that. Congratulations on that. Switching back again to your book. I always like to ask this question. You've written how many books now?

 Amanda Kate [00:14:02]:

 I've written two. The first one I did was to get me off my butt and to actually write, because I've always known that I'm a writer. And I actually stopped writing because I was shamed for it when I was a child, I was laughed at for some of the stories that I wrote as a child, and it stopped me writing, but I've always known it's in me. And so that one was this first, it was a multi author book. It was called the Anxiety Relief Handbook. And I did it to get myself to sit and write because it's what I love. And that was a really important process in me, actually being able to then sit and write my own book.

Mike Capuzzi [00:14:45]:

 So thinking about someone else who may be in that same boat, because the author factor is about inspiring people to either write the first book, finish the first book, write the second book again, we're talking nonfiction types of books. What would be something that you've learned, Amanda, in either your first or second book experience that you'd want to warn someone to be aware of, whether it's in the writing, the publishing, the use of the book, what would just be something you'd want to share one idea.

 Amanda Kate [00:15:16]:

 Well, it's actually funny because I used to beat myself up a bit about not writing because my book was probably in my head for five years. So when I finally started writing, it was through working with a coach, actually, and working with them. They helped me create the container. Then that was able to bring the book through. And so for me that was a vital part. He got me into a daily writing habit. And then he said to me halfway through our coaching thing, you're going to be holding your manuscript by Christmas. And I went that's ten weeks away and I said some choice words to him and he said, no, you will be. He said start. And that was the middle of October. And five weeks later I handed my manuscript to my editor. So there's a difference between procrastinating on your writing and your writing percolating in your head. So for five years, my writing, I was beating myself up for not getting it down. But it was not the right time for me. I needed to get to a certain point in my healing where I could tell my story without malice, without anger. I needed to be able to tell it from a place of grace and dignity and love and compassion. And that healing had only happened a few months before I started working with this coach. So when he then was able to create that container and say, you're ready, that was when the words were able to fly out. And so many different iterations that I'd thought about in the years previous started coming through. So just being mindful of the fact that you are percolating this book, it is coming. And when the time is right, those words will flow.

 Mike Capuzzi [00:17:11]:

 I love it. I just wrote down, or at least I'm going to write it down. It's in my head now, procrastination versus percolation. And I always use that. I always use the word percolate to say, hey, listen, let an idea percolate. Let's see how it feels tomorrow. But you're right, there is not that this was your focus of the idea, but it is important. So many folks do procrastinate. God knows I have a couple of clients right now that are procrastinating versus just letting it creatively come out and percolate back there. So I'm going to work that into something in the future. So thank you for that.

 Amanda Kate [00:17:44]:

 Yeah, no, absolutely. Look, I found it really useful because it took some of that pressure off those days where I didn't put words on the page. I was able to feel into it because you can feel into it, you know, when you're procrastinating. But there were days that I knew I wasn't procrastinating, but I couldn't work out why I couldn't get words on the page. But then the next time I'd sit down because I'd be thinking about it on my beach walk, I'd be thinking about it at different times, and that's that percolation waiting for the right combinations to come through.

 Mike Capuzzi [00:18:21]:

 So, Amanda, as we get ready to wrap up here, I'd love for you to just leave our listeners with this idea of what it means to be a published author. Published book author. The impact that it's made either for you, for your clients, for your circle. What does it mean to Amanda, Kate, to be a book author?

 Amanda Kate [00:18:41]:

 Do you know? The biggest thing, and it actually makes me emotional to think about was at my book launch, there were a few people who were really, really important to me that hadn't even asked about my book, to be honest, even though they knew I was writing it. And when we were standing there and everyone was coming in, I noticed obviously a big gap where I was hoping these people would be. And the thing that really made the biggest difference to me was my daughter kept coming over to me all night just going, mom, I'm so proud of you. And that knowing that she was watching, that was the only thing that mattered, because it didn't matter that the other people didn't see anymore, because the person who needed to see was watching. And that for me, watching. They have seen my journey. They have seen me go from a beaten down, angry, empty shell of human being to who I am today. And they've watched me every step of the way, and that's what matters.

 Mike Capuzzi [00:19:48]:

 How old was your daughter at the time?

 Amanda Kate [00:19:51]:

 She was 14. So she's 15 now and she sees it. And my son was disappointed he actually couldn't make that night because it was his girlfriend's birthday. And I said, honey, you've got to be where you've got to be. I know you want to be here. And I also know it's not worth the hassle at your age to do that. And he's often said it as well, we're so proud of you. And to have teenagers see that and to see what they've gone through and to acknowledge it is just like I say that that's the only thing that matters.

 Mike Capuzzi [00:20:23]:

 Gosh, Amanda, it is an amazing story. Thank you for sharing that. But just even the inspiration, you have no idea how that's even going to look from your daughter or your son, 510, 20 years from now. What that? The fact that you did what you did and focused and got this book out to the world. So thank you for sharing that. That's pretty profound. I have not heard anyone share anything like that. I asked that question. That was profound, though. So thank you. How can our listeners learn more about you? You already mentioned your website, but where's the best place to get your book, all that good stuff, Amanda well, the.

 Amanda Kate [00:20:56]:

 Best place is online, because if you buy the book through my website, obviously you've got to pay Australian postage, which is not fun for you guys, especially if you're over different parts of the world. So Googling, it is the best. It is on Amazon stores and on Kindle, so, obviously, that's probably the easiest for most people around the world. And all of my social links, all of the links to where to find me are on my website, which is just Amanda.com Au spelled exactly the way it sounds.

Mike Capuzzi [00:21:25]:

 Well, Amanda, listen. Again, congratulations on the book, congratulations on the new podcast.

 Amanda Kate [00:21:30]:

 Thank you.