Our next guest at Femspace is Ing. Jana Stehnová, a coach and facilitator of the PSYCH-K therapeutic method and a lifestyle guide.
Jana specializes in holistic approaches to people, the subconscious mind, physical health and nutrition. She is a guide on the path to self-discovery and, thanks to her extensive experience, can help you find the lost balance in your life.
You can find more about Jana and coaching at www.kouzlo-vedomi.cz .
Jani, thank you for accepting the invitation to our interview. We were very interested in the title of your website, “The Magic of Consciousness.” What is the Magic of Consciousness?
The magic of consciousness is for me an expression of my approach to life. When we live consciously, we are in balance with ourselves, our body, mind and soul are in balance. It may then seem like some kind of magic - life will magically change. And it is true that our consciousness carries great magic within itself.
I specialize in this balance of body, mind, and soul. As a coach, I focus on all of these parts because one cannot function properly without the other, and you cannot focus on just one part without taking the other two into account.
I have always loved psychology, discovering the mysterious corners of our soul and opening its potential, natural healing, a healthy lifestyle, herbs. That's why I have functionally connected all of this in my practice.
But above all, you are a coach, therapist and facilitator of the PSYCH-K method. What is it?
PSYCH-K, or the key to the psyche, is a tool that offers great potential in solving various life challenges (I don't want to say problems).
I'm sure many of you know Dr. Bruce Lipton, a cell biologist and pioneer of epigenetics. Dr. Bruce Lipton is the biggest promoter of this method, he even mentions it in his books (e.g. Biology of Belief) and it supposedly changed his life. By the way, it completely changed mine too.
Dr. Bruce Lipton says of PSYCH-K that "PSYCH-K represents one of the most important processes for rapid and effective change in our lives that is now available on the planet."
This is a therapeutic technique for working with the subconscious. As you may know, our subconscious has enormous power. Up to 95% of the time we are controlled by our subconscious beliefs, patterns and settings that our subconscious has downloaded as software in childhood or earlier . How our parents behaved and what they told us, how our teachers treated us in kindergarten, what we perceived in society, what we watched on TV... we have accepted all of this as a program that (subconsciously) controls us on autopilot. Given that 95% of the time we are controlled by our subconscious, and moreover, about 70% of our subconscious beliefs are negative, we can calculate how crucial the supporting subconscious is for us.
"I'm not good enough", "no one can be trusted", "I don't deserve love", "no one will ever love you like this", "money is dirty", "I don't have it", "you're just a loser", "the world is hostile and dangerous", "men have it better" and many others.
Then the exact same things happen that most people know. We try very hard to do something, but everything is failing, nothing is working, the environment is behaving this way and that way, and everything around us suggests that until our mindset changes and our subconscious fully supports us, everything outside and inside us will simply stagnate, fail, sabotage our decisions and a better life. In the same way, I can tell myself a thousand times that I love myself, but if my subconscious doesn't support it, it will seem completely different in reality.
Using PSYCH-K, we can address both the overall setting of our approach to life and other topics, such as fear of death, trauma from conception and childbirth, relationship problems, work challenges, various health issues, etc.
What role does the psyche play in women's health?
The psyche plays a crucial role in women's health. However, I would not like to reduce the importance of taking care of the body and soul. That is why, as I said in the introduction, I focus on balance.
As for specifically female issues, we very often deal with self-love and self-worth with clients, which have a great impact on women's health . In order to be healthy, a woman should love herself, respect herself, and appreciate her body, which does so much for her. Self-love also means accepting yourself as you are, even with all your imperfections. It means being good enough. Respecting yourself. Being able to set boundaries and also being able to defend them.
Many health problems are psychosomatic , which we can gradually deal with. As for the purely psychological and emotional state, the solution is usually very quick. But once the problem has already somatized (i.e. manifested on a physical level), we need to give the body more space to regenerate. If you are serious about it, there is a way.
Can our psychological state cause problems during the cycle, such as painful menstruation, hormonal imbalance or infertility?
Yes, this is what happens very often. But I can't say any general causes here, because every woman is individual and the same symptom has a completely different cause in two clients. It is a very sensitive and individual work with each woman.
But I would like to emphasize that even our subconscious beliefs about ourselves can cause painful menstruation, disrupt hormones, and cause infertility or endometriosis . Not accepting our femininity, rejecting our body, believing that menstruation is bad, often a traumatic experience with the first menstruation, unpleasant sexual experiences, trauma from our own birth, stress, performance-oriented work, or even the fact that the father preferred a son - all of this and much more have an impact on our health.
What advice would you give to women who suffer from anxiety and have trouble coping with stressful situations? Are there any exercises that can help?
I recommend breathing exercises - for example, the great Wim Hof method, full yoga breath and other yoga breathing techniques. Any form of relaxation. Meditation. I would definitely recommend herbs or other supplements tailored to each woman.
It's important to be able to stop. As soon as something is happening inside us, we consciously stop, for example to go to the toilet. Even though I would rather not do breathing exercises there (laughs).
If a woman is at home, she can simply sit or lie down, take a breath, turn off all surrounding sounds, her mobile phone. Close her eyes and return to herself. To her center . If emotions come, breathe, breathe and breathe and experience them fully . No suppression, no "sunbathing". Emotions belong to us and just like a wave that came to the shore, they can also flow away.
And if a woman is at work, for example, and needs to get rid of stress, it helps a lot to close herself somewhere, for example in the aforementioned toilet and start shaking her whole body . Shake it all out. At the same time, it is possible to involve other muscles, for example, scream, but only like, without sound. This will relax the facial muscles and relieve stress. And it is great to get it all out of the pelvic floor. All you need is the intention and release the tension completely from the bottom. Just a minute and you will feel the difference.
These are all crisis interventions, however. It is good to work continuously with a guide or therapist at the same time so that the effect is long-lasting and there is less and less stress.
From your practice and experience, how do women perceive menstruation and their femininity today?
Lately, I have noticed that the topic is becoming more and more open, which is certainly due to the many women who have taken up this initiative as lecturers and guides, for which I am very grateful.
I see huge differences between older generation clients, where the topic is often taboo, and clients who are two generations younger . But what's interesting is that it's not possible to divide it just by generation.
Nowadays, you can talk quite openly with young women about menstruation – which doesn’t mean they have it without any problems, but on the other hand, I often discuss the topic of femininity with them. The era was so focused on performance that most of us were satisfied when we could be equal to men at work. Competition, performance, hormonal contraception and women without emotional fluctuations – all this had such an impact on femininity . But I see that all this is changing, perhaps also because women come to me already prepared for this topic.
On the other hand, among the older generation, the topic of menstruation is often taboo and femininity was not discussed that much at that time, but these women were somehow automatically women, even though they theoretically don't talk about this topic much.
What does the word "femininity" mean to you?
Femininity for me is accepting that I am a woman and being proud of it. For me, it is a balance of the inner man, who I allow to protect me, and the inner woman, who flows through life more in harmony with her cycle, with the moon, with intuition, with nature and with a higher power. It is also the healing of the inner child.
It's also self-love, accepting my body and my roles that are different from men's. It's accepting that I am vulnerable, sensitive, fragile, and yet strong, as only a woman can be.
Femininity is about accepting all aspects of myself, accepting that I change throughout the cycle – that I am a virgin, a mother, a witch, and an old woman.
And finally, something about you... Which woman(s) inspires you the most?
All the women I know inspire me with their uniqueness. Together, we connect like individual pieces of a puzzle into a whole, and with our gifts we help the world.
What are you most proud of in your life?
Probably the most important thing is that I found the courage to change my life, even though I had to enter into uncertainty - as is so often the case, first you need to show courage and only then things gradually start to come together. I have gone through many experiences myself, but thanks to that I can now understand my clients, because I had to walk that path myself.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast that you would recommend on the topic of women's health or psychosomatics?
There have been a lot of podcasts like this lately and it's amazing. However, I personally don't currently follow anything, I don't have the capacity left. I have a stock of books at home, probably until retirement, but somehow I feel that now is not the time for me to absorb more and more teachings, but simply to apply what I already know in practice. Just live. Practically. After all, when we return to ourselves, only we know best how to live, so that we are in balance with ourselves.
But if I want to listen to someone, I'd like to listen to my colleague from the Endal clinic, the excellent Dr. Jan Vojáček. I also recommend his book.
Do you have a life motto that you follow?
I've liked more of them in my life. But right now, I think this sums it all up: "Here and now." It's a bit like Carpe diem. Here and now is a state without fear - the past is gone, the future is not yet. So there's no point in dwelling on them.
In English, the word “presence” is translated as “Present.” Another translation of the word “Present” is “Gift.” Isn’t that eloquent enough?
There is also a beautiful quote by Henry Ford, which accurately describes how we and our subconscious work. “If you believe you can do something, or if you believe you can't, you are right in both cases.”
What about you, can you do it?
I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the invitation and to my clients for their trust.
Visit our e-shop:
