Abundance After Trauma with Teri Wellbrock

TAJ Intro/Outro: 00:00:10

The Abundance Journey explores all the ways abundance shows up to help you expand the abundance you embody Express and experience as your journey unfolds.

Elaine Starling: 00:00:28

Welcome, this is Elaine Starling, the abundance ambassador and you're here for the abundance Journey podcast and video show. Thanks so much for joining us today. Have you ever met somebody and just felt an immediate soul connection? I mean, like, sisters separated at birth kind of thing. That's me and Terry. Well, Brock. I mean, this lady is really going to blow you away. And I'm so excited that we get a chance to chat with her. Let me tell you a little bit about Terry just so that you understand where she's coming from because she's got a very interesting perspective on life. Teri Wellbrock is a trauma warrior. She is currently writing a book unicorn shadows from trauma to triumph, a healing guide, and she speaks publicly at Trauma Recovery events about her triumph over trauma. Terry's a mom to three beautiful souls. She holds a degree in psychology. She wrote a children's book, she created the Sammys bundles of Hope Project. She hosts the top two and a half percent globally rated show called The healing place podcast. She maintains a blog, she writes a monthly hope for healing newsletter. Tei recently released two online courses, and she's launched her coaching practice, Teri's life purpose is to shine a light of hope in dark spaces. We are so so lucky to have Teri with us because she's got a completely different take on abundance. She has been in the deep dark depths of despair and disaster and found a way through. Teri, welcome.

Teri Wellbrock: 00:02:07

Oh, my gosh, Elaine, what an intro. Gosh, Oh, can you feel my my heart hugging yours? That was wonderful. And yes, I love those soul sister connections when they happen. It's just

Elaine Starling: 00:02:17

it's so fun. I mean, as soon as like that you're like, oh my gosh, yes. I just loved it. Yeah. So a bit about how you got into what you're doing and why you're so passionate about it?

Teri Wellbrock: 00:02:31

Yes, well, my first 22 years of life were filled with horrific trauma. And I spent the next 25 years of my life battling severe panic attacks, and just trying desperately to not really live, I mean, just just survive, it was in so once I found my way onto the healing path in 2013, I realized that I thought I was broken forever. But then I realized that the brain is malleable, that we can change those neuron pathways and brain plasticity or neuroplasticity, and started to do the healing work through EMDR, which is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing a big mouthful, and a lot of other practices that I started to pull in and research. And then I started the podcast and interviewing these souls from across the world who were doing magnificent work in the healing arena, and just built an amazing coping skills toolbox for myself. And so I just want that message to be to others that no matter what you've been through in your life, because when they hear my story, they're like, holy cow. You can reach this beautiful place of joy and tranquility. Even in the midst of chaos. I'm in the middle of a physical chaotic mess right now with an illness. But I'm still smiling and enjoying life and taking those beach walks. And it's just even in the midst of chaos.

Elaine Starling: 00:04:09

And I just got to download that you're actually in a healing journey. Yes, that when you come through this healing journey, it will transform you in more ways than you can imagine. No. So embrace that. This is divine love pouring through you and changing you to expand you even more. And that's that's one of the things that is so challenging person in the moment, because when disaster strikes when you're going through a really horrific time, it's very, very, very hard to remember, you're not alone. Other people deal with all kinds of terrible situations and find a way through and there is a way through. So because of your unique experience and your unique background. I always ask this question to people but I really am interested to hear what does abundance mean to you? Coming from where you came from. For,

Teri Wellbrock: 00:05:03

for me, abundance is a beautiful gift, but it's different for all of us, meaning that so because of our personalities, our life experiences or whatever it may be, so I have two sons, one loves to surround himself with people. So he has an abundance of friendships, he has abundance of very close knit community, and people he can rely on. And the other son has had a traumatic, very traumatic event with a friend. And so his abundance comes in his tranquility in the mountains when he's just sitting alone by a lake at the top. Yeah, he lives in Denver. So he's in the Rockies. And so it's this, it's whatever that gift is that your soul is needing and that your your spirit is craving and then it comes to is how I feel it is. Hmm,

Elaine Starling: 00:06:02

that's so beautiful. And I love that perspective. Because it sounds like when you're in trauma, you're just, oh, everything's frenetic. Right. And so being able to get into that space of tranquility and calm and feeling peace and safe, that that is pure abundance when you are in the opposite situation.

Teri Wellbrock: 00:06:24

Oh, I'm sure and I have, I have such a beautiful story if you'd like really sure about that. So I call it my dolphin of Hope story. We live on Hilton Head Island, this beautiful paradise. And I had become very sick because of mold exposure. And in our little neighborhood, it's about eight minute drive to this little tiny place called dolphin Head Island. And it's called dolphin head yet, I had not seen dolphin except twice up there. In both when friends were visiting. And they were like, Oh, look, Dolphin. So I don't know if I wasn't paying attention or, but I never saw dolphin. So I went up there to meditate and had my chair and it's always crazy busy and but there was no one in the parking lot. And I even was like looking around like are there orange cones? Did I run over orange cones like, close today? What's going on? But it was just me and sat my chair down and just sob cried and gave it to God universe angels. Like just put it out there. And I said, I just need to know that I'm on the right path that I'm where what I've been doing that I'm doing the right thing to heal my body and welcome healing and so forth. And I talked about Yes, accepting the gifts that were coming from this, subbed it out. And I realized that's why nobody's around me because I'm just able to just set it free, right? Yeah. So my eyes were closed. And I said, if you could please just give me a sign, you know, I need a big neon sign something just like raw. And I. I said if you could just send me some dolphin of hope. That would be wonderful. And I opened my eyes and I said, Okay, Dolphin, I'm ready for you. And as the words exited my mouth, what seemed like 20 Dolphin fin came right up, and I get goosebumps when I talk about it. And I just sat there my whole body started trembling. I was again sobbing, like tears of joy. It just ingratitude like Thank you. So to me that's abundance is it's that gift of the moment that I opened myself up to. And that

Elaine Starling: 00:08:34

beautiful that is so beautiful. And one of the things that I find with the abundance journey that we go on is we get into this quadrate the stage where we're stuck, or we're in pain, or we're frustrated, there's a problem, there's an issue. And every single time, it's an invitation to reconnect with the divine, and feel that incredible divine flow of love that is coming right through you. And you get to absorb it and be changed by it as you share it on. And that's exactly what you did. You partnered up with the divine, you released all of the difficult stuff, because it's really funny how we like to think we're in control of everything. But our human minds can't really understand the complexity of everything that's happening. And the divine has a much bigger plan for us. So your ability to delegate to the Divine and say, Here you go. Have fun. And they love playing with you like that they absolutely adore playing with you. And so thank you for doing that. And thank you for sharing that beautiful story.

Teri Wellbrock: 00:09:38

That's so thanks for letting me share.

Elaine Starling: 00:09:40

That's amazing. You know, one of the challenges that I think a lot of people have is we have to find a different way of being like if we're if we're used to a traumatic situation, and we're just kind of stuck in that space. It can be hard to shift and move into a different approach a different way of being a different attitude? What is a technique or something that you've used? When the stuff hits the fan? How do you get yourself into a better state of coping?

Teri Wellbrock: 00:10:12

My primary one, no, I have a whole huge collection of coping skills, but my my main go to, and it just come become habitual, because I literally put it in my calendar, and practiced it is mindfulness practices. And what I mean by that is using my senses, to bring myself into the here and now this moment, and all the beauty and all the joy in this moment. So I find that little ladybug and talk to it, or I noticed the smell of beautiful flowers, the magnolias around me, or whatever it is to just again, bring me not to be consumed by the past and the pain in the horrors that I lived through. And not to be worrying about the future. And you know, is my body healing am I going to fight just being here, right here in this moment. And so 54321 Mindfulness is a phenomenal practice, in that, find five things to look at and describe it in great detail to yourself for things to listen to, and three things to touch. And so you just kind of walk through those senses, to to smell, one to taste. And I never get to even like three, because I've just become so at peace, even in five, and sometimes getting to four and just listening and listening to the birds. And then it just helps me realize, like right here in this moment, I'm safe. I'm calm. I'm at peace. I'm happy. You know, it's

Elaine Starling: 00:11:48

so interesting, I want to share a story too, similar to your dolphin story, I got to go down to Mexico, and visit my sister and her husband, they have a sailboat that was down there at the time. And I had never seen a whale shark. And I was really hoping that I would get a chance to see a whale shark, let alone swim with one. And so we get on their boat. And there's a neighbor that we meet. And you know, what kinds of things do you want to do? And I'm like, I'd love to see a wheelchair. But you said, we saw them feeding just a couple of hours ago. You want to go swim with them now. And we're like, Sure, let's go. So here I am in the water, with this vegetarian whale shark that is 25 feet long, and maybe eight feet wide. And I'm snorkeling over the top of this miraculous animal. And I'm looking at the gills. And the gills alone are like three feet. And I am just in all over the beauty, the majesty of this miraculous animal, I am blissing out. And he's just doing what whale sharks do. He's, he knows I'm there. But he doesn't care. And he's just cruising along being on Shark Tank. He couldn't care less what I'm up to. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, here we humans think we have to be something different, something special something. And all we have to do is be ourselves and love ourselves and

Elaine Starling: 00:13:17

love who we are. Yeah. Yes.

Teri Wellbrock: 00:13:21

And just be in that moment with whatever beauty is. Yeah,

Elaine Starling: 00:13:26

we're blessed with. Absolutely, because there's beauty all around us. Oh, for sure. Oh, we're often looking outside. We want something else we're trying to. We think we can't have it right now. And all we have to do like you said that 54321 Come back into the present moment. And enjoy what is right now that this this is a blessing. This moment. It's almost like a scavenger hunt. You get to look for the blessing their presence. You're surrounded by presence turned around, wrap

Teri Wellbrock: 00:13:55

it up. I love that idea. Yes, I am. I'm like I seriously am. We took a walk last night up at the dolphin head area. It was me and my my daughter's teenage friend and we took the Labradoodle, Sammy, and we were walking up there. And as I started to walk out Ty was really high in and I said to myself, No, we've lived here two years this month. And I said to myself, I wonder if the alligators ever come up in the marshy area which was to our left. And i i As I thought those words and I go up there all the time. It's first time I thought about it. I turned my head. I'm sure there's an alligator swimming that must be like my little psychic zone or something. I don't know. But yeah, there was an alligator swimming there. And I just was in awe like, everybody's always like, ah alligators, and I'm like, oh, cool and alligator. Yeah,

Elaine Starling: 00:14:51

it's because you're more relaxed in that space. You're relaxed and you're happy and you're joyful. And that's when it's easier to let it in. You know When we think we have to control everything, it has to show up just like this. And you know, we're trying not to be distracted. Right? Right. It's almost like, Have you ever looked for shooting stars like the Perseid meteor shower? Yeah. When the sir. It's so important? Yes, you are focused on one area of the sky, but you open up your peripheral vision, so that as soon as a little glimmer starts to go, it grabs your attention, you can watch shooting star, otherwise you miss them. And it's the same way because blessings are constantly showering down on you all the time. But if you are super focused, and it's only going to show up this way, and I can't have it any other way. Are you gonna miss out on a lot?

Teri Wellbrock: 00:15:42

I love it. Because I, I have found the same thing like laying on the beach with a friend. And I'd be like, Oh, there's one. Oh, there's one. And she'd be like, I don't see how? Because I do I just I'm like, I'm just taking it all. And let's the magnificence of it.

Elaine Starling: 00:16:00

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So how do you like to support other people? Because you obviously are big on trauma recovery, and how people can feel more confident and feel more capable when they're feeling out of control. Right? Yes. What do you like to do to support people with that?

Teri Wellbrock: 00:16:21

One of my favorite things, again, I do a lot. I have my fingers out everywhere in the world is my therapy dog roll with our Labradoodle, Sammy, and she has taught me so much about abundance and mindfulness and all of these gifts, because she was born to be a therapy dog number one, but she has a way of calming people of grounding people of bringing joy of without saying a word. Yeah. And to me, that's powerful. Because sometimes you just don't have the words of wisdom or you. It's not up to us to tell someone how to do it. It's just a matter of them learning to open up as you know, and welcome the message, welcome, the gift, welcome, whatever it is they're needing to learn. And so CME. One incident comes to mind that we were at a school, when we lived in Cincinnati volunteering, and had gone into the principal's like the office area. And all of the teachers were there, they had gotten subs in for the day because a retired teacher friend of theirs had died. And they were going to the funeral as a community as teachers and staff. And there was one group of women in the corner laughing, you know, kind of just talking and chattering and giggling and doing their thing. And then there was another woman standing by herself with the tears streaming down her face, just kind of meeting her own grieving time. And then there were two women that were standing there. And they were quiet, but not really chatting a whole lot to each other. And CME. pulled me over to the one that was standing alone, and just laid her head on this woman's thigh, and didn't do anything. And this woman stood there and then slowly her hand went down and just touched Sammys head. And then she looked down and she just kind of it just incident she your tears dried up and see me just gave her that moment to just kind of catch your breath. Well, then Sammy realized, okay, and then she went to the other two, and they were like, Oh, my gosh. And then there was tail wagging. And then she was a little more. But she she was a little more rambunctious. Well, then she got to the group that were the laughing, you know, having a good old time. And it was a party with her. And she was going from person to person and just happy and joyous. But she was reading the energy of each of those people and giving them what they needed in that moment. And to me, that's just such a powerful message because I I'm like, Alright, kid, you're teaching me like how we need to respond to one another and how we need to give that gift to each other as humans.

Elaine Starling: 00:19:17

Ah, I love that story. Thank you so much for sharing that. Thanks. Yeah, because quality time is one of the five love languages. And it doesn't mean that you're necessarily doing something. You could just be hanging out together watching television at the same time. You could just be in the same room reading books, but it's time spent together companionship. And just being in the presence, your energy is really valuable and even just standing there and being with someone when they're in a space of grief and allowing them the grace to know that your strength is there whenever they need it.

Unknown: 00:19:54

Yes. Oh, you're

Elaine Starling: 00:19:58

all bunch today. Wow. Oh, oh, he's a powerful message with Uteri. It's always a blessing to have a conversation with you. Thanks. Oh, so you very generously offered to provide some support to our audience. And I really appreciate it because you have such a unique gift, such a unique way of helping people deal with whatever they're dealing with, and be able to move through it with grace and ease. And I so appreciate what you're offering to our audience today. Could you tell thanks?

Teri Wellbrock: 00:20:36

Yes, for sure. So if you go to my website, Teriwellbrock.com and it's te R I just one r, and then w e ll the letter B. And then I always feel like I need to be like Roc can very well bing.com. And there's a subscribe button. Or if the pop up comes up, just fill that out. And then I will send you a copy of coping skills guide for panic attacks and anxiety. And so if you have anxiety, which in today's you know, post pandemic world and anxiety, this is just bubbled to the surface for so many. But it's really I talk about 54321 mindfulness in it, along with so many other strategies that I've and they've all, they're all strategies I've utilized along my own healing journey. And I really need to add some more to them. So I might be updating it soon. Because I keep filling, like I keep learning more, and it's wonderful.

Elaine Starling: 00:21:34

And the beautiful thing is, there are so many different tools that you can use, there's so many different techniques that you can use. So it's like you do have a toolbox, and yes, stuff happens. But sometimes you need a wrench, sometimes you need a screwdriver, sometimes you need a stapler, sometimes you need a whisk, you know, it just depends upon the situation. So having a variety of different tools that can help you acknowledge how you feel, you have to own it first, before you can release it. And that is such a beautiful thing. And I will definitely put all of the information in the show notes for people so they can easily find your gift. But Terry, we do things a little bit differently here with the abundance journey, because we'd love to turn the tables on you. Not only do we deeply appreciate that you bring us a gift that helps us increase our abundance. We want to support you. So what is something the audience can do to help you because when you give is when you get? Oh, well, thanks

Teri Wellbrock: 00:22:31

so much. I love the idea of my podcast reaching people who don't even know it exists in the word of mouth has been the whole reason for the growth of my show. It's on 110 downloaded in 114 countries now. And again, it just continues to blossom. Because in I'll run into people who will say, Oh my gosh, I was just talking about you and your your interview that you did with that one lady that was talking about blah, blah, blah. And I told my friend because she was telling me she was experiencing this she needed to listen in. And so that's, that's what I love. So even if you don't feel maybe you need, you aren't on a healing journey, or you don't really need to listen to a podcast, if you know someone that's struggling, if you know someone that's hurting with whatever it is trauma, history, anxiety, abuse, history, depression, whatever it is, Grief is a big one that we talk about often. Just refer them to the healing place podcast, either the Facebook page, or my website that I just listed, or whatever it is that they can find. Because it's on YouTube, there's a YouTube channel, iTunes, I heart, Radio, Spotify, all that and just have them take a listen because there's 250 episodes now. And with healer healing, that's a lot of healing. Yeah. And healers from across the globe. So these are people who are doing magnificent work, whether it's in Italy, or New Zealand, or the States or Canada, wherever it is. And it's just, it's beautiful.

Elaine Starling: 00:24:07

I love listening to the podcast, because first of all, they're always stories of hope. As far as I'm concerned, they are stories of healing. So yes, people have dealt with some pretty horrific situations. And it's how they found their way through. It's truly the hero's journey, right? So being able to be a witness to it, and send good energy to support them as they've gone through this healing journey. That's awesome. But then also, they're sharing tips and tools and tricks and things that they use that they found incredibly valuable that help them thrive in spite of horrific situations. And that's what we're all looking for is how can we thrive. So I love your podcast. It's fabulous. I'll make sure that there are links in the show notes so everybody can find it. And I highly, highly, highly recommend that people tune in or watch on the on YouTube because it's well well. Fabulous. And

Teri Wellbrock: 00:24:59

thanks so much Thank you, Elena.

Elaine Starling: 00:25:01

I just want to keep you with me all day.

Teri Wellbrock: 00:25:05

Well, it's I mean, I guess I love. I don't know, people tell me you radiate Joy Terry. Well, I radiate joy when I talk about healing and like, I just want I just want everyone who's hurting and struggling. I just want to tell them just be like, Oh, I promise you I know. It's so hard to go into the darkness. And it's scary and but find a handle hold whether it's mine, whether it's Elaine's, whether it's who whomever you resonate with. Find that handle hold, and you can make it out of that darkness.

Elaine Starling: 00:25:37

Yeah, you're not alone.

Teri Wellbrock: 00:25:38

Not at all.

Elaine Starling: 00:25:40

Yeah. So thank you so much, Terry. I so appreciate you being here today. And for all the listeners and viewers. Stay tuned, because we're going to activate

Teri Wellbrock: 00:25:48

abundance. Awesome. Thanks, Elaine. Thanks, everybody.

Elaine Starling: 00:25:56

Hey, it's Elaine Starling. It's time to activate abundance with Terry. Well, Brock, wasn't she amazing? This woman is so heart centered and so genuine and so caring, so loving. And if you heard her story, she has been through absolutely horrific situations just beyond imagining. And yet, she is so full of love and life and joy and gratitude. How do you do that, I think give me some of that I want she's having. So let's activate abundance, because we are now tuned in to Terry's energy. And we can activate abundance for ourselves. So we celebrate, we got to chat with Terry, she's hard to get ahold of she is so brilliant and so busy helping a lot of people, she really wants to make a massive difference in the world. And so how wonderful that we got to have some time with Terry, I love celebrating advance. Now, let's acknowledge what Terry was saying. I loved both of the stories she shared about her dolphin moment of hope. But I also really love the conversation about her dog, the Labradoodle, and how the Labradoodle could just be in the moment and be present with the energy that was there and the energy that was needed. That's really important. That's such a good reminder. So often we show up thinking, Oh, we got to make things happen. We get to be in the moment, we get to read what is needed. And we get to be what is needed in the moment. That was such a brilliant observation. I just really want to acknowledge that. And I appreciate the difference that will make in my life. Because instead of making it all about me and how I show up, and it's you know what I have to say and all this No, no, no, no, no. It's about what the other person needs, and how I can be what they need, how I can be the divine love that they are looking for. Because everybody needs to feel more loved and appreciated and valued and important. And so when you can be present for them, fully present for them, you're confident enough in yourself, that you don't have to make it all about you. You can just be present for them and celebrate them. Oh my gosh, things really start to light up for you. So what am I going to do? Well, I'm definitely going to be listening to Terry's podcasts on a regular basis. She is brilliant. And I love all the people that she's interviewing, fabulous, fabulous podcast. And I also want to make a point of reaching out to people every time I'm doing a session with someone. I want to hold that intention. How can I be more divine love in this moment? Not just for myself, but for the other person. How can I be more divine love in this moment? That is such a powerful question. I know it's going to change a lot in my life. I can't wait to hear what you're doing to activate abundance. And I'll see you next time on the abundance journey. Bye bye