I am so excited and grateful to have therapist, speaker, and facilitator Lea Lester on the Still Becoming podcast. This episode feels like a therapeutic journey to unpacking, understanding, and grappling with no longer playing small. Lea's incredible wisdom, and combination or both personal and professional insights will leave you feeling braver and inspired to begin, or continue, your own journey to stop playing small. Lea defines confidence for us in a way you may have never heard before. And Lea shares with us some of the sacred grief she has walked through that played an important role in her own journey to stop playing small. In addition to that we discuss the actual length of the process and the journey - including the grueling parts - to living into who you fully are. This is so different than some of the quick flashy advice we often see. Lea also discusses the importance of amplification and representation, as well as the power of doing the thing, whatever it is for you, scared. I can't wait for you to hear this conversation, and to begin, continue, or reignite your own journey with these powerful topics.
Lea (pronounced lee) is a licensed therapist, Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator, Ph.D. student, and entrepreneur. She primarily works with young adults; helping them trust and accept themselves so they live with more confidence and clarity. As a former public school educator, she became passionate about helping young adults navigate the increasing pressures and pain of coming of age in today's society. Lea's therapeutic interests include childhood, intergenerational, and collective trauma. A self-proclaimed recovering perfectionist, her work places heavy emphasis on compassion, courage, and connection. Lea also hosts creative therapeutic workshops, titled FEEL, with the aim of creating accessible and safe spaces for collective healing. Lea resides in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex with her husband and children where she's always up for spicy food and enjoys a good beat drop.
To find Lea and her work: Lealester.com
Lea references a quote in the episode, here is the full quote:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
― Marianne Williamson, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles"
For more Still Becoming, follow Monica on Instagram @monicadicristina.
Episode 82 - Conversation With Lea Lester: The Journey to Stop Playing Small