00:00:00 Samantha Schmuck
And so I guess the best way that I can describe it is if you ever can picture like a movie scene where it’s like a dark room with maybe like a single light on and there’s this like voice that like emanates down, but like everything is silent and still, but you can just hear this one voice like crystal clear. That is I guess the best way that I can describe it, where it was like all the internal noise was gone and I just heard. This really clear statement come through and I was like, it didn’t feel like my own voice, like it was very, very interesting.
00:00:37 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Yeah, welcome to the Kooler Lifestyle Podcast. I’m your host, Matt Kuehlhorn, and I’m excited to have you join me as I interview community members and business leaders from the communities in which I live, work and serve through my business, Kooler Garage Doors. We’re going to bring you highlights on characters in our communities. Why? Because community matters, and I want to know more about who is behind our business and leadership in order to understand and support the community fabric that our relationships make up. And collectively, we can build stronger communities that support our lifestyles, our youth and our health. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Kooler Lifestyle Podcast. I’m your host, Matt Kuehlhorn. Today I’m so excited to be able to speak with my new friend Samantha Schmuck. She is CEO and founder of Revived Living, a holistic Life Coach and Embodiment Coach. Samantha, thanks so much for joining.
00:01:37 Samantha Schmuck
Thank you so much for having me, man. It’s awesome to be there.
00:01:40 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Yeah, and you’re beaming in from Michigan right now.
00:01:43 Samantha Schmuck
Yeah, northeast of Detroit, about an hour.
00:01:46 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Home state I love.
00:01:48 Samantha Schmuck
You know, I gotta bring my hands out.
00:01:52 Matthew Kuehlhorn
I love your backdrop. Are you on a patio?
00:01:54 Samantha Schmuck
Yeah, so I am in a sunroom. It’s where I teach one of my programs called Vibe and Embodiment, which is a intuitive movement. And this is just my favorite favorite room. It’s actually raining outside right now, so I can hear like a little drizzle.
00:02:08 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Yeah, I love that. Awesome. Well, we woke up to snow here and listen.
00:02:14 Samantha Schmuck
So I’m not missing.
00:02:15 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Snow on. Yeah, that’s crazy. Samantha, where did you grow up?
00:02:21 Samantha Schmuck
I grew up actually right here in Michigan, same town. And I’ve. I was here until high school and then post high school I went to upstate New York for a hot second. I was going to go into fashion photography. I realized how much I missed science and I was on my healing journey, which I’m sure we’ll touch on. And then I went down to Georgia. Then I went to San Diego, then I went to Colorado for a moment, and then I’m back here in Michigan for five years now.
00:02:51 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Right on, right on. So bounced around a.
00:02:53 Samantha Schmuck
Little bit. A little bit.
00:02:55 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Yeah. Did you end up going into like a formal education setting? Do you go to university or where was that?
00:03:02 Samantha Schmuck
I did so after I did the fashion photography, I came back and I did a little bit of Community College, so that way I could get some science credits under my belt instead of art classes. And then I went down to Atlanta, where there’s a chiropractic school called Life University. And that’s where I got my bachelor’s in health coaching and that focused on nutrition, anatomy and Physiology and exercise Physiology.
00:03:28 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Copy that. All right, so where does the inspiration and the drive come for that health component?
00:03:37 Samantha Schmuck
Yeah, a long story. It came from really my own journey as well as my family’s journey and seeing them move through. Diseases, whether that was heart disease, diabetes, etcetera, but it was really my own health journey that was the the main, main driver behind everything. I grew up as a competitive gymnast and I did that for seven years. And when I was 12, I started to get inflammation in my wrist, which is so not uncommon for gymnasts. And I got little risk guards and I just kind of kept trucking along. But then it started to spread. But was was weird about it was it was spreading symmetrically. So it started in both wrists and it went to both elbows, both shoulders, both hips, both knees, every vertebrae in my spine until like just the very tenderest of touches was a lot of pain and I was very stoic, strong individual. So it took a lot for me to cry when I was younger and I just would come home. My mom would layer me in ice packs from practice and I would just cry. And I had spent a year traveling around the state of Michigan going to all the top experts doing all the testing. We tested from Lyme to bone cancer. We did cortisone shots, we did supplements, we tried all the things and they eventually, once we got through the competitive season, they’re like, I think you just need to rest and hopefully that’ll do it. Maybe when your growth plates closed, the inflammation will leave. And it just never did. And so I fell into a really bad depression, anxiety, harm, suicidal thoughts as a teenager and just was really losing hope because I was told I have to live with it. And anytime I would be talking to people that were fifty, 60-70 years old and I would be complaining about being in a lot of physical pain, they’d be like, I’ll just wait till you’re my age. And I was like, I don’t want to wait because I’m already experiencing right now. And I if I have to experience this for decades and it’s only going to get worse each kind of loop of the sun, I don’t want to be here. And I just had this really soft knowing come over me probably around the time of 16. That was like, you don’t know how it’s going to get better, but you have to stay. And from that point on, I was just like, okay that that’s not an option. Even if it crosses my mind it’s not an option and we have to just figure out a step forward. And that’s when I was working for a chiropractic office who really instilled in me the understanding that the body heals itself. It has the power to heal and nourish itself when we remove kind of the blocks that are getting in the way and we nourish it. And I just latched onto that and just was like okay one stuff at a time. And that was kind of the path that sent me forward.
00:06:38 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Wow, that’s amazing. I wanna hear short.
00:06:42 Samantha Schmuck
Sized.
00:06:43 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Yeah, no, I get that.
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00:07:20 Matthew Kuehlhorn
I want to hear a little bit more about the soft knowing. You know. How do you define that?
00:07:30 Samantha Schmuck
It’s such a weird thing with such a great question, Matt. I love that. That’s like where you zoned in on because honestly that’s, you know, I experienced the same thing when I was living in Colorado and ultimately made me move back to Michigan was. I was dating this guy and we came home for the holidays and again, that same no, and came over me. That was like, you’re not going to marry him. And I was just like, what? We just got a year lease together, a dog together, all of these things. It was the most intermingle that I had ever been. And I was like, what are you saying to me right now? And so I guess the best way that I can describe it is. If you ever can picture like a movie scene where it’s like a dark room with maybe like a single light on and there’s this like voice that like emanates down but like everything is silent and still, but you can just hear this one voice like crystal clear. That is I guess the best way that I can describe it. Where it was like all the internal noise was gone and I just heard this really clear statement come through and I was like. It didn’t feel like my own voice, like it was very, very interesting.
00:08:44 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Yeah, that’s fascinating. I can relate a little bit and you know, my wife a little bit. And when we got married, we had just moved out of the Gunnison Valley. We were living in Little Town, Mountain Town, Crest Butte, and it was time for us to change scenery. So we moved up to Montana, thousands of miles away. And then we went to Florida to get married. So we’re on the beach with friends and family and had a great time and then we’re going back up to Montana which was really feeling lonely at the time. It was a it was a hard transition and and you and I talked about sunshine in the winters and Montana similar to Michigan. It’s just Gray depressing. And we were walking through the Denver airport and both of us I’d say had that soft knowing we stopped at the terminal to go to Gunnison. We just stopped and. You know is a moment of silence, but that in that moment we we knew immediately that we had you know not an error necessarily but we had to make the transition back to Gunnison as quickly as possible because Montana just was not the house. And I get I get the understanding there with with the soft knowing and and being aware enough and having that you know it’s kind of like cousin to intuition.
00:09:59 Samantha Schmuck
Yeah, that’s exactly kind of what I was thinking. It’s like it. It felt lightly different than my intuition, but very similar at the same time, where it’s like you have this internal understanding, you know this is the truth for you, like you and Annie knew for where you were moving. And it’s like I can either choose to listen to it or I can choose to ignore it and be like this was the decision that we made. We have to push through and make it work and it’s like or we don’t like. Yes, it was an uprooting, but like we can just as easily go back.
00:10:32 Matthew Kuehlhorn
OK. So we opened up the, the conversation of how you went into this health journey. Where did it go from there? So you know 16, you know experiencing almost chronic pain. It sounded like and and I’m assuming from your demeanor at the moment like that chronic pain is not still existing.
00:10:51 Samantha Schmuck
It does to a degree. OK, it does to a degree. It’s not perfect, but it’s like it is so much better.
00:10:59 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Right on. Well, for the listeners I’ve, I’ve just started to introduce the concept of how these conversations go into Better Business, living longer and community connection. And I want to focus a little bit into living longer. And so I have a goal of of going to 108. I actually know how I’m going out. Like I’m going to slip and fall in the shower and it’s going to be hilarious, but on the path there, you know, it’s it’s exciting and so. Let’s let’s dive into some nuts and bolts. What? What have you found and what do you now teach that really makes impacts for for people?
00:11:37 Samantha Schmuck
Absolutely. It’s a great question. I just love that you have such a vivid way of, you know, that you’re gonna go out. I’m like, I want to go in my sleep. I just want it like simple, easy. We’re going out big in the shower. Let’s see. So as far as how do I help people live longer, feel their best. And that is for me what it’s all about. Like, because I lost so much movement at such an early age and I realized like truly, like life is nothing without our health. If we don’t have that, it is the most miserable, like in a box, an isolated experience. And so I have found. To help people reduce their chemical and their emotional stress is been my favorite way that has not only supported myself but can support other people because we all grew up with diet culture, with hard exercise and so much of our world is under extreme amounts of stress. We’re in chronic disease states or just before them, but we don’t really even know that we’re in metabolic distress or these other things and so. A lot of people don’t want to focus on their diet, they don’t want to focus on exercise, and they just know how uncomfortable they feel in their body. And so when we have these stressors coming into our life, our body gets into this inflammatory state with the oxidated stress, and we have all these signals going hayway or going crazy. And we don’t even know why. We don’t feel good. We just know we don’t feel good. We can’t make sense of any one thing because the messages from our body are kind of going in all of these different directions. And so I work with people to help reduce that burden of stress that’s on their body, start to alleviate it. So that way it opens up the pot, the power of the body to do what it does best, which is heal. But if you think of a house. You’re not going to focus on fixing the foundation of the house. If the house is on fire, you’re always going to prioritize putting out the fire before you do any sort of renovation work to it. The same is for our body. If our body is under inflammation, that is like a fire to our body. And so whether we’re trying to digest food, we’re trying to clear out dunk and garbage, we’re always going to prioritize the inflammation and if we’re constantly eating processed foods. We’re constantly in an emotional stress state and we’re constantly putting products on our body like the personal care products, cleaning products on our body that are full of toxic chemicals. We’re just causing these fires to come in from all these different directions. And then we don’t know why we don’t feel good. We go to the doctor’s office. They’re confused. They think it’s in our head. They bounce us around from doctor to doctor. You’re confused. You’re trying to fill in one doctor from the last five doctors, cuz none of them talk to each other and you just start to get really frustrated and hopeless and just like, well, I guess I have to learn how to live with this and that’s the last thing that I want for anybody.
00:14:52 Matthew Kuehlhorn
So you you are into embodiment coaching. Do you think there is a problem within our? Society. And I’d be curious to know if this is in other cultures as well. But are a lot of us living disembodied, like trying to stay disconnected from from feeling the body?
00:15:15 Samantha Schmuck
Yeah, that’s a great question. And I would be so curious on other cultures as well. I think any culture that embodies more of like a Western society would be living in that disembodied state, especially when you look at like our work hours. And how much we’re working, how little time we have to rest, relax, connect with our family members. We’re in this kind of survival fight or flight state where it’s like I just have to keep going. And you know, there was always that saying when I was growing up, of mind over matter, push harder, hit the goal, run faster. And you’re taught to really ignore your body from a young age, even, you know, as far back as school. Sit still, don’t move. You get 20 minutes to eat at 10:00 o’clock, and then you eat at 3:00 o’clock, right? So we’re we’re in all of these systems where even if you, you know, move into the professional, you only get X amount of time for a lunch. You’ve got to be at your desk. So we’re learning in order to make it through my day, in order to keep going, there’s a level in which I do have to disconnect from my body. So many people are constantly. Bloated cramping, having joint pain, having hormonal imbalances, having brain fog. And then we’re using substances and whatnot too numb to wake us up, keep us going, and we’re constantly in this like chemical roller coaster just to make it through. So I would say the bulk of us are just from that physical standpoint. But then there’s also the mental standpoint where we’re constantly in our head. We’re overthinking. If you deal with perfectionism or critical self talk, like we’re just stuck in between at these four corners of our head and we’re just living everything from up there. And then you pair that previous conversation of all the physical things that we have to ignore just to get through our day. And that combo really exacerbates that feeling of disconnectedness from.
00:17:19 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Yeah, I would agree with all that. I think the the component of numbing from my experience can go on both sides and it could be a numbing from pain and things that we don’t want to touch and it can be a numbing of like the really good feelings, right. But it’s like, yeah, the embodiment component from my experiences is critically important and. You know, I’ve talked about this in the past where I think a lot of the external success is really based on the internal game. And if I can get embodied and and embrace the feels, even the really highs, peaks and the really low lows, right? And that ultimately offers an ability to collapse it into what I recognize as presence or love. In in the realm of embodiment, let’s say you know you’re working with a new client. What are some kind of tactical things you would take that individual through that you know listeners might be able to to practically utilize in the next couple of days. What’s that? What’s the first few steps?
00:18:31 Samantha Schmuck
Absolutely. And one thing really important that you did just hit on two is the high highs and the low lows, because usually it’s not just one. Or I should say, when we do disconnect, we numb both. And that’s really the state that I lived in for a long time, where I It was dangerous for me to feel the low lows. So I disconnected from my emotions, I disconnected from the pain in my body. But that also meant I could not feel the beautiful things in life, the gifts, the laughter, the pleasure. And I had to relearn how to feel, how to feel safe. And so step one is always building awareness. Knowing where you are, knowing the internal self dialogue, because a lot of us have negative chatter that’s like always running silently in the background. And so first step is kind of turn up the dial, let yourself actually hear what you’re saying to yourself. So that way you can start to choose a different dialogue and a different path forward. Like you said, it comes from the inside and that success radiates out. But the other thing that I love doing with people is reconnecting them to our breath, because our breath is the one bodily process that is both conscious and unconscious. Meaning, you know, we’re talking. I’m not thinking about breathing. I’m still still here, still going strong. But I can also choose to be like, you know what? Let’s take, like, a really nice, deep breath. Let’s help the nervous system Rev itself down. Let’s get the thought, the connection, the feeling sensation back into the body. What does that feel like? And from there, I love to take people into dance. And it’s a way to just allow yourself to free flow, to get into that flow state and just allow anything and everything to be released. And to start to get curious of where do I feel tension in my body. A lot of times we hold emotional stress in certain areas of our body. A lot of people will hold it in their jaw. Some hold it in their neck and their mid back. Others hold so much in their hips. And so just getting curious of like, well, where am I feeling a lot of that tension, that stagnation, Can I tune into my breath? And then can I start to move my body in a natural way that starts to relieve that? Because I love to think in that visual of like you and I are sitting here, right? We’re kind of rigid. But we have all these thoughts, all these feelings ping ponging around us, but we’re like, you got to stay still. You’re on an interview, Sam, and at work you feel that a client calls and they’re unhappy about something. Your nervous system Rams up, Your boss is something. A coworker or something happens with your kids. All of this is happening and you’re like, keep it together and you’re not letting your body feel and process some of the mental load that you’re carrying. So that’s the core way that I have found that it has helpful for me to move and to feel my feelings and to process them and let my body be involved, but also to share that with other people too.
00:21:37 Matthew Kuehlhorn
I love that. Yeah, it’s really, I hear a lot of somatics.
00:21:41 Samantha Schmuck
Yeah, that’s a.
00:21:42 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Word right?
00:21:44 Samantha Schmuck
You know, yeah.
00:21:46 Matthew Kuehlhorn
I I do know I I’ve worked through a lot and and recognized how the body knows and remembers and it could be a scenario that played out decades ago and it’s still in my right hip or left knee or whatever And and I do think that that’s very very real. So I love the dance component because that does I mean. Emotion is energy in motion and if we can get ourselves into motion then we start flowing that energy And I want to ask around the the critic and I think every human. I think this is kind of a natural human component a especially if we’re after perfection like we’re going to be the strongest critic of ourselves and. The voice in the head is just that, the voice in the head. And there are some tips and tools that we can probably use A to become aware of that voice and and B to disregard and or quiet the voice and this also leads into how we make meaning of our experiences. So with that little bit of context, what would you speak into in regards to quieting or disregarding that? Voice and And how do meanings play into some of the components that we’re referencing?
00:23:14 Samantha Schmuck
I can tell you and you have a special lady in your life who helps dive you into these topics and I’m sure some are self led as well, but I love it. Oh man, that self credit can be so harsh. And I used to wear it with like a badge of honor, right? That like no one’s going to talk to me or maybe then I talk to me. But like why are we wearing that as a badge of honor? Like we wouldn’t talk to another human being, a small child the way that we often talk to ourselves. So why are we allowing that to be OK and what positive benefit is it really giving to your life? Like really take a a chance and reflect on. Is this really empowering me? Or is it keeping me exactly where I am and one of the really important things about our brain and just how it uses itself in very ninja ways? It’s always to protect us, and I think as soon as you know that and really just like, appreciate that, you can start to see all the tricks that your brain uses. I’d be like, isn’t that interesting that that’s the method that you’re trying to use right now to stop me from going to that networking event, from speaking on that stage, from presenting this new offer? Like, isn’t it really interesting that now is the time that you want to flare up and really make your opinion known? So it’s always trying to really protect us from love, safety and belonging. I think that’s first is to know that your brain. Is always just trying to take care of you and keep you safe. And anytime you’re stepping out of your comfort zone, it sees you putting those three things at risk. And it will be as mean, as cruel as it possibly can to make you just like, you know what, that’s not such a great idea. We’re not going to do that after all. And so I think that’s really step one. And then the second thing that has been the most helpful for me is. That my thoughts are just thoughts. They are nothing more than that. Like I am not my thoughts. Just because I had suicidal thoughts does not mean that that is what is going to be my life and turn into. But I can recognize like, wow, that is a really wild, crazy thought. Cool, interesting. I can’t come back to my breath, come back to my body, like get here in this present moment like you said and just like, let the. Thought passed by like a cloud in the sky because it is when you mentioned making meaning when you attach to a specific thought and then you’re like woo, let’s dive down into that rabbit hole and you make the meaning of, well, I’ve had suicidal thoughts and had depression. Well, I’m just a suicidal, depressed person that is my life and you identify as that specific thing and identity. Is the height of the level of transformation that we can create in our life. So for me, when I was a gymnast and I lost gymnastics, I lost my identity and that was that. Plus the pain is what really spiraled me into the depression. And so when you make meaning and you attach to your thoughts, you are attaching to that as being part of your identity. And that is what can make it so difficult to release it and to let it go. Versus just like, That’s a really interesting, curious thought. How is it trying to really protect me in this situation and just like watch it pass by?
00:26:50 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Yes. Now these last four minutes were complete fire. We could we can end. We’re so good. Can we can we go lean in and touch you know the idea and the thoughts around suicidal thinking, depression. If there’s a listener out there right now that might be in this space on some level, what would be your message to them?
00:27:21 Samantha Schmuck
My goodness, my heart. I just, like, want to reach through the screen and give you the absolute biggest hug. Because, Matt, you’re getting me. I know just how. How isolating it is. How. Persuasive it is. And it makes you think it’s your only option. It makes you think everybody in your life would be better if you weren’t there anymore. Like I just remember thinking like it happened and my my family would just go her like it’s another natural day. Like, no, there would have been a serious, serious impact on them. But I truly believe that they would be completely fine and better if I wasn’t here and. So the biggest thing that I can share is like, if I can make it through it, and I was in it for a solid seven years before like a real change started to take place, is to just hang in there. If you can just stay in there and you can know like there is the possibility of it getting better, of it getting brighter, of it getting lighter, for it not to feel fake in those moments where I am experiencing joy. Just keep going, keep taking a step, keep reaching out for support when you can. I know you don’t want to reach out for support when you’re in depression. You feel like a burden, but really, truly, just like keep staying in there and keep searching for resources that are going to to help kind of get to the root cause of where that depression is coming from.
00:28:58 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Yeah, it’s beautiful. I I really appreciate you opening up your heart. The vulnerability is power and. Your story is important. So thank you for for sharing that to to spin back. I mean for those folks, for anybody that’s listening. You know what I’m hearing is there’s a skill of selfawareness and and we get this by looking in the mirror and I also think we get this by seeing our mirror in anybody else. And if I think somebody is rad, that is because I am also rad and and vice versa. Like it’s it’s a teaching tool and so the mirror is always there and then it’s a connection to breath and simply taking a pause to take a deep conscious breath can bring one’s presence. And the the third component that we talked around was I believe around beliefs and. You know, we we did speak to the fact that we don’t have to believe our thoughts. We can change our stories, we can change the meaning of our stories. And there’s a lot of times where it’s really beneficial to get with another person. And if we have somebody where we want to go, that’s where, you know, real coaching opportunities, mentorship and and resources come in. But you had anything else to that summary.
00:30:25 Samantha Schmuck
No, I think you know that spot on. Yeah, no, nothing else.
00:30:30 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Right on. What are we excited for?
00:30:34 Samantha Schmuck
I am excited for just more and more individuals being empowered to make those health choices. I think there’s been so much confusion over our lifetime around what is good food to eat for us? What is this? What’s the new style like? There’s been so much infusion of what it actually takes to be healthy, happy, thriving, individual, and I’m just excited to share these tools and resources with more and more people to help them realize, like that power is in there on hand. They don’t have to. That was the hardest part for me is that the expert, the people that were supposed to know, didn’t know. And so if you’ve ever felt like, why is there nobody that knows how to support and help me? Like you are your number one advocate and just helping people to see and believe that they have the power to change their lives, that they don’t have to wait for somebody to have the magic answer for them. But there’s so many different things that they can do to feel better that are simple, that are pretty affordable. I was a broke college student when I was going through the bulk of all of this change and that is just possible to feel better and just spreading that message.
00:31:50 Matthew Kuehlhorn
That’s an important message. So I’ll repeat it just one more time for the listeners like it’s about for everybody in the back you have the power and and we don’t always have to listen or the experts are a great resource and we take that in with our own knowing and churn it in a way that we can really build our empowerment because. Breath is so powerful. I mean nutrients and and what we take in are so powerful. And ultimately it comes down to the the spirit that’s in our heart that we can we can listen to and put on the microphone. Samantha, how do folks reach out and get in touch with you?
00:32:33 Samantha Schmuck
Yeah, so you can find me through my website, itsrevived-living.com. You can find me over on Instagram at Vibe with Sam Schmuck. And those are the two core places and that I hang out. And if you’re wanting that support with toxin free living, reducing your body burden through the self-care and personal care products that you use. I also have a Facebook community that’s free, a ton of free resources and it’s called the clean and Conscious community.
00:33:04 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Awesome listeners reach out to Samantha. Follow this woman. I really appreciate our conversation today. I think there’s a lot of value and I’m just really excited to watch you progress in your journey and impact the lives that you get to interact with and that interact with you. I really appreciate our time together.
00:33:23 Samantha Schmuck
I so appreciate you, Matt, and just holding this space for me to share and just the fact that you’re holding this space for your community and other business leaders to come in. It’s so cool and I just appreciate your heart, your knowing the importance of these areas, how you already practice them yourselves and here is to living past 100 feeling good.
00:33:46 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Let’s go. Thank you so much to Samantha.
00:33:48 Samantha Schmuck
Thank you.
00:33:49 Matthew Kuehlhorn
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for listening to the Kooler Lifestyle Podcast. We count on your subscriptions, your likes, your shares, and I encourage you to do that. Now, if you’re watching on YouTube, go ahead and subscribe lower Right hand button. If you’re on audio, download this, share it, and we look forward to having you on the next one.