Creating A Life Of Joy Thought-by-Thought with Patty "Oma" de Vries, Chief Experience Officer at Living Well USA

[00:00:02] Hey everyone, welcome back to the Outcomes Rocket. So excited you tuned in again. Today, I have the privilege of hosting Oma de Vries. She is the Chief Experience Officer at Living Well USA. She leads a transformative experiences designed to expand the mind and deepen our understanding of how we interact with the world. So great to have you here, Oma. Oma de Vries Thank you. Thank you for having me. This is wonderful to be here.

[00:00:30] Of course, of course. So great to host you on our podcast. So to kick things off, Oma, talk to us a little bit about you and what inspires the work that you do? Oma de Vries Thank you. There's a lot that inspires. I've always been a very curious person. I grew up in Grand Forks, North Dakota and was privileged enough to be an athlete there and to earn a scholarship to Stanford University.

[00:00:58] Oma de Vries And so I came a long way out here to California and have, in more ways than I can count, really just looked for resources and tools and tips to create a life of joy. Oma de Vries I saw mental illness in my family growing up. I saw choices that didn't interact well with a healthy lifestyle.

[00:01:23] Oma de Vries No judgment to the things that I grew up with and to many of the decisions that family members made or situations they dealt with. Oma de Vries I've just chosen to spend my life looking for those practical tools that can help me be my best. Oma de Vries And so with every choice in my life, knowing that I'm creating that life I want to have someday. Oma de Vries And that's the piece of it that gets me really excited.

[00:01:49] Oma de Vries And I'm fortunate enough to live on four and a half acres here in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Oma de Vries Nice. Oma de Vries That was one of those choices I made 20 years ago, just not understanding that someday I wanted to create an event center and a retreat center and a place to go for rejuvenation. Oma de Vries It wasn't on the radar back then. Oma de Vries Back then it was, wow, look at this canvas. Oma de Vries Look at this house that I can create anything I want with. Oma de Vries Look at this land that I can build trails and experiences in.

[00:02:18] Oma de Vries And so my passion is really around helping individuals and teams and leaders create an environment for themselves where we can be our best and we can help other people be our best. Oma de Vries I'm a firm believer that our minds create our reality, create our experience.

[00:02:38] Oma de Vries And if we don't like our experience, then it's time to go inside and find out what choices we're making and what thoughts we're having that is disrupting the flow that I believe is our birthright. Oma de Vries I love it. Oma de Vries And so great that you are where you are. Oma de Vries I could just picture it. Oma de Vries Just beautiful. Oma de Vries You have a great view. Oma de Vries And now you have a great place to share that with others as you help them with their biggest struggles.

[00:03:07] Oma de Vries So it'd be great to hear more about where your focus areas are, what you want to share with our listeners and viewers about the work that you do. Oma de Vries Thank you. Oma de Vries I've been working with some different companies and individuals. Oma de Vries I find that I'm more of a mentor than a coach or really sometimes a teacher that I just really want to facilitate the learning because I believe we're in a place in an age where we're evolving as people.

[00:03:34] Oma de Vries No longer are we willing to accept the outlandish lashing out and the angry bosses that keep us in fear. Oma de Vries We want to be more collaborative in our work world. Oma de Vries We want to show up and be creative to be our best selves and to flow with the outside world in a way that gives us joy in our lives. Oma de Vries We have conquered so many things as human beings and yet we still feel unsafe. Oma de Vries We still feel in fear.

[00:04:04] Oma de Vries We still fear losing a job when in reality we should be the most calm, happy and joy-filled beings on the planet because we can create our life that we want for ourselves. Oma de Vries We often think that we are subjected to what the world says we need to do and instead we can be creative with how we show up. Oma de Vries We can change the way we look at the world.

[00:04:31] Oma de Vries We can plant seeds that can bring us a life that is very different than the one we have today. Oma de Vries And I'm very excited to share that. Oma de Vries I pulled the pieces together in the last few years, really spending the last four years almost submerged in nature. Oma de Vries My husband used to joke and say, you know, is there somebody you're going to see down in the valley down there? Oma de Vries Because I would just leave for literally six, eight hours at a time and just spend that time in nature.

[00:04:59] Oma de Vries And when I'm in nature and when any of us are in nature, there is no judgment. Oma de Vries And so I could take a look at my life, take a look at my thoughts, take a look at the reality I was creating, and now use all those tools from positive psychology, from philosophy, from the spiritual aspects, and for those people who have been on this journey before to really start to understand our power as a human being to choose our life,

[00:05:27] to recreate it if we don't like it, and to help our inner world reflect what we want on the external world. Oma de Vries That's great. Oma de Vries I love being in nature too. Oma de Vries I live in Puerto Rico now. Oma de Vries I was in San Diego. Oma de Vries When nature is so close to you, it's an advantage. Oma de Vries I feel like you're able to connect to the source, and it really does make a difference. Oma de Vries One of my favorite things to do is just take off my shoes and walk on the beach.

[00:05:54] Oma de Vries And it just feels great to connect. And so I feel you. And so, yeah, as you help leaders and companies with the things that they want to achieve in life or problems that they have, what's a key piece of advice you want to leave them with? Oma de Vries It's a good question, and there's a lot of key pieces of advice.

[00:06:16] Oma de Vries The main one being if you are dissatisfied in your life for any reason, you can change it. And it starts with our thoughts. It starts with our belief about who we are as a human being. It starts with a belief about who we've been in our life. It starts with a look at our story. What is the story that we are telling ourselves? And it's not an easy transition.

[00:06:42] It's not an easy journey, but each of us can begin to understand the power of our story, to begin to understand the power of our thoughts. And then we can start nudging those thoughts and nudging those understandings and beliefs. And our relationships will start to change because we are in a different place. And I believe it's an opportunity of a lifetime.

[00:07:05] I believe we are in a place where we are evolving as human beings, that we are understanding the power of the energy we create within ourselves. When we are in a place of fear, our bodies have chemistry that runs through it, a fear cocktail. And we can change that fear if we understand that fear should really only be trapping us when we're in physical danger.

[00:07:31] If we can step aside that, understand that that physical danger for most of us does not exist on a day-to-day basis. And if we can choose to alchemize that fear into a state of joy, into a state of endorphins running through our body, because we're looking at a situation from a place of gratitude or opportunity, that is a tool that we can use for the rest of our lives.

[00:07:59] That is what I believe is the evolution of the human consciousness, is that understanding that we can change anything that we don't like. That's great. And when you're in business, in healthcare, there's a lot of things we don't like. So whether it be inside of your own company or the industry itself, there's certainly things that are not aligned with the way nature is aligned,

[00:08:28] the way that they should be working. And there's a lot of entrepreneurs seeking to make a difference in this space, Oma. So what closing thought would you leave them with as we wrap up today so that they could stay on course and not give up? Thank you for that opportunity. My closing thought is that getting curious is really the first step. Getting curious the next time something triggers you.

[00:08:55] Getting curious the next time somebody throws you off balance. What does it say about us? And instead of getting upset at ourselves for reacting in a certain way, taking a pause and understanding what is it that's important to me? What does this trigger represent that's important to me at my core that is being violated? What are the values that are most important to me? And as we get to know ourselves and know those values, then we can start showing up in a way that is more productive to where we want to be. Love it.

[00:09:25] Great way to close us out, Oma. And folks, in the show notes, we'll leave ways to get in touch with Oma DeVries. If they want to get in touch with you, what's the best way they can do that? Best way is probably my email, patty at livingwellusa.com. I go by Oma or by Patty. Amazing. Well, there you have it, folks. Oma DeVries, aka Patty, with us today on practical tips and mindsets

[00:09:53] to live our lives more fully and with joy. So make sure you check out that email. Get in touch with her if something today resonated with you. And Oma, thanks for being with us. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.